|
Dedicated PGR2 fans will likely recall that the garage featured a meek little arcade machine in the corner that held the most insane Robotron-flavored Astroids-styled shooter ever made. If you can believe it, the new Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved takes everything you thought you knew about particles, vectors, and dual-analog setups and cranks the volume to 11.
There's just one problem: the two arcade machines (original and evolved) in PGR3 is rather disappointing (Editor's Note: James and I beg to differ). Upon exiting either machine you'll find yourself way back at the main menu, and not in your garage. This ruins the whole point of a quick and easy mini-game that cools your jets after losing a race. When you factor in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved being nothing more than a timed demo of the full version, available on Xbox Live Arcade, you start to wish the developers hadn't even bothered.
This is what drives me nuts about PGR3: for everything I hate such as the limp implementation of Geometry Wars, there's something amazing like custom track creation that gets my motor roaring. And how could I not mention how I love that when you start up a multiplayer game all the cars are available for racing? But, then there's the loading times which are exceptionally long, but nothing I'd consider unreasonable.
Online play is amazing but we should expect no less given the great multiplayer found in PGR2. However, there are some annoyances that can potentially overshadow the one button ease of slipping online and loading a race that counts towards your single-player career. I am of course referring to the people you'll be racing with online. They love to spin you out in order to get the win.
Normally, bad behavior isn't a deal breaker on Xbox Live because of all the great new real-time feedback options we've been given. The annoyance comes once you realize that basic things like indicators for who is currently talking, easily visible names above cars, and names next to car/color tags on the scoreboards are missing.
It does you no good to know that the blue Ferrari that spun you out came in ahead of you because with no name to go with the car you won't know who to leave negative feedback for. That we've come so far in Xbox Live gaming only to see such basic things be forgotten is not a good sign for future Xbox 360 releases.
No chance for appeal here
I really dig what the developers of Project Gotham Racing 3 accomplished, but it's hard not to see the unfinished opportunities lost in the rush to make the launch of the Xbox 360. While the time spent behind the wheel guiding rubber down asphalt has never been so pure it's the time spent creaking through the UI that drags the experience into the mud.
It's hard to really recommend this title to single-player* racing fans because it often takes longer to load into and out of an event then the event itself takes. Even restarting a race requires sitting through an "almost too long" loading screen. Once you're actually behind the wheel there's no other racing game pure and fun, but be prepared to work to get there.
Currently, the multiplayer aspect of PGR3 is without equal on the 360. The future will undoubtedly bring amazing online experiences in the form of games like Forza Motorsport 2 and MotoGP 3, but for now, I can safely say that this is where gear heads will find their racing fix. Just remember, it's not nice to spin out other people.
*Subtract half a star if your Xbox 360 is not, and never will be, connected to Xbox Live
|
