Project Gotham Racing 3

[Kungfu]

Well TommyG all I can say is that makes GT4's photo mode look, well, a bit **** really.

Enzo

[Pirotic]

Just check out the photo mode goodness on here... Amazing!!

http://www.bizarreonline.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9415

To be fair, they can only make it look realistic by putting tons of blur over everything to hide the flat scenery and dodgy lighting. PGR has always had a very poor lighting model, too much spectacular and too many flat surfaces make's it all look a bit surreal, very pretty, but still not anything near photo realistic.

GT4 had more grain to it, had more realistic lighting and well, and you could export your photo's. Most of which i think look better, artistically than PGR3 - and considering how old the hardware is...

Hopefully Forza can show us what the 360 can really do.

[Akira]

GT4 had more grain to it, had more realistic lighting and well, and you could export your photo's, and considering how old the hardware is you can't help but think Bizzare are a bit, well, rubbish.

Bizarre are looking to add the exporting feature,in a future update.

[Pirotic]

ohhh, that's good to hear - it better be bloody free :P

[Kungfu]

After what you've said Pirotic I'll boot up GT4 and have look, see what the difference is like. My memory ain't that great so maybe your right?

[Pirotic]

Well, don't get me wrong - you can tell GT4 is running on lesser hardware but it's just going in the right direction for realism, where as PGR has always had that 'too shiny to be real' fantasy feel to it, much akin to arcade racers such as Scud Race or Outrun. Technically sure its great, but it does spoil the photomode as you have to apply all these motion blurs and filters to make it look half real.

Maybe that's a design decision, maybe Bizzare are trying to shy away from photo realism because the game is more arcade based than simulation based, but either way i'm just not blown away by the visuals, the textures are lovely but they just feel like props, like when you go to a movie studio and it looks half real on set, but peak around the corner and you see everything's flat and fake. GT4 looks more real, at least it does to me.

You'd think with all this 360 power they could at least have more random events, they have a couple of trains/trams but i want birds flying, leaves getting swept and plastic bags blown about as im tearing down the streets. It still feels like 28-days later with a horde of zombies armed with camera flashs.

[Akira]

You'd think with all this 360 power they could at least have more random events, they have a couple of trains/trams but i want birds flying, leaves getting swept and plastic bags blown about as im tearing down the streets. It still feels like 28-days later with a horde of zombies armed with camera flashs.

The strange thing is,that PGR2 had all those things,and i'm kinda dissapointed they are not present here.

Sacrificed for the crowds perhaps.

[MartyG]

Sometimes I wonder if people are playing the same game as me.

[Akira]

Oh believe me,i am.It's just that some of the slight omission's and flaws are rather annoying due to how amazing everything else looks.

Does'nt,in any,way,shape or form take away the fact that PGR3 is the most visceral racing experience i've ever had.Until you've driven round the Kabuchichi Loop(sp?)in a F50GT/F1LM,using the flat to the floor cam,you have'nt experienced Gotham 3.When you really nail this track,GT4 and pretty much every other racer becomes a distant memory.

It's all about the flat to the floor cam.Yea the cockpit view is amazingly detailed and immersive,but it just does'nt come anywhere close to the speed the fttf cam provides.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Yup I agree Haribo:

Why on earth is the gameplay so damn good with nice smooth graphics and wonderful scenery surrounding the race tracks, yet during most daytime races - I see horrific pop-up in terms of a bland/washed building then half a second later the windows and bricks suddenly appear?! The loading times seem quite long too for me to see the problems that are clearly there.

And I own a HDTV.

That's the game loading in the high-resolution LOD models too late. It's nothing to do with your Xbox, just a game rushed to market with some bugs remaining.

[TommyG]

Sometimes I wonder if people are playing the same game as me.

My sentiments exactly. I mean come on guys enough of all this techie talk, just look at it ffs!!

Too shiny, too blurry. So what!! It "looks" amazing!

[Roost]

It looks nothing like that though! It looks amazing but not really like that at all.

[MartyG]

Those pics are from the photo mode - which does look like that.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Those pics are from the photo mode - which does look like that.

In game though with all the filter removed it doesn't look like that, plus those shots look like they're photographed from a TV screen, which always makes things look softer and more real.

I'm also rather underwhelmed with Gotham. Unfortunately I've finished my other two 360 games (Kameo & Condemned) so turned to Gotham... but I find myself bored after 10 minutes or so.

And the visuals, well, they're okay, but only a minor step up from Gotham 2. I'd of gone with lower detail cars and spent the speed that would save on (has to be said) 60fps, as well as much better damage effects (assuming such things could be negotiated with vehicle manufacturers - a damage system as you'd find in a rally game would be fantastic), much more intensive particle effects (imagine the Call of Duty 2 smoke technology used for burning engines, tire smoke etc (obviously with less dense smoke!)), and proper 3D physics on the cars so they can cartwheel/roll/flip etc.

[dc-arena]

The problem I have with PGR3 (after approx 900 hours on PGR2 I might add) is that it's catered too much for people who don't play videogames very much, and as such don't want a challenge. Examples:

- Golds are laughably easy
- Some Platinums are laughably easy
- Pretty much all the cars are unlocked in online mode already, meaning you never need to play offline.

In addition to this, the online career is utter pap, as you cannot play with your friends (which you've made on Live over the last 3+ years), and everybody just uses the games flakey and very questionable collision detection to spin people out (which never happened in PGR2). Then there are the online options.. Only Class B on the Nurburgring? Why?

Bizarre are so desperate to let people buy 200mph cars after playing for 15 minutes, and having virtually everything unlocked from the start, but they restrict you when playing online. Its utter balls.

And don't even get me started on the lack of lap or race timer - WTF were they thinking!?!


EDIT - To add, PGR3 is still a very good game, but its just lacking in challenge and content now. If they sort out a decent online mode (similar to PGR2, or allow friends in career with full options) and fix the easy spin-outs it will last the distance, but at the moment myself and the majority of the people I play with will be shelving this in a matter of weeks. It's nothing compared to PGR2, which lasted until one week before 360 launched.