Reviews// Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360)

The spectators though, rather than being the stationery 2D cut-outs we're used to from other games, are animated 3D characters. They even jump back in shock (and awe) when you stack into the barrier in front of them at 120 mph with all wheels locked. They do display a rudimentary lack of awareness of the actual location of your car though, frequently staring aghast at a spot some 15 metres away from where you actually hit.

Crashes themselves are an anti-climax. We've all gotten used to incredible smashes from Burnout and GT (without crash deformation, of course - those car manufacturers are pathetically sensitive about that). But in PGR, the cars just crunch sickeningly into the scenery going from 200mph to zero in a moment, and neither the cars nor the drivers are noticably worse off for this surely intestine-liquidising decelleration. Some mild body deformation can be seen, and switching to in-car view will reveal a few screen cracks. But without spectacular crashes, a racing game is... well, slightly neutered.

PGR has opted more for the arcade style handling and thrills-for-points style reward system of Burnout than the finely balanced arcade-sim style of GT. This makes for a thouroughly entertaining prospect. Different cars do handle noticably differently, and you'll find ones that are to your liking and ones that aren't. Every vehicle requires practice to learn its particular characteristics, but aside from that the game does tend to plough the same furrow over and over - and logic suggests that this should quickly become tiresome. But the joy of perfecting your drifting technique is such that the game exudes that vital one-more-go factor.

The game has a wide selection of musical styles, ranging from Hip-hop to JPop, and you can select six of these to put on your stereo "pre-set" buttons - accessed from the D-pad. You can even play your own tunes from the HD or a connected Media Centre PC or (better still) iPod.

There's a route editor, but this just lets you select the order of way points on the tracks you've already raced, and it won't let you select a route that crosses itself - so while they claim there are over 100,000,000 routes you can create - few of them improve over the ones in the game.

SPOnG rating: A-
[i]With Xbox360 about to hit our shores, along with a fine selection of software to choose from at launch the chances are that if racing games are your thing, you'll have PGR3 firmly in your sites as a must buy purchase.

Playing Hi-Def racing games, sat on our sofa on our huge projection TV is a massive thrill. And PGR3 is a great game to experience that thrill with. It might not be the perfect console racing game but with the benefit of HD, its definitely the best right now...[/i]