Expanding the Genre

Between the sheer raw power of the Xbox 360™, the new tapestry of features that Xbox Live® is providing, and the game design ingenuity from the folks at Bizarre Creations, Project Gotham Racing® 3 is rapidly approaching its moment in the sun.

It's that happy moment where all the hype and praise meet reality, and gamers realize that it won't just meet expectations, but shatter them as well.

Sexy lines.

Take a look at some of the more innovative and exciting features that PGR™ 3 is either introducing or harnessing in ways we haven't seen before.

Project Gotham Racing 3 isn't just the next game in the series,
it's the example we've been waiting for that will define
what "next generation" means.

In-Cockpit View
Forty thousand polygons start us off inside each car's utterly unique and authentic cockpit, offering a level of interior detail never before dreamed of, let alone seen. While each detail is exquisitely modeled, down to the buffed wood paneling on a Jaguar, or the subtle hand movements of the driver as they shift up and down using the steering wheel flaps on the more exotic cars, it's the sheer intensity of the viewpoint that makes this feature worth calling out.

The full-throated roar of the car engine is much more intimate in this view, the windshield reflections zoom by and change with each movement, the interior shakes and vibrates at high speeds. In short, the in-cockpit view is absolutely exhilarating and dramatically ups the intensity level.

No more drafting for you.

Online Career
A full online roster of race modes, customizable options, and the whole shootin' match of Xbox Live features would seem to be a pretty sweet deal, but Bizarre Creations has taken online PGR 3 bliss a step further.

Choose to play through all the challenges offered in career mode online instead of off: race against and with friends and foes alike in Street Races, Cone Challenges, Speed Challenges, etc. Earn your Kudos, your credits for car purchases, and your medals in the more dynamic online environment.

Photo-Realistic Environments
One need only to look at the screenshots to see that PGR 3has come closer than any game to achieving true photorealistic environments. More impressive that even is perhaps the life the environments brim with. They don't feel like the flat photographed "realistic" environments we've seen in past generations, and the crowds no longer appear as 2-D sprites that look like oddly animated cardboard cutouts.

They cheer you on as you drift effortlessly around corners and even dodge out of the way if you slam into a nearby partition. It's these little touches, along with the incredible depth and detail of the surrounding environment that create PGR 3's fully immersive experience.

Taste the exhaust.

Gotham TV
Being the first title to utilize the new Spectator Mode feature Xbox Live now offers, one could forgive a bare bones approach, but feast on these abbreviated details to get a glimpse of where PGR 3 is taking the feature.

• Friends Channel: Click on over to this channel to hop into your friend's races live and watch how they play out. You can observe from the stands, or even hop into different cars, including your buddies to get a more personal view of the proceedings.
• Heroes Channel: This corner of Gotham TV is reserved for those select players that have earned Hero status within the game. Watch races live here, and you know you'll be witnessing the best of the best at work.
• Highlights: You can even check out the day's most amazing highlights as the system saves some of the more remarkable races of the today for your general perusal.
• Leaderboard Archive: It's here that you can check out the archived exploits of PGR 3 Heroes races, so if you've been wanting to check out the top racer's highlights, you won't have to worry whether they're online or not.
• News Ticker: A news ticker similar to what you see on national news or sports TV channels will constantly stream up-to-date info at the bottom of your screen (unless you're racing). You'll see important news items of the day, the results from your friend's races, announcement for games or online contents, and other information pertinent to just you.

Project Gotham Racing 3 isn't just the next game in the series, it's the example we've been waiting for that will define what "next generation" means. Get ready for it.

Article by Alex McLain