First, Bizarre Creations separated the Solo career from the Online career to split the offline racers from the online racers. What's striking about this game comes in two flavors: features and graphics. ![]() They're so familiar, neither is much of an issue. Big Features, Bright Cities But strangely, it's not the courses or the handling that's most impressive about this driving game. This type of AI balance is good and challenging, and I like it, but it leads to a lot of trial-and-error gameplay which grows tedious. I have become good enough to occasionally catch opponent AI, but honestly, once they get too far ahead of you, give it up. ![]() Oftentimes it pays to get a really good start and keep it. It takes a few seconds to recover and hit the pedal to the medal, but in almost all cases, the opponent is gone. Just like PGR2, if you spin out - which often happens because of ambitious opponent AI - or misjudge a turn and curve in too early, you'll stop dead in your tracks. This means that once you reach the medium or higher levels of difficulty, each mistake you make could be your last for any given race. and racing balance is just about as unforgiving as in the past. Luckily, you can always up the difficulty level before each race. And if the loosening of the structure and class system is any indication of this, then it is much easier than before. Perhaps the game is perfectly balanced and I'm better than the average player, but I think that Bizarre is handing out the cash for players to make things easier than before. The only slight flaw in this system that I've noticed is that it's way too easy to earn gobs of cash after just a few races. The higher the difficulty level, the higher potential credits and kudos. And medals and trophies unlock new races. The progression structure goes like this: Kudos earn higher ranking and unlock concept cars credits, earned by exceeding the given expectations, earn you the ability to buy new cars. The more you earn, the higher your ranking. There are as many as 16 kinds of kudos from e-brake slides to feints to combo bonuses to airs and 360s. What you will notice when driving is that same generally flat surfaces, enclosed in tracks that challenge your turn-speeds, e-brake slides, and powerslides. The course designs all bring a strong familiarity, and it's clear that Bizarre didn't stray too far from home when drawing them up. The right trigger is acceleration, the left is brakes, and the left shoulder button (or bumper, as MS likes to call it) is for changing from any one of the five camera angles (three in-car, two over the shoulder). When I took up the controls I felt immediately at home. All that means is that PGR3 is a little more fun when things get really fast and hairy. There is a slight change in weight and physics, a slightly heavier feel that can be determined in every car, providing each with a mass that's harder to control and powerslide with and straighten out. ![]() Straight-up Kudos Racing Project Gotham Racing is a well-crafted, well-honed racer. But it feels like it's just barely scraping the surface of the next generation, and given the power and promise of this system, Project Gotham Racing 3 settles so easily into a nice comfy and very familiar place. It feels like PGR 2.5, or maybe PGR 2.75, and that's fine. ![]() When you get right down into the roots of this next-generation racer, it's unmistakably similar in almost every way to PGR2. Bizarre's racer is beautifully crafted with 80 genuinely gorgeous cars and primed for a long-lasting career on Xbox Live, and yet this arcade-style racer with a flair for realism also doesn't feel like a complete and fully whole sequel in the way a sequel should feel like. Right now, in fall 2005, Bizarre Creations has fashioned a supremely good-looking racing game with a trunk-full of superb features and is totally prepped for the next generation launch of Xbox 360. What a legacy to build upon, and what a bar to have to surpass with Project Gotham Racing 3.
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