Project Gotham Racing 3
Encyclopedia
Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3 for short) is an arcade-style racing game
that was released with the launch of the Xbox 360
on November 22, 2005 for the US market and December 2, 2005 in Europe, and was released on January 12, 2006 in Japan. Developed by Bizarre Creations
, it is the third installment in the Project Gotham Racing series
. Project Gotham Racing 3 was rated by Official Xbox Magazine
(OXM) to be Xbox 360 "Game Of The Year" (2005). OXM also recently rated it "Best 1st Person (Not Shooter) of the Year", because of its realistic inside-car view.
, London
, New York
, and Tokyo
, as well as the Nürburgring
- to race through.
, Dodge
and Lamborghini
.
In PGR2 the car models were made of 10,000 polygon
s, but with the next generation hardware's power Bizarre's modelers have been able to put as many as 105,000 polygons worth of detail into the cars, although it was initially stated that most cars comprise of 80,000- with 40,000 of those being spent on the exterior and the remaining 40,000 on the interior, Bizarre issued a statement of apology stating that the average polygons per car is actually closer to 45,000. The increased polygon count allows for smoother, less jagged-shaped cars than in earlier games. Of the 80 cars in the game, 71 are unlocked and available for play at the start of a new game, while the remaining 9 (prototypes, one-offs, and concept) cars are left for the player to unlock.
In a change from the previous two games, PGR3 emphasizes supercar
s and special models instead of generic production cars (Cars with a top speed of over 170MPH). One of the starter cars is the Acura NSX. While there are production cars in PGR3, PGR2 emphasized common vehicles such as the Ford Focus
. However, the BMW Mini is available via download content.
Porsche
, available in the first two games, has been omitted from this game in favor of RUF.
s for single player career events as well as Time Trials
and test track times.
Gamers with Xbox Live
Gold are able to race with up to seven other competitors in races online. Online career (ranked) and playtime (unranked) are both offered as online multiplayer modes. Scoreboard
s also track standings for online career.
PGR3 also allows for online tournaments, the first of which was the PGR3 Global Tournament, won by a Swedish player.
once again play an important part in Project Gotham. Kudos points are given for stylish driving, for example drifting around a corner, drafting, or getting two or four wheels off the ground. Different sets of points can be linked using a combo, by performing more stylish maneuvers before the Kudos become 'banked' (in PGR2 this cut-off time was 2 seconds). When combos are linked up, you are given a bonus for keeping them linked together, and this builds up to huge amounts if the combo is held for a substantial length of time. This bonus is however lost if the player crashes into any barriers, though the base Kudos (all but the combo bonus) are kept.
in 2007 and the World Cyber Games
.
by Bloc Party
, Come To Daddy
by Aphex Twin
, All You Ever Wanted by Deadstar Assembly, Carbon Kid by Alpinestars
based on 92 reviews.
The game scored 88% on Metacritic
based on 74 reviews (based on 94 votes from metacritic.com users, Project Gotham Racing scored 8.2 out of 10). The game also scored 92% from Xbox World 360
, with it being one of the only 13 to be rated above 90%.
was made available May 2006 as free download content.
A speed pack was made available April 2006, with tournament access, new features, some fixes, and new cars.
A style pack was made available July 2006, featuring more cars and features.
for inclusion in PGR3. It is similar to the classic games Asteroids and Robotron: 2084
, though far more advanced graphically whilst keeping the same basic gameplay aesthetic. This hidden mini-game even features its very own Xbox Live scoreboard. It is also downloadable on Xbox Live Arcade
.
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
that was released with the launch of the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on November 22, 2005 for the US market and December 2, 2005 in Europe, and was released on January 12, 2006 in Japan. Developed by Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations was a video game development studio, best known for their racing titles: Metropolis Street Racer and the followup Project Gotham Racing series . The company has also developed games in other genres, including the Geometry Wars arcade series, plus third-person shooters Fur...
, it is the third installment in the Project Gotham Racing series
Project Gotham Racing series
Metropolis Street Racer ' & Project Gotham Racing ' is a series of racing video games developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft , Sega...
. Project Gotham Racing 3 was rated by Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
(OXM) to be Xbox 360 "Game Of The Year" (2005). OXM also recently rated it "Best 1st Person (Not Shooter) of the Year", because of its realistic inside-car view.
Cities
PGR3 offers players four cities - Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, as well as the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
- to race through.
Cars
PGR3 features 80 licensed cars from over 30 manufacturers such as FerrariFerrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
, Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
and Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
.
In PGR2 the car models were made of 10,000 polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
s, but with the next generation hardware's power Bizarre's modelers have been able to put as many as 105,000 polygons worth of detail into the cars, although it was initially stated that most cars comprise of 80,000- with 40,000 of those being spent on the exterior and the remaining 40,000 on the interior, Bizarre issued a statement of apology stating that the average polygons per car is actually closer to 45,000. The increased polygon count allows for smoother, less jagged-shaped cars than in earlier games. Of the 80 cars in the game, 71 are unlocked and available for play at the start of a new game, while the remaining 9 (prototypes, one-offs, and concept) cars are left for the player to unlock.
In a change from the previous two games, PGR3 emphasizes supercar
Supercar
Supercar is a term used most often to describe an expensive high end car. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car"...
s and special models instead of generic production cars (Cars with a top speed of over 170MPH). One of the starter cars is the Acura NSX. While there are production cars in PGR3, PGR2 emphasized common vehicles such as the Ford Focus
Ford Focus
The Ford Focus is a compact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1998. Ford began sales of the Focus to Europe in July 1998 and in North America during 1999 for the 2000 model year....
. However, the BMW Mini is available via download content.
Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, available in the first two games, has been omitted from this game in favor of RUF.
Car classes
Similar to its prequels, each car in PGR3 is allocated to a specific class. There are five classes, A through E, the high performance cars being Class A, and the low performance cars in Class E.Multiplayer
PGR3 allows multiplayer offline with up to two players on one Xbox 360 console or more players via System Link. PGR3 offers online integrated scoreboardScoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...
s for single player career events as well as Time Trials
Time trial
In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...
and test track times.
Gamers with Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
Gold are able to race with up to seven other competitors in races online. Online career (ranked) and playtime (unranked) are both offered as online multiplayer modes. Scoreboard
Scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...
s also track standings for online career.
PGR3 also allows for online tournaments, the first of which was the PGR3 Global Tournament, won by a Swedish player.
Kudos
KudosKudos
Kudos is an English word meaning acclaim or praise for exceptional achievement.Kudos may also refer to:* KUDOS, a vocational-counseling computer program* Kudos , a chocolate-covered cereal bar...
once again play an important part in Project Gotham. Kudos points are given for stylish driving, for example drifting around a corner, drafting, or getting two or four wheels off the ground. Different sets of points can be linked using a combo, by performing more stylish maneuvers before the Kudos become 'banked' (in PGR2 this cut-off time was 2 seconds). When combos are linked up, you are given a bonus for keeping them linked together, and this builds up to huge amounts if the combo is held for a substantial length of time. This bonus is however lost if the player crashes into any barriers, though the base Kudos (all but the combo bonus) are kept.
Tournaments
PGR3 was also included in the Championship Gaming SeriesChampionship Gaming Series
The Championship Gaming Series was an international electronic sports league based in the United States of America, though it had expanded to every continent except Antarctica for Season Two before being abruptly discontinued....
in 2007 and the World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
.
Soundtrack
In the first two installments, there were radio stations in each city. However PGR3 does not offer any of the city's radio stations like in the first two games. Songs in the game include HelicopterHelicopter (song)
"Helicopter" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party that was originally released in the UK in 2004 on the Little Thoughts EP, and two years later as a single from their debut album, Silent Alarm it the US. The song was received with much acclaim, reaching number 29 on the UK Singles Chart on its...
by Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
, Come To Daddy
Come to Daddy
Come to Daddy is a 1997 EP by electronic music artist Richard D. James, commonly known as Aphex Twin. "Come to Daddy [Pappy Mix]" — often simply called "Come to Daddy" — is one of Aphex Twin's best-known songs; it peaked at #36 on the UK Singles Chart...
by Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
, All You Ever Wanted by Deadstar Assembly, Carbon Kid by Alpinestars
Alpinestars
Alpinestars is a manufacturer of technical, high performance protective gear for motorcycle and auto racing , as well as action sports such as Mountain Biking and Surfing....
Reviews
The game scores 88% on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
based on 92 reviews.
The game scored 88% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
based on 74 reviews (based on 94 votes from metacritic.com users, Project Gotham Racing scored 8.2 out of 10). The game also scored 92% from Xbox World 360
Xbox World 360
Xbox World 360 is a British Xbox and Xbox 360 magazine published by Future Publishing.- History :Xbox World 360 began life as Xbox World, with issue one released in early 2003, over a year after the Xbox's release...
, with it being one of the only 13 to be rated above 90%.
Download Content
The entire Cadillac V-SeriesCadillac V-Series
The Cadillac V-Series is the name of high-performance vehicles tuned by the General Motors Performance Division for the Cadillac division of General Motors. Models in the V-Series include the CTS-V, the STS-V and the Cadillac XLR-V...
was made available May 2006 as free download content.
A speed pack was made available April 2006, with tournament access, new features, some fixes, and new cars.
A style pack was made available July 2006, featuring more cars and features.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
PGR2 featured a well known Easter egg, a player could play an old arcade machine type game named Geometry Wars. The game has been revamped by Bizarre CreationsBizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations was a video game development studio, best known for their racing titles: Metropolis Street Racer and the followup Project Gotham Racing series . The company has also developed games in other genres, including the Geometry Wars arcade series, plus third-person shooters Fur...
for inclusion in PGR3. It is similar to the classic games Asteroids and Robotron: 2084
Robotron: 2084
Robotron: 2084 is an arcade video game developed by Vid Kidz and released by Williams Electronics in 1982. It is a shooting game that features two-dimensional graphics. The game is set in the year 2084, in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans...
, though far more advanced graphically whilst keeping the same basic gameplay aesthetic. This hidden mini-game even features its very own Xbox Live scoreboard. It is also downloadable on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
.