[360] - Project Gotham Racing 3 Review

[bapenguin]

Project Gotham Racing 3 Review
Platform: Xbox 360
by: Nicholas “bapenguin” Puleo, Editor-in-Chief


Project Gotham Racing 3 has been a poster boy of sorts for the Xbox 360 Console. Since well before launch we heard of the thousands of polygons this title is pushing. We've seen the screenshots, the renders, and the videos. But does the end result match the pre-launch hype? Oh yes, very much so.

Graphics:
Graphics are at the forefront of Project Gotham 3, and they are downright beautiful. The game sports 5 cities: London, Las Vegas, New York City, Tokyo and Nurburgring. Each city hosts at least a dozen tracks all meticulously modeled to incredible detail. The textures are downright amazing. For instance, the Las Vegas track has over 22,000 reference photographs and 10 hours of video. There are over 14,000 textures in the final version of the track. On top of the photo-realistic textures sits an amazing lighting engine. The game can simulate day, dusk and night on any track. Buildings light up, neon signs reflect off your car, the sun glares off your hood. It's all very impressive and convincingly realistic.

The game features over 80 cars all realistically modeled and waxed to perfection. The inside of the cars all have an individually modeled dashboard with working gauges. The implementation of the inside the car view in Project Gotham is perhaps the best implementation to date. One downside is the cars have a limited damage model, but the damage that shows up (paint scrapes, broken mirrors, and minor dents) looks really great.

Sound:
Project Gotham Racing 3 sports detailed engine sounds. When switching to the in car view, the engine muffles and really gives the impression that you are sitting in the car behind the wheel.

The game has a wide variety of songs in its soundtrack. Everything from rock, alternative, techno, rap and classical is here. You can easily cycle through tracks while racing with a flick of the d-pad or you can pull up your own custom music. One nice feature here is the game reads your MP3's ID3 tag to display song title and artist information. It's a nice touch.

Gameplay:
Fans of previous PGR games should be right at home here. Kudos is still the heart and soul of the game. Kudos is earned by doing various “driving tricks” like powerslides around corners, drafting your opponents cars and 360 spins around corners. By earning kudos you can unlock new cars (which you still have to buy).

The game has a solo career mode in which you can compete in various events from street racing, time trials, cone racing, and other various modes. I particularly liked the Time vs. Kudos mode in which you have a certain amount of time to finish a track. The problem is, the time they give you isn’t enough to finish it, and you must earn kudos to extend your time. The offline solo mode is a good way to build up your cash and buy some new cars before taking yourself online.

Then there’s the online career. Online career is a totally seamless experience and ensures total variety of AI opponents. Pick your event, and you are dropped in with various other racers. You earn cash and kudos the same as off line. You'll also find yourself being ranked on the leader boards with other racers. You’ll have to earn yourself good enough vehicles and trophies to make it into some of the higher level races. A neat feature during on line play is the sports ticker at the bottom letting you know what's going on with the leader boards and with your friends. Did your buddy bapenguin just capture rank #1759 on the leader board? The ticker will let you know.

The game offers a lot of nice little extra features. Gotham TV is a way of watching on line career matches. There is a hero’s channel in which you can watch the top racers in the world squaring off. Up to 30,000 people can watch a single match at a time. Unfortuantely there is no way to tell how many people are watching a single race from the spectator or racer perspective. This would have made the events have a little more of a “sport” feel to them.

The game also features a track editor in which you can create a custom course in any of the cities in the game. The game claims there are over 10 million possibilities for tracks using this tool.

One last feature is the photo mode in which you can take a screenshot of your car. This isn't your mamma's photography studio though. You can adjust anything from lense aperture, shutter speed, film speed, contrast, color, brightness, depth of field, and add a sepia effect.

Conclusion:
All in all this game is full of tons of features and a wide variety of game types both on line and off line. The graphics are top notch and really start to hint at the power of the Xbox 360. The in car view is the best you'll find in a racing game to date. The on line modes are fun to play, and on line career is a great way to keep the game from going stale. Gotham TV is a nice bonus as well as the track editor.

The Good:
Amazing Graphics
Deep on line career
Tons of extras
Unlimited courses

The Bad:
Lack of Damage Model
Long loading times (especially on custom courses)

The Ugly:
Too many people better than me on line

Score:
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e5.jpg
5 out of 5 EvilEyes

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/reviews/pgr31.gif (http://www.bizarreonline.net/img/screenshots/pgr3/14.jpg)http://www.evilavatar.com/images/reviews/pgr32.gif (http://www.bizarreonline.net/img/screenshots/pgr3/22.jpg)http://www.evilavatar.com/images/reviews/pgr33.gif (http://www.bizarreonline.net/img/screenshots/pgr3/11.jpg)

[Twigz'N'Berries]

That was pretty accurate. This is a really superb game. I normally prefer a more 'arcadey' feel, but PGR3 was solid. I dropped my preorder for Ridge Racer, but now I hope I get it for X-mas.

[novicius]

PGR3's XBL options are fairly decent: we can custom create tracks as you mentioned, we now have the ability to throw some AI bot drivers into otherwise lonely rooms, we can force In-Car views and manual transmissions for added simmyness, we can save online race replays, we can set the number of laps, and nearly all the cars are open and ready to race with (save for unlockable Concept cars) from the get-go.

An additional drawback in the face of all these options are that the host cannot lock the type of car class. :rolleyes:

The different garages you can earn as you buy new cars are awesome. I currently house my Ferrari collection in Las Vegas, but I think I'm going to ship them to Tokyo... :D

[KamaItachi]

Yeah, The most I really got into racing was Burnout, but the good press that PGR3 is getting saturated in may prove too much for me.

[fitbabits]

Joint-best racing game on any platform (the other being Forza). Why must work get in the way of play? Your review has made me want to race home and fire it up!

[Zawath]

I think the weakest point of PGR3 is that there are no regular cars. I bet all the Initial D fans just want to race with a very average car and beat those much faster sport cars.

[bapenguin]

I think the weakest point of PGR3 is that there are no regular cars. I bet all the Initial D fans just want to race with a very average car and beat those much faster sport cars.

That's a good point, it's all about fast sports cars and concept cars, not just about your average souped up car.

But there are other games for that, whether or not it's a weak point I suppose is a point of view. Still, having 80 or so cars in a game is a nice variety.

[phantomhitman]

great review, I am going to go steal a 360 now.......

[KarmaGhost]

After clicking on those screenies...

403 FORBIDDEN!

Sounds like a winner, however.

[Serapth]

Im loving the game personally, but I have to agree with the earlier poster, the lack of major variety in cars is a bit of a bummer. I actually enjoyed tooling around in a Mini Cooper or VW Bug, working my way up to the nicer cars. In this case, I dont feel alot of desire to buy new cars. Basically, I am still using the Ultima I selected at game start to do most races. If the track requires raw speed, I break out the Ferrari F50. Point blank, I basically play the game with those two cars only. I buy other cars just because I can, not because I will use them. That part is a bit disappointing. I can understand the design decision of taking the grind out of the game, but alot of us like having to build up from the gutter in these games.

That said, the game is an absolute blast. The difficulty level for medium has been scaled *WAY* back since PGR1 days. This game used to be obscenely difficult, now I tend to beat the track at medium difficulty on my first pass through. Hard and hardcore however are a different story. Sometimes Hardcore is pretty simple ( mostly in the race scenarios, where on medium I would tend to finish first anyways, so I might as well have played hardcore ). Other times, Hardcore is obscenely difficult, especially on Timed Runs and Speed Target races. This is about the only time where you frankly need a car of the F50 caliber as any other car just isnt fast enough to get up to speed in time.

I guess that would be my complaint otherwise, the difficulty level is way across the map. Sometimes, often during kudos challenges, or time vs kudo's mode ( which is awesome btw... ), the kudos target for hardcore really isnt that difficult. Othertimes, Hardcore requires like 8x more kudo's then hard, and hard requires 10x more then medium. Ive seen a few races where I frankly think hardcore is impossible, and others where hardcore is frankly no more difficult then medium. Keep in mind, I come from the perspective of PGR1 which was insane in the difficulty department ( some Kudos challenges actually required you to power slide around the entire track twice, without so much as nudging a pylon to hit the platinum kudos target ).


Online is a blast though, with no slowdowns in site, atleast for me. I think if we have enough EA people that own this game, which should have an unofficial EA tourny some night. Especially if what Bap says is true, and he truly sucks :)

[Serapth]

Oh, and it wasnt mentioned, but the AI in this game can be a right bunch of bastards. The number of times ive been spun out by one of these pricks is overwhelming. You truly start to hate some cars out on the track. Anytime the AI can make me hate it and not just because it cheats, I have to say thumbs up.

[Reanimated]

Great review. PGR really is a VERY polished game. For me the difference maker is the cockpit view. I found the first 2 games in the series to be frustrating, but for some reason the cockpit view in this game just takes all that away. It's more natural, I guess.

Awesome awesome game.

[Morratut]

Mmmm i've ordered this even though i prefer Gran Turismo/Burnout/Forza feel type games.

I'm hoping it will a bit different than the other 3 titles. It probably won't however.

I'm gonna try and get the PGR bug this time around.

[netcraazzy]

I'm normally not interested in any racing games beyond Mario Kart but I decided to give this game a try. It really is a lot of fun and the Hero's Channel is pretty cool. The Novice and Easy modes are way too easy though, it's almost silly that they even put Novice in there considering how easy the easy mode is. I guess if you had a little kid and wanted them to be able to win a race Novice would be easy enough for just about anybody to win.

[MasterKwan]

By not having regular cars, this has dropped from a "Must Have" to a "Gamefly". I go to a real race track (Summit and VIR mostly) with my worked civic as often as I can (and can afford). Being able to drive a car on these virtual tracks that I might actually buy in the near future was the main appeal.

[Sense Field]

I brought this game back...I kinda felt like it just wasen't as much fun as say burnout, need for speed, or even grand turismo. If i had to put my finger on it i would say that the controls were horrible but who am I. Returned and got condemed and am happy with my choice. as far as racing goes? i'll wait for burnout revenge for some fun arcade racing that my girlfriend can get into!

[Grimgrock]

After clicking on those screenies...

403 FORBIDDEN!

Sounds like a winner, however.


I received the same error.

[The Iron Weasel]

Stupid me, not buying a 360.....I hate myself....

[Reanimated]

Stupid me, not buying a 360.....I hate myself....




As well you should.

[XenonCJ]

Am I the only one here that thinks PGR3 is the most over-rated game ever?

There's only 5 tracks in the game : New York, London, and Tokyo... Is there more? If so, I forget because they all look the same anyway.
All the cars feel exactly the same, and the more "expensive" cars, are just not that much better.

Honestly I think I enjoyed GT3 better.

[Serapth]

The all cars feel the same thing is a valid point, but really, PGR3 has more tracks than any game I can think of in history. They basically modelled the entire playing area so the track can be defined within that area. Much the same, you as a player can make your own, so in a sense, it has an infinit amound of tracks.

As to enjoying GT3 more, not really fair as they to my mind are completely different games. Thats kinda like comparing NFL blitz to Madden 2006. Yeah, they are both football games, but thats where the comparisons end.

[bapenguin]

Am I the only one here that thinks PGR3 is the most over-rated game ever?

There's only 5 tracks in the game : New York, London, and Tokyo... Is there more? If so, I forget because they all look the same anyway.
All the cars feel exactly the same, and the more "expensive" cars, are just not that much better.

Honestly I think I enjoyed GT3 better.

Did you read the review? There is not 5 tracks...there's probably closer to 60 or so. There are 5 cities. On top of that there is a track creator in which you can create custom routes through the cities....and if Las Vegas looks like New York to you or Nuremberg looks like Tokyo...you need new eyeballs.

[fitbabits]

Am I the only one here that thinks PGR3 is the most over-rated game ever?
So far, yes. :)

[karaokequeen3]

Correction. Nurburgring, not Nuremburg. Two different places, two different reasons for being famous... ;)

[bapenguin]

Correction. Nurburgring, not Nuremburg. Two different places, two different reasons for being famous... ;)

Thanks...I fixed that.

[XenonCJ]

Did you read the review? There is not 5 tracks...there's probably closer to 60 or so. There are 5 cities. On top of that there is a track creator in which you can create custom routes through the cities....and if Las Vegas looks like New York to you or Nuremberg looks like Tokyo...you need new eyeballs. Yes.... 5 "citys". I'm sorry but I don't call the same track backwards, at-night, a "different track".

And yes, all the tracks look the same. They are All IN A CITY!! How about a desert track? Jungle? Mountains? Winter? NOPE. Just more city junk. How about rain or snow?? I didn't even mention the lack of weather effects before... Give me a break, wake up people.

[bapenguin]

Yes.... 5 "citys". I'm sorry but I don't call the same track backwards, at-night, a "different track".

And yes, all the tracks look the same. They are All IN A CITY!! How about a desert track? Jungle? Mountains? Winter? NOPE. Just more city junk. How about rain or snow?? I didn't even mention the lack of weather effects before... Give me a break, wake up people.

You really haven't played the game or any of the series before huh? Metropolis Street Racer was the spiritual predecessor of PGR. They have ALWAYS been in cities.

Good point on the weather effects though, but there are way more than 5 tracks...the cities are huge and include at least 50-60 different city blocks in each one, and "tracks" can be customized via different routes through these city blocks.

[XenonCJ]

You really haven't played the game or any of the series before huh? Metropolis Street Racer was the spiritual predecessor of PGR. They have ALWAYS been in cities.

Good point on the weather effects though, but there are way more than 5 tracks...the cities are huge and include at least 50-60 different city blocks in each one, and "tracks" can be customized via different routes through these city blocks.Yeah I've played it quite a bit acutally... Perhaps I'm just not into limiting myself to just a city based racing game... GT3 for example has cities, race tracks, jungle rally sport roads, mountains....

You're not going to convice me on the "you can split up the same city different ways and that's a different track" thing. A city IS a track. And granted they do look good, but hardly lightyears beyond what is already available. And if you consider the REAL lack of variety in track styles, vehicle performance, weather effects(road conditions), robotic spiritless AI, random meaningless music selection, and general innovation it makes me scratch my head and wonder why every site gives this game a 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, 100% and whatnot... It's just not that good.

If you gave the game a 4.5 out of 5, I probably woudn't have even said anything... But saying somthing like PGR3 is "PERFECT" is a stretch.

[Serapth]

Um... you know what the Gotham part in PGR is about right? This game is basically a city racing simulator. Frankly a jungle track would just seem silly. Also, GT3/4/Forza and PGR games are completely different styles of games with different focuses. They really shouldnt be compared.

[novicius]

Also, GT3/4/Forza and PGR games are completely different styles of games with different focuses. They really shouldnt be compared.
Here, just let me emphasize this part. It's an arcade racer. Pick your car, the color, and go. In that capacity it is the King. :cool:

[XenonCJ]

Um... you know what the Gotham part in PGR is about right? This game is basically a city racing simulator. Frankly a jungle track would just seem silly. Also, GT3/4/Forza and PGR games are completely different styles of games with different focuses. They really shouldnt be compared.I guess that's the problem. GT3/4 offer a great city and/or arcade style of racing PLUS all the rest. PGR3 just seems shallow and limited by comparison.

[XenonCJ]

Here, just let me emphasize this part. It's an arcade racer. Pick your car, the color, and go. In that capacity it is the King. :cool:Ok if that's the case, why have such normal boring streets to race on? Where's the crazy inverted loops, powerups, purple mushrooms, rainbows and speed-boosts??? Is it trying to be an arcade game, or a race sim? I say, while still a fun game, it fails to be anywhere close to a "5/5" at either.

[novicius]

Yeah, I missed those purple mushrooms in NFS:HP2 and Ridge Racer. :p

I say, while still a fun game, it fails to be anywhere close to a "5/5" at either. "Anywhere close?" You are wrong. (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/927245.asp)

Am I the only one here that thinks PGR3 is the most over-rated game ever? Sure sounds like it.

You can't tell the difference between the different cities? You can't feel which layouts are technical vs. the high-speed runs? You're saying that the mid-engined Ferraris handle the same as the front-engined Mustangs, Vipers and 'Vettes? :rolleyes:

Sounds like the problem is between the controller and the couch...

[absolut taco]

Great review. PGR really is a VERY polished game. For me the difference maker is the cockpit view. I found the first 2 games in the series to be frustrating, but for some reason the cockpit view in this game just takes all that away. It's more natural, I guess.

Awesome awesome game.
I loved the in-car view until I tried to squeeze through on of the three gaps with the pillars in London. The fact that the view was a bit to the left really fucked me up! I crashed every time! Now I love the first bumper cam!

[XenonCJ]

Yeah, I missed those purple mushrooms in NFS:HP2 and Ridge Racer. :p

"Anywhere close?" You are wrong. (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/927245.asp)


Yes, quote me more "group-think" good job.


Sure sounds like it.

You can't tell the difference between the different cities? You can't feel which layouts are technical vs. the high-speed runs? You're saying that the mid-engined Ferraris handle the same as the front-engined Mustangs, Vipers and 'Vettes? :rolleyes:
I thought you said it was an arcade game? Now you make it sound like it's trying to be a Sim? Make up your mind.



Sounds like the problem is between the controller and the couch... Is that where you keep your balls?

[bapenguin]

5/5 doesn't mean perfect...it just means an A or Excellent or Must Buy or whatever. There's really no such thing as a perfect game.

[Serapth]

Yes, quote me more "group-think" good job.

I thought you said it was an arcade game? Now you make it sound like it's trying to be a Sim? Make up your mind.


Is that where you keep your balls?

First off... you have noticed the vibrate feature of the controller right..... :)

Secondly, he was simply saying the cars do feel different. He enver once said they feel like real life. Big difference.

[Serapth]

I guess that's the problem. GT3/4 offer a great city and/or arcade style of racing PLUS all the rest. PGR3 just seems shallow and limited by comparison.

In the end, to be honest, all im hearing is you dont like PGR3 because its not GT3. On the same accord many people like PGR3 exactly because its not GT3.

Plus, i wouldnt say it offered an arcade style of racing. It was trying as hard as possible to be a pure sim. You dont get rewarded for driving insanely or with flair. Plus, I can tell you problems GT3 has for as long as you want to tell me problems with PGR3.

In the end though, that would be stupid, as they are completely different types of games! Would you compare Burnout to GT3?

[fitbabits]

5/5 doesn't mean perfect...it just means an A or Excellent or Must Buy or whatever. There's really no such thing as a perfect game.
And I wholeheartedly agree with this - no game can ever be perfect. It can, however, be a shining example of a particular genre or style, which is how I view PGR3, Forza, ICO, Half-Life 2, etc.

[Serapth]

And I wholeheartedly agree with this - no game can ever be perfect. It can, however, be a shining example of a particular genre or style, which is how I view PGR3, Forza, ICO, Half-Life 2, etc.

I was with you right up until HL2. (Keeping in the spirit of this thread... :) ) Am I the only one that thinks HL2 was over hyped. Dont get me wrong, its a cool game, but its not the best FPS out there. I actually never finished it. After getting over the gee whiz factor, frankly I just got board and stopped playing. Plus, until DoD2 was released, the multiplayer aspect was pretty meh. Granted, lots of that could be based on the excessive annoyingness of the CS crowd.

[novicius]

Yes, quote me more "group-think" good job. You did ask if you were the only one. I merely supplied the answer: yes. :p

I thought you said it was an arcade game? Now you make it sound like it's trying to be a Sim? Make up your mind. I did not say it was a sim, I said the cars handle differently. PGR3 has too much grip and brakes far too effectively to be a sim.

Is that where you keep your balls? Weak, much like your complaints.

[XenonCJ]

You did ask if you were the only one. I merely supplied the answer: yes. :pWell to be technical, the site you quoted gives it an overall rating of 90%. Not the 100% this site does. My argument was that this game is not deserving of a perfect score... So what the hell was your point again?


I did not say it was a sim, I said the cars handle differently. PGR3 has too much grip and brakes far too effectively to be a sim.

Uhmm ok whatever you say dude.


Weak, much like your complaints. Damn you're just so awesome dude, can I suck your dick?

[XenonCJ]

5/5 doesn't mean perfect...it just means an A or Excellent or Must Buy or whatever. There's really no such thing as a perfect game.I can deal with that I guess... Still 5/5 is 100% =)

[Stormeh]

I've been playing all night. What a great game.

[ElectricMonk]

i saw this game running at best buy, and until i saw the 360 i thought it was just prerendered high def footage used to show off the tv

[51|RandoM]

Saw an ad for the game at the theater this evening when i went to see Potter. Looks really sweet, I think they should've made it obvious it was game footage. I think your typical person will just think it was some type of pre-rendered video(it looked that good).

I've always been a gran turismo fan, pretty much the only racer I ever spend any real time with, but I'll definitely try PGR3 out when I get around to picking up a 360 fulltime.

[TrackZero]

Looking back through the mists of time. How in the world did PGR3 merit a 5 evil eye score? *shudder*