Online Tips

Project Gotham Racing® 3 is one thing offline, but true competition can be found in the online matches, pitting real people against one another in an ongoing battle to determine who the best of the lot is. Nearly every mechanical tip from offline racing applies to online, but there are a few other things to pay attention to, as well as old strategies that must be emphasized.

No Road Rage
Not only is driving overly aggressively in an online match a bad idea from a strategic point of view, it's also a bad idea from a community standpoint. Make sure you play with proper etiquette, as unsportsmanlike conduct will likely get your rep dinged with unfavorable player feedback/reviews.

Watch your back.

In short, don't drive another car into the rail, don't tag a rear bumper to spin someone out, and don't stop or sit parallel in the road. At the same time, don't always jump to conclusions regarding your fellow drivers. If they tap you once, that's unfortunate; if they tap you twice, that's suspicious; if they slam you or if you see them take someone out in front of you, that's cause for criticism. Be fair in both your driving and your feedback.

Less About the Kudos
While Kudos breed bragging rights and help unlock concept cars for purchase, their purpose in the Online Career—and online matches in general—is a little less severe. You should still shoot for a stylish run, but don't do so at the cost of speed. After all, your main goal in most races is to place first, so drive fast, drive clean, and don't sacrifice a win for a lengthier power-slide.

Don't bump them.

Watch and Learn
Track knowledge is of paramount importance in PGR™ 3. You can expect to do well on an unknown track the first time, but you can't expect to excel. Beyond just practicing on the track in question, though, try hitting up Gotham TV and watching the best of the best on the Heroes channel navigate some of the trickier courses. You may pick up a tip or two.

Avoiding the Crunch
When you see trouble brewing ahead—say, cars crashing into each other and the rails—make sure to approach with extreme caution. Though it may be tempting to see if you can avoid the mess at top speed, avoid the crash and take it slow, get past it, and speed on.

Likewise, if someone is tapping you from behind and you're in danger of spinning out, it might be advisable to let them pass (if only briefly), or draw even so they don't tap your bumper on the side and send you spinning out. Taking chances is tempting, and often rewarding, but the several seconds you drain when crunching up against the rail will flat out lose you any opportunity of winning.

Understand the Leaderboard
The leaderboard you see after each Online Career race is not specific to the track you just raced, but a quick look at your placing in your current ranking, so you can see how close you are to increasing your Trueskill rating.

Cutting it tight.

No Random Career
Though a little less important in the earlier stages of your career, once you start competing against some of the better players, choose your car based on the race type. Thus, choose your race type and then your car, as opposed to selecting Random Race where you may get a match faster, but find your car isn't suited to the track or race.

For example, you might want greater acceleration and top speed going into Gotham Dueling, as you won't have to worry about so many cars bumping you, but Street Races may require a more balanced car, and Urban Rally may require yet a different approach depending on your preference.

Drivin' Stick
Though important in offline races as well, online matches offer far more intensely competitive matches, especially with the upper echelon players—players that can beat Platinum level offline races without batting an eye—and you can be sure that these players are grabbing full control with manual transmission setups. Driving manual simply offers more precision than automatic, and when hundredths of a second are routinely deciding placement at the end of the race, you need every edge you can get.

See you on Xbox Live®!

Article by Alex McLain