Pure Speed, Pure Showmanship

The Project Gotham Racing® series has built a large and enthusiastic following with its compelling combination of pure racing and cutting-edge style. Slick but realistic-looking cars hurtling down a straightaway before taking line-perfect curves with a dash of powerslide and a pinch of fishtail for spice is the way the PGR™ series plays out. This dynamic dichotomy between speed and style makes for a fresh take on the racing genre, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

Project Gotham Racing® 3 ups the ante by setting a new standard for vehicle performance. As the tag line notes, "Life Begins at 170 mph," and this time they aren't kidding around! PGR™ 3 features the fastest, most desirable supercars on the planet. Every car on the track has been hand-picked specifically for its ability to hit 170 mph (and beyond). Why drive anything else?

Off the Floor
While you're revving the engine and getting ready to peel away from the starting line, your car should feel like it just came off the showroom floor, and in this regard, PGR 3 delivers. The paint shines and glimmers and reflects the light with that new car brilliance. Your car is a well-oiled machine that is prepared to prove its mettle, but this exotic showroom style is much more evident than in previous efforts. Not only are the basic visuals greatly improved, but the subtleties of each car have been paid far greater attention. The interiors of the vehicles, for example, have received a massive overhaul. The dashboards are authentic and look so real you'll swear you can smell the leather and see your face reflected in the speedometer glass.

The crowd roars its approval.

Dynamic Handling
While the look of the car sings with showroom quality, the dynamics of driving them help to instill that exotic quality of high-end racing the Project Gotham Racing series thrives on. In PGR 3, a few areas have been scrutinized for fine tuning:

1. Kicked Back: Ever sat in a muscle car that flexed its full muscle? That first burst off the line lets you know you're dealing with formidable power, and that moment, that first burst of inertia, has been finely tuned in this latest offering. Lower gears make you really feel the thrust and power as the car tears up the tarmac. Acceleration off the line is now the adrenaline-pumping experience it should be.

Life really does begin at 170!

2. Higher Gear, Higher Thrill: Also fine-tuned in PGR 3 are the steering mechanics and the disparity you feel when taking technical turns at 60 mph in the lower gears versus the car-vibrating thrill of subtle alterations when clocking near 200 mph. Now you can truly feel the sweet handling of a finely tuned car, but still experience the thrill of putting a car through its paces as you test the limits of your tires' adhesion to the road.

3. The Art of the Slide: While clearly prominent in the early iterations, the physics for tire grip (and the powerslides that result from it) have been loosened even more, making for more woolly and wild fishtailing turns that give PGR 3 its exhilarating, unique feel.

It's all about the competition.

4. Manual Is Your Friend: No one goes to the dealership and asks for an exotic sports car with automatic transmission (AT). True exhilaration comes from smoking around a turn and dropping your Ferrari into the perfect gear, hearing the roar of torque you're about to employ while losing the least acceleration. Therefore, even more attention has been paid to the mechanics for the manual transmission setting in PGR 3. Those that choose to master its subtle art will thrive against those who cling to the "ease" of an AT.

Project Gotham Racing has always been and will always be about slick cars and exquisite style, but the introduction of the world's fastest supercars brings a new level of sophistication to a racing game that is still well aware of its primal roots. Look out for Project Gotham Racing 3 as it blazes a trail forward in all its areas of expertise.

By Alex McLain