PGR3 is a really fine racing game, but can't come close to PGR2

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So, having the funds and time, last year I bought myself PGR2, 3 and 4 and go through them all. After having fnished PGR 2, 3 was the next logical choice. Well, what can I say, while PGR3 is a really good racing game, it definatly can not reach the level of PGR2, which imo, is in a masterpiece class with the likes of GT1-4, Burnout 3 and more. Its driving mechanics are REALLY good though, probably even slightly better, than in PGR2, and thus, the best in the entire PGR series. What PGR3 also does the best, is the garages. It has like 10 or so different ones with each having its own feel and atmopshere, and there's actually enough space to park all 80 cars of the game in them, which is like a little fun game itself. :)

General info on the game: The game itself is MUCH easier, than PGR2 on platinum/hardest given mode. Other than that, they are very similar games.
Game modes: 1. Street race: race against other cars. 2. Overtake challenge: Overtake a set amount of cars in a set amount of time. 3. Slalom/cone challenge: Drive through cone pairs as quickly as possible, without hitting them, the wall, or otherwise braking the combo by being too slow. 4. Speed trap: Drive as quickly as possible at a fixed part of a track. 5. One on one: You against one other A.I. opponent. 6. Elimination: Multiple laps race, where each completed lap, the last placed car gets eliminated from the race. 7. Drift challenge: Get as many drift points as possible in an usually small amount of time (less than a minute). 8. Hot lap: Set fast lap in a single lap. 9. Timed run: Basically a hot lap, but on a point to point track. 10. Breakthorugh: Similar to a hot lap, but you are given 10 seconds plus each time you reach a further point on the track and the timer goes constantly down. 11. Time vs. Kudos: Again similar to a hot lap, but the timer here goes constantly down as well. You prevent it from going down by driving in a manner, that would give you Kudos points (drifting, sliding, jumpung, driving an ideal racing line, etc.).
Tracks: You have 4 cities (New York, Las Vergas, London and Tokyo). Plus you have the Nürburgring GP course and the Nordschleife.
Cars: MUCH quicker on average, than in PGR2, but also less of them. 80 in PGR3 vs. 102 in PGR2. Some are returning from PGR2, many are new. If you have questions, please feel free to comment and ask. :)
Graphics and sound: Pretty amazing for a 360 game, though slightly sub 720P. The engine sounds are nice, nothing great. The music in the game is ok, I've listened to much better OSTs.

So all in all, PGR3 is a racing game worth your time and worth checking out. If you like, you can check out my PGR3 walkthrough on the hardest diffculty mode and more vids I did about this game:









If you like, you can also check out my PGR2 review and my platinum walkthrough there:


 
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I bought and played through PGR3 myself a few months ago. I went into it knowing that it was a launch title for the 360, so I anticipated it being quite shallow in terms of content and rough around the edges in terms of graphics/performance optimization.

The car list however is fantastic for its time, perhaps even by today’s standards IMO. The focus on supercars made PGR3’s identity stand out from Forza when Bizarre could have made PGR3 to be Forza with city streets instead of dedicated tracks. There’s also plenty of awesome cars that didn’t make it to PGR4 that make PGR3 worth it like the Nissans, the concept Fords, the Elfin MS8, the Elise GT1, and the Callaway C7 just to name a few.

There were certainly fewer cities in PGR3 than PGR2, but I still thought they looked impressive, especially at night. Nighttime London and New York (even daytime Las Vegas and Tokyo) is something I would have liked to have seen in PGR4.

You’re right about the game being a quick/easy playthrough, even for platinum. To be fair, I only used two cars in my entire playthrough (the Ultima and the F50 GT, the latter I bought as soon as I could so I could breeze through the rest of the game).

I also took a look at the no longer available DLC cars - though many made it to PGR4 a few sadly didn’t. BMW Z8? Cadillac XLR? Chrysler Firepower? Skyline R34 Z-Tune? Even a Mini Cooper for 🤬s and giggles? Sign me up!

All that being said, you’re in for a real treat when you play PGR4- to me, it’s darn close to being my all-time favorite racing game for its presentation, vehicle list, and sounds among other criteria.
 
I suspect this was a game rushed for the release of the Xbox 360? I literally have no recollection of this game.

By the time I played it PGR4 was well out and I remember it being short. And one of the final races was in a Toyota GT-One on the New York track?

PGR4 seemed just as short but at least they did a whole bunch of revolutionary shat here.

I HIGHLY recommend people give PGR4 a go. Its that good.
 
I suspect this was a game rushed for the release of the Xbox 360? I literally have no recollection of this game.
When I played it, it didn’t feel rushed, to me at least. To be fair, I bought it 15 years after the game came out (and I bought PGR4 at the same time too) while knowing full well that it is a launch title, which meant I fully expected some jankiness, and my deepest experience with PGR2 is watching people play it on YT. It wasn’t anything jaw-dropping like Mario World/64/Sonic 1/Adventure/Halo CE/Wii Sports were but for a launch title it was solid. Especially compared to Microsoft’s next attempt at a racing game for a console’s launch.


By the time I played it PGR4 was well out and I remember it being short. And one of the final races was in a Toyota GT-One on the New York track?

PGR4 seemed just as short but at least they did a whole bunch of revolutionary shat here.

I HIGHLY recommend people give PGR4 a go. Its that good.
You would not be mistaken by claiming that PGR3 was short, but you might be mistaken if one of the last races was the combination you mentioned. One thing I liked about the career mode is that you could play any race in any car you wanted, provided you had the money. You could get all platinums with just E-class cars (the slowest class) if you wanted to because the game scaled the races to fit your car’s class.

I wouldn’t recall PGR4 being as short as PGR3 though. But you’re right about it being “that good,” it’s much more polished than PGR3 in just about every way imaginable.
 
Yes PGR3 was rushed to make the 360 launch, and consequently featured much less content than 2.
The PGR series was considered a tentpole product at the time, which is amazing to think about now after the franchise was systematically dismantled by MS, ostensibly to give the Forza brand a clear path to find its legs.
 
I played PGR while Forza was hitting its stride with Forza 4.

I always felt MS treated PGR as a filler driving game. It was never theirs. It was Bizzare's baby. They just used it to fill in the 'driving game' hole.

And so while they developed Forza up to what it is today, they dont care about PGR.

Same as with Drive Club. it was always going to play 2nd fiddle to GT.
 
I bought and played through PGR3 myself a few months ago. I went into it knowing that it was a launch title for the 360, so I anticipated it being quite shallow in terms of content and rough around the edges in terms of graphics/performance optimization.

The car list however is fantastic for its time, perhaps even by today’s standards IMO. The focus on supercars made PGR3’s identity stand out from Forza when Bizarre could have made PGR3 to be Forza with city streets instead of dedicated tracks. There’s also plenty of awesome cars that didn’t make it to PGR4 that make PGR3 worth it like the Nissans, the concept Fords, the Elfin MS8, the Elise GT1, and the Callaway C7 just to name a few.

There were certainly fewer cities in PGR3 than PGR2, but I still thought they looked impressive, especially at night. Nighttime London and New York (even daytime Las Vegas and Tokyo) is something I would have liked to have seen in PGR4.

You’re right about the game being a quick/easy playthrough, even for platinum. To be fair, I only used two cars in my entire playthrough (the Ultima and the F50 GT, the latter I bought as soon as I could so I could breeze through the rest of the game).

I also took a look at the no longer available DLC cars - though many made it to PGR4 a few sadly didn’t. BMW Z8? Cadillac XLR? Chrysler Firepower? Skyline R34 Z-Tune? Even a Mini Cooper for 🤬s and giggles? Sign me up!

All that being said, you’re in for a real treat when you play PGR4- to me, it’s darn close to being my all-time favorite racing game for its presentation, vehicle list, and sounds among other criteria.
I agree on all points. I'm through with PGR 4 and am currently uploading videos on that one. Tomorrow I'll drop a video that's all about the engine sounds ! :)
I suspect this was a game rushed for the release of the Xbox 360? I literally have no recollection of this game.

By the time I played it PGR4 was well out and I remember it being short. And one of the final races was in a Toyota GT-One on the New York track?

PGR4 seemed just as short but at least they did a whole bunch of revolutionary shat here.

I HIGHLY recommend people give PGR4 a go. Its that good.
PGR4 is FAR longer compared to PGR3.

I played PGR while Forza was hitting its stride with Forza 4.

I always felt MS treated PGR as a filler driving game. It was never theirs. It was Bizzare's baby. They just used it to fill in the 'driving game' hole.

And so while they developed Forza up to what it is today, they dont care about PGR.

Same as with Drive Club. it was always going to play 2nd fiddle to GT.
Exactly. :(
 
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