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Each
new generation of console brings with it a wealth of changes to each
genre of gaming. The transition from 2D to 3D, the creation of ever
larger worlds and the introduction of online play, all these have
played an important part in the evolution of videogames. For
instance, it cannot be denied that Racing games have come a long way
since the days of Pole Position. The simple task of pressing
either left or right at the correct time has progressed into the
control of a virtual car that handles almost exactly as its actual
counterpart would. However the essence of Racing games is still the
same: driving fast cars is fun. Perhaps this was the thinking behind
the making of Formula One: Championship Edition for the
PlayStation - Bizarre Creations first foray into console Racing
games. A few years later, taking into consideration what they had
learned from their experiences, Bizarre Creations made Metropolis
Street Racer for SEGA’s DreamCast, a far more arcade-style
racer. After the DreamCast’s unfortunate demise, Bizarre Creations
moved their projects to the newest console manufacturer under a
Second-Party exclusivity agreement, and Project Gotham Racing
was born. Since enjoying great success on the Xbox it seems
Microsoft were keen to have another edition. So, as the only
realistic Racing title in the Xbox360 Launch Line-Up - with minimal
competition arriving  in the form of the lack lustre Need
For Speed: Most Wanted - Project
Gotham
Racing 3 has not only got a high standard to uphold, it also
has a lot to prove.
Project
Gotham
Racing 3 plays almost identically to the previous editions.
Racers are not only awarded for the lowest Lap Times, but also for
their driving style in the form of Kudos. Power Sliding, jumps and
360 turns are all considered stylish and will gain the player much
Kudos, this Kudos is then used to unlock various objects within the
game such as cars etc. Project Gotham Racing 3’s
single-player is a series of Cups each made up of several
challenges, similar to the system used in SEGA’s madcap kill-fest Full
Auto. By completing challenges the player will win Cups and,
perhaps more importantly, earn money to buy ever faster vehicles.
The challenges are varied in nature, from winning the races or
scoring the lowest Lap Time, to attaining a pre-set requirement of
Kudos in a lap or, in the case of the interesting Time Versus Kudos
challenge, allowing the player to stop the countdown timer by
driving in a stylish fashion. Instead of being awarded a Medal based
on the individuals performance in a race, the Medal is chosen at the
start of each race and the player is given a challenge directly
tailored for that difficulty, for instance, an easy Steel Medal
might only required to player to overtake a single car whereas the 
harder Gold Medal might ask that the player overtake four. This
method works well in that it lets players play through the races at
a single difficulty - a must for gamers looking for that all
important GamerScore, but does suffer from an occasionally erratic
difficulty curve.
The
real improvements to the series have come to the online gameplay
elements. Players can not only casually race opponents; they can
enter Tournaments, watch other races and, if they are really good,
feature on Gotham TV, which streams gameplay video to all owners of
the game. The inclusion of a Route Editor allows player to create
their own routes and race others online and the seemingly now
mandatory global High Score Table is present. It is clear that Project
Gotham
Racing 3 was designed to complement the Xbox360’s solid
online services and as such you will be pressed to find a game that
seems more at home online than this.
It
will probably come as little surprise to you to learn that Project
Gotham
Racing 3 looks nicer than Project Gotham Racing and
it’s first sequel – both released on the Xbox - however it
isn’t quite as pretty as it could be. On a standard television the
Car Models are simply astounding and on High-Definition they are
what can only be described as photo realistic, a feature that is
bound to please even the most sceptical car lovers. Project
Gotham
Racing 3 also makes liberal use of Blur Effects, and, for
the most part, uses them well to pull-off  some great effects and
give an amazing sense of speed. However, due either to the time
constraints of the early system launch or maybe even good old
fashioned laziness, there are far too many 2D sprites, namely the
trees, buildings and population. Although while hurtling along in
your ludicrously quick Lamborghini Diablo you are unlikely to even
be looking at the sides of the road, let alone scrutinising the décor,
pictures taken in the self-indulgent Photo Mode do show-up the
seemingly out of place sprites. As for sound effects, well the cars
roar, crash and screech brilliantly, with the A Class vehicles
instilling a dire sense of fear as they scream their way into each
corner you’ll likely be driving to fast to take. Musically, only Amped
3 features a more random presentation on the Xbox360. Whilst you
power your way round each track you have a wealth of musical variety
to sample, everything from the classic works of Strauss to Less Than
Jake and Bangra. Tracks can be changed using the D-Pad and, being an
Xbox360 game, custom soundtracks are allowed at all times.
Project
Gotham
Racing 3 is not a huge leap from Project
Gotham
Racing 2 in terms of gameplay, and the lessened quantity of
tracks, vehicles and added features will be a disappointment to fans
of the series. However well it has refined it’s multi-player
elements, it has in equal measure lost some of it’s single-player
gaming in the progress. That being said, XboxLIVE! is an
almost compulsory part of Xbox360 gaming and Project
Gotham
Racing 3 is a title built for online play. The bottom-line
is, if you want to drive fast cars on your Xbox360 which aren’t
armed with Rocket Launchers and Machine Guns, you’ll be hard
pressed to find better than Project
Gotham
Racing 3.
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