Project Gotham Racing 3 is a great racing game that will please the majority.
The game starts by giving you 85,000 credits,which is the games currency. Instead of just winning cars,you actually buy them. Credits are very easy to get though,so you won't have to save up very much. Anyway,you are given a few choices of cars to choose from that cost 85,000 credits or less. These cars are much slower than the more expensive cars,but you'll get those more expensive cars in no time. The game gives you many details about each car including year,engine power,top speed,a description of the car itself,and much more. The car you choose gets put into your virtual garage,which you can actually walk around in and view all your cars from all angles.
A big highlight from the other Project Gotham racing games is that you can view the inside of your car. Each cars interior is exactly matched up with the real life car,and all the side mirrors and rear view mirrors really work. You can also look around your car using the right stick,which you can use to look out the side windows. The cars dash is also modeled to the real car. The speedometer and RPM gauge work,but analog speedometers seem to be off the actual speed. Your HUD may say that you're going 100 mph,but your dash speedometer says you're going over 150 mph. It's not accurate,but it's no big deal.
In the main mode of PGR3,you choose from a series of championships where you race courses in serveral cities including London,New York,and others. Each race you do has a certain goal you must meet in order to pass. Some goals include getting a certain amount of kudos,while others include passing a certain number of cars or finishing a race in a certain position. Before each race,you choose a difficulty setting. These range from novice to very difficult. The harder level you choose,the more credits you win. But,I found if very easy to get money by choosing the easy setting. I still had multi-thousands of credits in a matter of minutes.
The graphics in PGR3 are superb,especially if you have an HDTV. While 1080p is best,as they say,the graphics look stunning even if you play it in 720p. I noticed no framerate drops at all,even when going very fast. The cities look real and colorful,and the cars look sweet too. Cars also reflect light off them. The cars don't take much damage. The only damage you see in smashed mirrors and maybe a loose hood. The music in the game is not my type,so I use the custom soundtrack. The cars all make good sound effects,but they're pretty much the same as other games. The typical screeching tires and the typical noise that's heard when you hit a wall is also present here. All car engines do make different noises,however.
Finally,the online mode is very interesting as well. You have an online rank,which starts you out as a newcomer. As you race,and win races,you rank climbs and so does your skill. You have your typical players who like to try to slam into you and mess you up,but if you are an experienced driver this won't bother you. There's also Gotham TV. This feature allows you to watch other pro race drivers from where ever race against others. You can even view and look around the inside of their car. While you probably won't use this feature very often,it's still fun to kick back and watch other real-life racers put the petal to the metal once in a while.
Overall,PGR3 is a great racing game and fans of the previous Project Gotham games will really enjoy the new features here.