Arcade vs. Sim

Racing game fans often define a particular title by its adherence to the real world of auto racing. Some gamers are hardcore simulation fans, gamers for whom Forza Motorsport™ isn't just a game; it's a way of life.

On the other end of the spectrum are those that just want a fun, arcade-style experience of speed and creative driving that breaks the reality barrier—see the Burnout™ series and the Grand Theft Auto games for two disparate examples. Can Bizarre Creations possibly please both kinds of gamers with the hotly-anticipated Xbox 360™ launch title Project Gotham Racing® 3?

With authentic 5.1 digital sound, painstakingly modeled and researched cars, the most realistic city models in any racer yet, and an obsessive devotion to a little concept called "fun," then we say yes, yes they can.

Is it wrong to be obsessive about this level of detail?

Real Sounds
Bizarre Creations has gone to great lengths to make every one of the "supercars" in PGR 3 look, feel, and sound like the real thing (and if Xbox 360 supported it, no doubt they'd have thrown in the new car smell, too).

First, they spent months recording every vehicle in the game in real-world conditions—when you hear your Ferrari's engine roar, that's a real Ferrari you're hearing. With the Xbox 360's next generation digital 5.1 surround sound, the developers have also been able to incorporate the full audio racing experience into the action, too: with an optimal speaker arrangement, you will hear the scrape of metal-on-metal when another racer clips your right rear fender coming from over your right shoulder.

If Xbox 360 supported it, no doubt
they'd have thrown in the new car smell, too.

When it comes to perhaps the most important aspect of "car audio"—a sweet collection of hard-driving tunes—Bizarre has managed to snag some top talent for the game's soundtrack. But, as in previous PGR titles (and all Xbox 360 games) you will be able to crank up your own driving music using tracks ripped to your 20 GB hard drive.

Fully modeled AI race fans react to every move.

Real Cities
Some games use fictional cities based on real ones, which lets developers put in any insane kind of track they want to, but sacrificing realism in the bargain. For PGR™ 3, the designers have taken the "insanity" part to heart—these courses can get absolutely crazy—but have put those courses in detailed, almost photo-realistic real cities.

The environments are so accurate that anyone familiar with New York, London, Tokyo, Las Vegas, or the Nürburgring will be able to recognize exactly where they are at any given time—not that I recommend taking your eyes off the road. While tearing past Big Ben, I took a few seconds to turn to Mssrs. Stein and Treit to shout "Hey, I've been there!" only to find myself in an uncontrolled spin when I looked back at the screen.

Real Performance
The developers at Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations didn't just record the real deals; they studied every aspect of these cars' performance ahead of time. Let's face it, many of us are never going to get to drive a real Aston Martin or an actual Jaguar, let alone some of the beautiful concept cars featured in PGR 3.

Thanks to Bizarre, we can get as close as possible to doing it. In our extensive playtests (but not nearly extensive enough—more, we want MORE!) we all got seriously into the "cockpit view," which shows how the developers haven't just accurately modeled the exteriors with tens of thousands of polygons—they've flawlessly recreated the interiors, as well. You'll even see your glove-encased hands on the wheel, adjusting the radio, and shifting gears.

Super-cars, fully detailed inside and out.

So where's the "arcade" when it comes to performance? Easy—the cars behave like the real deal, the fun comes in the ways you can use that realistic performance in literally fantastic ways. Spin out 360 degrees in mid-race and keep on going. Drift for half a mile around a long curve, throw the tail out on the next corner, put 'er up on two wheels, and watch the kudos pile up!

Real Fun
There's an old saying about not being able to please all of the people all of the time—to which we say "Bah!" Bizarre Creations is out to please all racing fans, all of the time, and if our experience with PGR 3 is any indication, racing fans from both ends of the spectrum will be entranced.

Article by Danny Chihdo