TGS 2005: Project Gotham Racing 3 Impressions
We meet with Bizarre Creations in Tokyo to check out the latest build of this Xbox 360 racer.
TGS 2005: Earlier today, during a meeting with Bizarre Creations, we had an opportunity to check out the latest work-in-progress version of Project Gotham Racing 3. Currently scheduled for release shortly after the Xbox 360 launch in November, Project Gotham Racing 3 promises to improve upon its popular predecessor through the addition of numerous new modes, more realistic gameplay, and, of course, much-improved visuals. The first thing we got to see during our demonstration was the game's main menu screen, which includes Gotham career, playtime, and Gotham TV options--all of which we got to see in action.
Project Gotham Racing 3's career mode will be quite different from that in PGR2, largely because the game no longer features class-based racing. In fact, all of the game's 180 vehicles fall into the same class--that being super-desirable sports cars capable of over 170 miles per hour. At the start of your career, you'll be given a budget with which to buy your first motor, and although it's unlikely you'll have enough money to choose from all 180 cars (each car costs the same in-game as it would in real life), those available to you from day one won't necessarily be inferior in terms of performance; they just won't be as prestigious. Each of the cars is made up of around 80,000 polygons, half of which are used to model accurate interiors.
Your Project Gotham Racing 3 career will span both single-player and online competitions and will incorporate a number of new race types in addition to those found in PGR2. Checkpoint-based "breakthrough" races will give the game an arcade feel at times, as will the "time vs. kudos" events in which you're required to complete races against a time limit that's impossible to beat unless you pause the timer by sliding your car and earning kudos points as often as possible. The solo career mode will feature a total of 23 championships, and as your career progresses you'll visit four different cities, including London and Tokyo.
The fact that there are only four cities in Project Gotham Racing 3 might initially sound disappointing for fans of the series, but it's worth noting that the areas of the cities that have been accurately re-created are some three times larger than those in PGR2. Having seen a couple of Tokyo tracks in action, we can also report that the level of detail is nothing short of remarkable this time around. Every single building has been modeled individually with textures based on photographs, and although you won't really appreciate just how good they look when you're racing past and marvelling at the sensation of speed created by some sublime motion blur effects, if you take the time to check them out, we promise you won't be disappointed.
Another thing you might not notice during a regular eight-car race is just how detailed the crowds of people watching it are. Every person in the crowd is modeled in full 3D and boasts motion-captured animations, and, at least along the stretch of road where we were invited to check them out, no two of them looked the same. We were mighty impressed when it was pointed out to us that the vast majority of the crowd lining the Tokyo circuit were Japanese, and we were more impressed still when we noticed their dynamic behavior. If the race is exciting and you're doing well, for example, the crowd will cheer. If you hit a barrier that has people behind it, they'll jump backward in shock, and if you slow down alongside a crowd for any reason, you'll notice some of them taking photos.
Project Gotham Racing 3 Quick Links
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- Microsoft Game Studios
- Bizarre Creations
- GT / Street Racing
- Release: Nov 16, 2005 »
- ESRB: Everyone 10+
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