The original Project Gotham Racing was a classic launch title for the Xbox, which seems to be an eternity ago, and was followed up in September 2003 with the hugely popular sequel Project Gotham Racing 2. Now the wheels finally turn full circle for Project Gotham Racing 3, (PGR3) a stand out launch title for the next-generation Xbox 360. Continuing with the style-based arcade racing theme, PGR3 has some exciting additions this time around.
For a start, all the cars featured were chosen because they have a minimum top speed of 170 mph (over 270 km/h). Amongst the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other well-known supercars, there are quite a few other exotic machines that not many people would have heard of. (I was very surprised to see the Australian produced Elfin MS8 get a run, but I thought a Callaway Sledgehammer sounded more like a piece of golfing equipment.) There are over 75 different cars to choose from, and nearly all of them are available to be purchased right from the start - as long as you have enough credits.
Credits are earned by successfully completing each race, depending on your difficulty level chosen - Novice to Hardcore. The higher the difficulty, the more credits you will earn. Kudos (points awarded for driving with 'style') are also earned while racing by the usual manner - drafting, power-sliding, catching air, and the love-'em or hate-'em Cone Challenges. Your Kudos earned are accumulated to increase your rank and progressively unlock concept cars. This time around, there are four wonderfully recreated cities to drive around in (London, Las Vegas, New York City and Japan) plus the Nurburgring - the northern Nordschleife and the southern F1 circuit, both of which can be driven as one extremely technical and very long race.
One of the newest additions to PGR3 is the Route Creator, where you can build your own custom race tracks in any of the four cities.
Apparently, the game offers the possibility of creating over 100 million custom tracks of either circuit or point-to-point style which can then be raced by yourself with AI opponents or in multiplayer mode with friends over Live, split-screen and System Link.
The extreme level of detail in the cities is a testament to the power of the new Xbox 360. Even on a standard TV (without high-definition) the graphics quality is superb. Fine lines, tyre marks, reflections and shadows all look their part.