Project Gotham Racing 3 is nearly 20 years old, but still feels fresh

[@sheets75]

The sad fate of so many modern racing games - car licensing issues dooming them to obscurity.

[@ThisIsPete]

Yep. It's a real shame.

[@earlo118]

Such an Iconic 360 game. I loved the Project Gotham series, killer soundtrack amazing cars and the more arcade style gameplay was always a nice balance of fun and skill.

[@InterrogatorChaplain]

Miss you Bizarre Creations. Gone, but not forgotten.

[@JZStudiosonline]

They largely joined playground on the Horizon titles. Though given the last couple entries they probably left there too.

[@davidheaton5765]

This felt truly next gen when it came out. Can't remember anything feeling as impactful since then.

[@SteveBrandon]

I can't play either XBox 360 Project Gotham Racing game right now because my XBox 360 died two years ago but I'm trying to remember if there's anything unique to PGR 3 that didn't also appear in PGR 4, which I think was the only game in the series that had every location from its immediate predecessor. PGR 3 was an amazing launch title for the XBox 360 but, in retrospect, it kind of feels like PGR 4 Prelude to me and I'm not sure whether that's a fair assessment of it or not.

[@Ryzza5]

A good reminder of why I still prefer PC gaming. Backwards compatibility is just so much better.

[@ar993094]

Great video man what a classic game too. I remember when I was younger playing the NY map with my cousins such a great game and it still looks so sharp!

[@Jolly-Green-Steve]

I got this game and NBA 2K6 on launch day to run on my 2,000 dollar 720p TV I bought a few months before. In November 2005 it was mind blowing. I remember taking it to friends house and running it at 480p and nobody was impressed. That HD resolution bump was half the wow factor.

[@Bristecom]

PGR3 & 4 are my all-time favorite racing games. They were not considered simulators but they felt the most realistic to me.

[@captainzib]

I've owned MSR, still own PGR1 and 2, though my OG Xbox surely had a failed capacitor by now, and I skipped PGR3, but have PGR4 and Blur. Amazing series. Also, that noise, that sweet tcktcktck noise, can be found in the original Forza Horizon on 360. A portion of Bizarre Creations staff, as well as members of other well reputed racing studios, did coalesce to make Playground Games after all.

[@MeltWithU]

What I love about the series and particularly PGR 1, is that you seemingly got rewarded for anything you did in the game. If you drove a car, a certain amount of miles, you would get a different paint color, kudos, and you would get a new car. You could unlock tracks and music and so much else. It always just rewarded you for playing and I think that is what a lot of modern games are missing. Everything is a grind now. Leveling up, building up your character and weapons and abilities, and somewhere in there you end up trading fun for work. To the point where at a certain spot in the game, you just give up caring. About the story, about the character, about anything. Because it gets so diluted trying to keep track of everything… That the main focus becomes a blur and you end up battling against all of the games features, instead of just taking it all in and being excited for what’s coming next. Which is the magic, or used to be , of playing games. Being transported to a place and time you’ve never been. Being enveloped by the landscape and the story. Different challenges being thrown your way along the path of completing the game. But the core element of any game was fun. Developers main question to themselves during development would be, is this fun to play? Now, it’s about everything you possibly can in this huge sandbox, and letting the player make up their own story. Because even if there is a story attached, the game is so huge that at some point… You forget all of the branches that got you to wear you are. Unless you are playing straight through the story and not getting sidetracked. Even then it’s hard to keep up because of the enormity of the game world. The thing is, I love open world games. But what I find myself doing more times than not, is exploring the world for 30 hours or more and never playing the story. Because I know that when I do, it’s going to end up a twisted mess that can be hard to keep up with… Especially if you’re not playing the game on a constant basis. Even worse if you’re playing multiple games. What I think these games need, is a good 10 to 12 hours story in that open world and then add more stories, either with the main character… Or somebody completely different, throughout that world. Give players a reason to want to explore it, under the guise of each story. Or simply lock parts of the world until the story takes you there. Which gives the players something to look forward to as they progress. Then, when the game is done, and everything is unlocked… They can explore nooks and crannies that the game didn’t take them to. Maybe give them some side stuff to do after the game is done… or again, keep adding story content via DLC. Let players live the life through the eyes of multiple different characters with multiple different professions in the game world. Though separately, not together. So that players can focus on that one character and their life.

[@MarkDell]

I think the Bizarre creations folks ended up working on Forza Horizon. But yeah, I’d love them to release a “Horizon Street Racer” offshoot that was more linear from time to time. Not everything needs to be an open world!

[@G0oseG0ose]

They were bought by Activision in 2007, put out a racing game called Blur in 2010 and Activision closed them that same year.

[@MarkDell]

@@G0oseG0ose yeah. Then some of the people that worked there formed a new studio iirc.

[@jasoncarmichael4540]

One of my all time favourites

[@ctrlaltrees]

Totally agreed that they don't make games like this anymore - the perfect balance between simulation and arcade handling, IMO. Great feeling of progression and a great selection of cars and tracks, and I did enjoy wandering around the garage and admiring my car collection - and in the case of PGR2, playing Geometry Wars!

[@djm9937]

Is a great game. I must replay it !

[@ryansease7066]

Definitely a good video a reminder about what major companies used to produce versus what they tend to put out today. Still, at least these games exist in some form or fashion and are very much worth playing today. In the meantime, take care and I look forward to many more videos yet to come.

[@Thebigdog_1984]

PGR4 for me just pips PGR3 probs because of the bikes and circuits

[@jordanthomas3279]

in the nicest of respects, I get guru larry vibes I can only imagine how impressive a modern day PGR would be with the tech we have today

[@TheFancyPig]

I have never heard of this game, but used to love Forza Horizon games, but got burnt out. You described the issues with the racing mode perfectly about halfway through this video. I will have to give this game a try if I see it at my local used game store! Thanks for sharing!

[@ThisIsPete]

Just remember it's not backwards compatible on modern Xboxes so you'll need a 360 (or emulator) to play it. You should be able to score a copy for pretty cheap though, this game was *everywhere* back in the day so there should be abundant copies floating around on the second hand market.

[@casim8842]

My collection of 360 games grows ever smaller - PGR4 will always be on my shelf ;) It's a perfect pick up and play game, that will also steal hours from you on any given Sunday.

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Interesting about the "backwards compatibility"!

[@jasoncarmichael4540]

Yeah there’s none

[@MrCalverino]

I spent soooo many hrs okay Project Gotham 4

[@MagneticJerk]

Given their recent-ish Steam re-releases (and upcoming release of CTU), wonder if you have any opinion on the Synetic 3D Landscape Engine racers (World Racing and Crash Time series)? Only recently got into them but they've also given me a lot of enjoyment lately for their very straight forward gameplay and gorgeous map design. Crash Time in particular is interesting, because technically they are "open world", but they don't really feel like it, more like Midtown Madness or Midnight Club 1/2 rather than Burnout Paradise/FH/TDU.

[@ThisIsPete]

I think I bought World Racing in a sale a while back. I found the handling a little hard to get along with, but that may just be a matter of practicing. It certainly looked like it could be potentially interesting, though, and I agree on the map being cool. I haven't tried Crash Time before. Will have to give it a look -- thanks for the recommendation!

[@MagneticJerk]

@@ThisIsPete Think WR2 had some slider for the handling that went from "Arcade" to "Sim", could try fiddling with that one. Though I also think it had some peculiarities for handling analog inputs. Think it should be fine with anything XInput, but I had to jump through a few hoops to get my DualSense to work right. The woes of old games on modern hardware But yeah, I really do like their approach to the mapping where they make one big-ish map with an elaborate road network, then section it out for individual races. But unlike the "usual" open world racers, it's still heavily designed around these individual races having cool vistas and routes. Can only really think of the Nacon rally games (V-Rally 4 and the WRC games up to Generations) using a similar approach to great effect. Seeing the same landmarks from different angles in different races is a cool feel and adds a nice sense of space.

[@joshuagrunz]

I wish you would've included a sound fragment of the kudos ticking up. But that's just a minor gripe, I enjoyed the video so thanks for that!

[@Ryzza5]

I guess the closest modern game is GRID Legends. For the talking head shots are you able to look at the camera instead of reading the script? Or grab a teleprompter (Elgato makes a good one).

[@Jorvik-The-Poor]

Happy memories

[@zockeromi1970]

Didn't have it, but it still looks great

[@genejoke8538]

Honestly PGR3 was my least favourite of the series, but it was still a great game. Can't agree hard enough with your opening statement about the current state of racing games. It's been a long time since anything really grabbed me in the racing genre.

[@AlexConnolly]

Vale, Bizarre.

[@retrostansolo]

Didn't these guys go on to make the fantastic BLUR after PGR4? Anyway the PGR series was a great racing experience on the original xbox and xbox 360 and still well worth playing today if you like racing games. PGR2 was a masterpiece on the original xbox and plays beautifully on xbox 360 back compatible in 720p.

[@ThisIsPete]

Yep! Blur was magnificent, which made Activision's complete and utter fumbling of it a real tragedy.

[@retrostansolo]

@@ThisIsPete Tbh these game companies, developer's and licence's do my head in, you would think that bringing their games to back compatible platforms, other systems to sell more of their games. Too much fighting amongst themselves for my liking.

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

ThatIsPete indeed 😂