Ryu\'s Project Gotham Impressions

Sorry for not posting this with the DOA3 impressions, but I was running short on time with the Internet.

I\'m sure a lot of you are wondering about Gran Turismo 3\'s strangle hold on the racing simulation genre.  Is Project Gotham a worthy substitute for GT3 on the X-Box?  I would say that it\'s a worthy adversary, but GT3\'s position on the thrown is still guaranteed.  Of course, however, that doesn\'t mean that Project Gotham isn\'t a decent racer in itself.  PG is definitely a game I would pick up at the X-Box launch if I was purchasing one.

The graphics itself are decent enough to pass for next generation, even though it doesn\'t quite beat GT3 in that department.  Both games have loads of style however and I like what Project Gotham brings to the table over GT3.  The damage model is definitely something to keep your eye on and it makes the game very enjoyable to play.  Fearing and just barely tapping the walls is an aspect that was lacking in all the GT\'s to date and PG brings this new aspect to next generation consoles quite successfully.

The buildings in the game are fairly flat almost coming off as if they were made out of paper.  Additionaly, because of the damage models, the cars don\'t look as polished as they do in GT3, but that\'s to be expected and in my opinion, the two off set each other and even out.  I actually prefer the damage models to the more polished cars.  Otherwise, the game is decently polished sporting some great lighting effects and reflection mapping.

Gameplay wise, it\'s more of a personal preference.  GT3 has the tracks, the cars, the graphics, and the realistic qualities that you would expect in a racing simulation.  Project Gotham has a great damage model, decent graphics, and a decent amount of cars.  It comes up just short of GT3 but makes a very formidable game nonetheless.  If you take the gameplay aspects of PG and mix them with the authentic look and feel of GT3, you\'d have a perfect racer.

[color=0033CC] I am starting to get jealous of ryu getting all the impression:p I agree the backgrounds do look flat in gotham. I kind of like the damage cars better myself. And it is all based on taste when you look at the two games. And I would agree they do quite even eachother out with all the hype that gotham is supose to have.[/color]

Originally posted by Ryu
GT3 has the tracks, the cars, the graphics, and the realistic qualities that you would expect in a racing simulation.

GT3 is not a racing simulation, it\'s a driving simulation. To even be considered a decent racing game you\'d expect it to have proper opposition AI (which it doesn\'t, just cars taking the same paths around the course - if you\'re in the way they just bump you), a damage model (crash and bump overtaking doesn\'t happen in the real world), rotational collision physics (if you bump a car from behind at 90mph it will spin, NOT go faster - this isn\'t Mario Kart), and for the love of God at the very least a 12 car racing field not a puny 6 car one.

Just thought I\'d point that out. Those who think GT3 is a great racing game need to play Grand Prix 3 & GPL on the PC for starters, and Jarret & Labonte Stock Car racing on the PSX to see how a solid racing game can be done on a console. Of course, these games don\'t have pretty graphics like GT3 and in the end that\'s what matters for most people.

[/rant]

Originally posted by Lavan


GT3 is not a racing simulation, it\'s a driving simulation. To even be considered a decent racing game you\'d expect it to have proper opposition AI (which it doesn\'t, just cars taking the same paths around the course - if you\'re in the way they just bump you), a damage model (crash and bump overtaking doesn\'t happen in the real world), rotational collision physics (if you bump a car from behind at 90mph it will spin, NOT go faster - this isn\'t Mario Kart), and for the love of God at the very least a 12 car racing field not a puny 6 car one.
 

[COLOR=0033CC]Your Absolutely rite. The cars do just bump you. and you caught one ryu\'s mistakes:eek And gt3 is just what you said a driving sim with great graphics. It has no realistic feel at all. But with all the hype in gotham I think those flat backgrounds where a downer. But none the less gt3 is still fun to play without really being a realistic racer. I am not saying it is great it is just fun to play. [/color]

Once again, great impressions Ryu *bows* I\'m still looking foward to this Xbox game the most, and I can\'t wait to play it:)

Your Absolutely rite. The cars do just bump you. and you caught one ryu\'s mistakes:eek And gt3 is just what you said a driving sim with great graphics. It has no realistic feel at all. But with all the hype in gotham I think those flat backgrounds where a downer. But none the less gt3 is still fun to play without really being a realistic racer. I am not saying it is great it is just fun to play.

GT3 is still the most realistic racer out to date! What\'s with the \'has no realistic feal at all\'? The cars don\'t crash properly for obvious reasons in GT3: firstly, we can thank some of the car manufacturers (a la Mercedes is one of them) for image reasons and Yamauchi also stated that he would only implement this feature if they have enough resources (includes time aswell) to make it ultra realistic. That would mean a deadly crash would end the game immediately. The cars and how they feel and handle is above any other game out to date - on any platform. If you still think GT3 just has nice graphics and really isn\'t a realistic racer, please show me a better game out there.

Seven, you played F355 Challenge? Most. Realistic Driving Sim. Ever.

Oh wait, it\'s on DC, so it must suck.


Eric Jacob

It\'s quite telling how the high poly count boasted for cars in PG earlier in the year vs. the numbers GT3 is said to have (40,000 vs. 5,000?) turned out to not "quite beat GT3 in [the graphics] department". Don\'t want to turn an informative review (thanks once again Ryu) into a console debate, just thought the one area where PG should have really blown away GT3 should be highlighted.
 
Based of my own experience I\'m firmly convinced the lack of car damage is a major reason why the GT series has such broad appeal. Not being a hardcore race fan the idea of losing a race for touching a wall or another car seems to me just no fun at all, to the point where I never even tried turning on the damage option offered in GT2.  I played a demo of Jarret & Labonte Stock Car racing on the PSX for maybe a half hour, even if the graphics were perfect instead of ugly I\'d have no interest in that style of racer. The damage factor in PG on the other hand sounds like it would be a nice addition considering most of the challenge is to race against yourself. Correct?

Simulation shouldn\'t be confused with virtual. The realism GT is acclaimed for having is from the feel of driving/racing it accurately simulates for a large variety of car models under different driving conditions. All the while retaining the essential elements of fun that tends to draw in a wide range of gamers, IE it doesn\'t require a perfect performance of already finely honed skills to win a race. I think it was Car and Driver magazine who proclaimed GT3 to be the best racer ever, not the most difficult racer ever.

Originally posted by AlteredBeast
Seven, you played F355 Challenge? Most. Realistic Driving Sim. Ever.

Eric Jacob

I disagree and for you to say its most REALISTIC is just funny

Thanks Ryu!!

Tell me why otherwise. Bozco, we have been agreeing alot lately, let\'s keep this clean.

F355 - used by the Ferrari team in their off season to train!

-super steep learning curve (like driving a racing car )
-only camera view is in-the-car view.
-near perfectly rendered models of the F355, I believe 20 on the track on the same time, with no detail loss.
-When people hit you, you don\'t move faster in a straight line.

etc.

now you


Eric Jacob

For once I\'ll agree with AlteredBeast. But I\'ll have to say that GT3 is a more fun experience as a whole...

for the time you have to put into each game to get good at, I will agree with that, too. You have to play a good amout on F355 to realize just how deep it is.

I don\'t know how anyone can argue with it, since they only have to focus the physics of one car vs. 200 on GT3.


Eric Jacob

-near perfectly rendered models of the F355, I believe 20 on the track on the same time, with no detail loss.
-When people hit you, you don\'t move faster in a straight line.

8 on track.

And you can still run into cars without spinning out.

Though I agree, the learning curve is high, and it is a great sim. Maybe too great of one, which turned some people off.

/ dm /

Ryu I have a huge question for you? ....................Is Project Gothem 60fps like I\'ve been hearing?  Are there really 16 cars on the screen at once?:thepimp: :thepimp: :thepimp: