A half week before Christmas (ahem, the “holiday season”) and I get a phone call at 8:00 am from DSmooth. After getting the diaper on the daughter, balancing the phone on my arm I hear the shriek of excitement “GET ON CIRCUITCITY.COM NOW! 360’s HAVE NOT HIT RSS FEEDS YET!” Yeah, so I’ve got a wet diaper and a hungry kid, and I have to go add an xbox 360 to my shopping cart? Are you nuts?
Well yeah, I got the xbox 360 and it landed on my doorstep December 24th standard ground at around 5:00pm. The only two games I own: PGR3, Call of Duty 2. Why PGR3? Because circuitcity.com made me add it to my shopping cart (along with an extra wireless controller, and a memory card…even though it was a Premium setup) before I could ‘check out’ my shopping cart. So, in essence, I was ‘forced’ to purchase PGR3. That’s ok, though, because most of my prior Game Cube games are racing related (i.e. Mario Kart, NFS: Underground).
After hitting the store and getting a new Sony Wega HDTV (yes, mainly for the xbox 360) the wife and I popped in PGR3 and gave it a test spin. It is not Mario cart that’s for sure. PGR3 requires much more driving skill then a game that has ‘cheats’ such as flying shells, bombs, lightening bolts, etc. You have many driving levels to choose from such as Novice, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Hardcore. Novice is good to learn the controls, and easy is good to learn the game (for n00bs like myself). Medium is a great leap from easy but will prepare you for online play.
Career Mode (solo): A+
After three races it was addictive. As you progress through the courses you open new race courses and challenge types to beat. Along the way you are given badges for your racing prowess (completing races without hitting anything, for x number of races complete, for certain stunts, etc.) The game bases everything on credits and Kudos. A credit is a $$ amount (not specified in any countries denomination of course), and Kudos are points you get for doing outstanding maneuvers, stunts, or just impressive driving. Credits allow you to buy new cars, while Kudos allow you a method match your skill against others and unlock certain cars and prototype vehicles. Many races require you to hit a certain number of Kudos to beat a race or to slow down the clock in specific races.
Although Solo Career Mode is not an online gaming method it allows you (if you have an xbox live account) to match your skills up with real players. Each race ends by telling you where you stand in the world ranks, and how you measure up. This gives you a personal goal to hit even in a single player scenario.
Career Mode (online): A+
Online play is addictive. I’m not great yet, usually hitting 6th out of 8th place in a race, but I’ve found online play to be easier in many ways then even the medium solo difficulty. The AI doesn’t mess up very often and you must run a perfect race. Playing online gives you one big advantage: Human Error. Even the champions have it. Online racing has a maximum of eight players. There are many classes to race from and a ‘random’ mode for lazy people that just want to pwn anything they see. You can race against random folks, or your friends. Each race gives you a TrueSkill™ rating to match you up in races with people of your level. As you start placing in races your TrueSkill™ rating goes up. You start as newcomer, and move through rookie, novice, amateur, contender, and so on. The online play is setup such that you do not get ranked as a newcomer with people of overwhelming skill level (the highest I’ve seen is contender).
Gotham TV: B+
I’m not that great of a racer yet, so I need practice and tips. One great way to get them is watching other players racing. Gotham TV isn’t designed for just the best players either. It seems to randomly choose a player to watch on TV (I was chosen once and received a 360 achievement for it!). Once you’re watching a player you can switch to any of the vehicles in the race, and watch how they do it. Do they break a lot? What cars are usually leaders? How do they take those nasty turns? It is all out in the open if your watching them on Gotham TV.
Race Cars: B
There are 70+ cars you can buy. Most that I’ve seen are unlocked and just require you to have enough credits to obtain them. I was slightly disappointed at selection because it just seems to be less then what you’d see from Need For Speed. This may be because they’re all unlocked so you can start buying them without having to hit any milestones (besides money). So I can just save up and buy the best car of each class. The locked cars require so much accumulated Kudos that I’ll be a pro with the current car selection before I even see the others.
And unlike Need For Speed and many other racing games I cannot seem to tweak my car in any real way. This means all online play requires 100% skill (the guy with the ‘better engine’ would always win) since all vehicles are created equal. If you’re a big fan of car upgrades then this may not be the game for you.
360 Achievements: A
Unlike Call Of Duty 2 there are plenty of 360 achievements without having total mad skillz. You can buy seven exotic cars, you can take a photo of every city in the game (you must have them all first of course), buy all cars in a specific ‘car club’, etc. Not all the achievements require you to beat something on ‘hardcore’ mode. Nice.
Graphics & Sound: A+
Of course an xbox 360 game with an HDTV is going to have good graphics right? Right. It is hard to tell that this game is not real life. At 220MPH down a lit bridge and you can see the lights reflecting off all the panels of the car (nice smooth wax!). When you pass by a glowing sign it reflects right off the body, the environmental lighting is awesome. Night races are easily visible and nothing like that of a DOOM game on a console. Headlights actually illuminate things! They are not just white polygon rectangles pointed towards the ground. I need not say more, if you like racing and graphics then this game is a must have. A+
The game comes with a complete sound track, yay. I turn it off, and plug my ipod into the console and listen to my mp3’s while I race. Nothing like listening to a little Disturbed while doing break slides. The only real environmental sounds you hear are the whines of the car engines. These are not V8 powerhouse car rumbles, more of the high pitched turbo whines of today’s fancy sports cars. Still cool though. A-
Car Stunts and FX: C
This game is realistic to a point. When I'm flying down a road at 225MPH and slam straight into a wall you'd think the car might flip or land on its side. They sure do on the autobahn but not in PGR3. The best I've seen is 1 second of air time (there is actually a badge you can get for 2 seconds or something). So when I say "stunts" I mean brake slides, 360 spins, etc. You won't be doing to many ramps, hops, or landing on other cards in PGR3. That deserves a C rating to me, I love to take air.
Car smash ups are 'ok' especially considering the well designed graphics. You will take on dents, and your mirrors may get twisted or your hood may jump around in the wind, but I've never seen any parts fall off or look completely destroyed. When you hit a wall at 90MPH in a Corvette ZR1 in 'real life' you typically have to work hard to find the ZR1 after the impact. In PGR3 you may get a tail light out. B.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you’re a racing fan this game is for you. If you enjoy statistics, being the best, and playing against humans then you should be in your car now racing down to your local game store to pick this up. Serious competition here. Get your ass in gear!
My biggest gripe with online play is that you can get a bad XBL rating if you accidentally hit someone, or beat them in a race. A few folks where complaining that when they beat some folks by a few seconds the person they beat gives them a bad rating.
Now, if I can just figure out why everyone online in PGR3 has a southern accent... ;-)
After hitting the store and getting a new Sony Wega HDTV (yes, mainly for the xbox 360) the wife and I popped in PGR3 and gave it a test spin. It is not Mario cart that’s for sure. PGR3 requires much more driving skill then a game that has ‘cheats’ such as flying shells, bombs, lightening bolts, etc. You have many driving levels to choose from such as Novice, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Hardcore. Novice is good to learn the controls, and easy is good to learn the game (for n00bs like myself). Medium is a great leap from easy but will prepare you for online play.
Career Mode (solo): A+
After three races it was addictive. As you progress through the courses you open new race courses and challenge types to beat. Along the way you are given badges for your racing prowess (completing races without hitting anything, for x number of races complete, for certain stunts, etc.) The game bases everything on credits and Kudos. A credit is a $$ amount (not specified in any countries denomination of course), and Kudos are points you get for doing outstanding maneuvers, stunts, or just impressive driving. Credits allow you to buy new cars, while Kudos allow you a method match your skill against others and unlock certain cars and prototype vehicles. Many races require you to hit a certain number of Kudos to beat a race or to slow down the clock in specific races.
Although Solo Career Mode is not an online gaming method it allows you (if you have an xbox live account) to match your skills up with real players. Each race ends by telling you where you stand in the world ranks, and how you measure up. This gives you a personal goal to hit even in a single player scenario.
Career Mode (online): A+
Online play is addictive. I’m not great yet, usually hitting 6th out of 8th place in a race, but I’ve found online play to be easier in many ways then even the medium solo difficulty. The AI doesn’t mess up very often and you must run a perfect race. Playing online gives you one big advantage: Human Error. Even the champions have it. Online racing has a maximum of eight players. There are many classes to race from and a ‘random’ mode for lazy people that just want to pwn anything they see. You can race against random folks, or your friends. Each race gives you a TrueSkill™ rating to match you up in races with people of your level. As you start placing in races your TrueSkill™ rating goes up. You start as newcomer, and move through rookie, novice, amateur, contender, and so on. The online play is setup such that you do not get ranked as a newcomer with people of overwhelming skill level (the highest I’ve seen is contender).
Gotham TV: B+
I’m not that great of a racer yet, so I need practice and tips. One great way to get them is watching other players racing. Gotham TV isn’t designed for just the best players either. It seems to randomly choose a player to watch on TV (I was chosen once and received a 360 achievement for it!). Once you’re watching a player you can switch to any of the vehicles in the race, and watch how they do it. Do they break a lot? What cars are usually leaders? How do they take those nasty turns? It is all out in the open if your watching them on Gotham TV.
Race Cars: B
There are 70+ cars you can buy. Most that I’ve seen are unlocked and just require you to have enough credits to obtain them. I was slightly disappointed at selection because it just seems to be less then what you’d see from Need For Speed. This may be because they’re all unlocked so you can start buying them without having to hit any milestones (besides money). So I can just save up and buy the best car of each class. The locked cars require so much accumulated Kudos that I’ll be a pro with the current car selection before I even see the others.
And unlike Need For Speed and many other racing games I cannot seem to tweak my car in any real way. This means all online play requires 100% skill (the guy with the ‘better engine’ would always win) since all vehicles are created equal. If you’re a big fan of car upgrades then this may not be the game for you.
360 Achievements: A
Unlike Call Of Duty 2 there are plenty of 360 achievements without having total mad skillz. You can buy seven exotic cars, you can take a photo of every city in the game (you must have them all first of course), buy all cars in a specific ‘car club’, etc. Not all the achievements require you to beat something on ‘hardcore’ mode. Nice.
Graphics & Sound: A+
Of course an xbox 360 game with an HDTV is going to have good graphics right? Right. It is hard to tell that this game is not real life. At 220MPH down a lit bridge and you can see the lights reflecting off all the panels of the car (nice smooth wax!). When you pass by a glowing sign it reflects right off the body, the environmental lighting is awesome. Night races are easily visible and nothing like that of a DOOM game on a console. Headlights actually illuminate things! They are not just white polygon rectangles pointed towards the ground. I need not say more, if you like racing and graphics then this game is a must have. A+
The game comes with a complete sound track, yay. I turn it off, and plug my ipod into the console and listen to my mp3’s while I race. Nothing like listening to a little Disturbed while doing break slides. The only real environmental sounds you hear are the whines of the car engines. These are not V8 powerhouse car rumbles, more of the high pitched turbo whines of today’s fancy sports cars. Still cool though. A-
Car Stunts and FX: C
This game is realistic to a point. When I'm flying down a road at 225MPH and slam straight into a wall you'd think the car might flip or land on its side. They sure do on the autobahn but not in PGR3. The best I've seen is 1 second of air time (there is actually a badge you can get for 2 seconds or something). So when I say "stunts" I mean brake slides, 360 spins, etc. You won't be doing to many ramps, hops, or landing on other cards in PGR3. That deserves a C rating to me, I love to take air.
Car smash ups are 'ok' especially considering the well designed graphics. You will take on dents, and your mirrors may get twisted or your hood may jump around in the wind, but I've never seen any parts fall off or look completely destroyed. When you hit a wall at 90MPH in a Corvette ZR1 in 'real life' you typically have to work hard to find the ZR1 after the impact. In PGR3 you may get a tail light out. B.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you’re a racing fan this game is for you. If you enjoy statistics, being the best, and playing against humans then you should be in your car now racing down to your local game store to pick this up. Serious competition here. Get your ass in gear!
My biggest gripe with online play is that you can get a bad XBL rating if you accidentally hit someone, or beat them in a race. A few folks where complaining that when they beat some folks by a few seconds the person they beat gives them a bad rating.
Now, if I can just figure out why everyone online in PGR3 has a southern accent... ;-)
