Project Gotham Racing 2 was a game that exemplified the original Xbox’s power. It feature realistic damage modeling, awesome graphics, Live play, and custom soundtrack support. When Bizarre Creations announced they were working on a sequel for the 360, gamers everywhere held their breath in anticipation. Was it going to be better than the original?

Features

• Over 80 Licensed cars
  
• 80,000 Polygons Per Car
  
• Eight Person Xbox Live Play
  
• Amazing New Spectator Mode
  
• Revolutionary GothamTV mode
  
• New Race generation feature

Racing games tend to live or die on how the game plays, and PGR3 has tweaked this to some extent. The developers have decided to balance the game between realistic and arcade racing, so the tweaked vehicles respond more accurately. Now you will find that you’ll have to take your car’s steering response, weight, and speed into more consideration as you try to handbrake around turns. Each car has not only been more accurately modeled, but also Bizarre Creations has captured the real sounds of each car that you play. So when you rev up that Ferrari’s engine, you can bet real Ferrari owners are hearing the same thing.

Bizarre Creations recently bragged that they would have over 40,000 polygons per car model. This turned out to be a lie, they later admitted. Now they have given a more accurate estimate: 80,000 polygons per car. This unbelievable number includes both the inside and the outside of the car, which you can switch between at any time. The outside of the car looks nearly photo realistic, especially the cool damage models when opposing racers bump against you or walls scrape the paint off your car. The inside also truly shines. Not a lot of racing games even offer you an inside view of a car, but each of the 80+ cars in PGR3 have an accurately mapped dashboard view, complete with a windshield that reflects the details of the track around it. They also have the ability to look out the left and right hand sides of the INTERIOR of the car. Amazing.

Each of the three settings: London, Tokyo, and New York are filled with amazing detail. While the maps of the areas are not based on any real streets, the distinction of each track is amazing. You will see fully rendered 3D crowds coming to watch you and fellow racers zip around the track. Tire marks from drifts and burnouts will mark the pavement, and your car’s reflection of some of the larger building’s windows around the track. The buildings look photo realistic, and the crowds will respond to what you do. Pull off drifts or turns that earn you a lot of kudos, and they will applaud. Bump into another car or try and cheat you’re way into victory, and you may hear them hoot and howl with disapproval.

The game sports eight person Xbox live play with no slowdown or reduction in crowd detail. But if you truly want to brag, up to 30,000 people can watch the race at once. That’s right, the new spectator mode lets a HUGE number of people see what you're doing at any time. Imagine the pressure when you enter a ranked battle, seeing an astounding number of real people logging into see you play. This combined with the new GothamTV mode will make amazing replay value.

Project Gotham Racing 3

GothamTV is a revolutionary mode that uses Xbox Live like no other game before it. Aside from the weekly-hosted racing events (which you can log into as spectator or to scope out the competition), GothamTV will keep you constantly updated with new records on each course via a news ticker that scrolls across the bottom of the screen. Got a challenge? You’ll see it without ever having to switch to the dashboard, as the person’s name will scroll across the bottom of the screen. It will also let you know if new content is available for download. This amazing feature will probably emulated on future games, and it’s surprising it took a company this long to try it out.

Bored of the tracks laid out for you by the designers? Well now they include a course creation mode. This doesn’t let you create things from scratch; rather it opens up all the pathways in every city. You can then define a race course in the city by drawing a line between each checkpoint. Want a crazy 90-degree course that challenges the reflexes of even the most seasoned driver? Have fun defining the track, then upload it unto Xbox Live with your best times. If you don’t feel like taking advantage of this feature, there is also a random track generator for you to mess around with.

All these amazing features make Project Gotham Racing 3 one of the must-have launch titles for the 360. We will have more on Project Gotham Racing 3 when it launches alongside the system this month.