I’m a fan of racing games. So when I heard about the arcade-style racing game Speed 3: Grand Prix, I wanted to check it out.
The game’s developers promised “irresistible” high-speed track racing with “explosive” arcade action. They touted the fact that you could cruise through “American wastelands” and the “neon-filled” streets of Tokyo.
So it surprised me when I booted up the game and could barely make out where I was. These are some super generic tracks. The graphics are a throwback to the early Xbox 360 days with ugly, low-resolution textures. Matters are made even worse with glitchy gameplay.
If you came for arcade-style racing, like me, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The game has serious technical issues that render it almost unplayable. The framerate drops are often jarring and make it difficult to steer. Your car can lose its tire and continue driving as if nothing happened.
To make things worse, the game crashed on me twice (your car can also crash and burn, but that’s another story). Meanwhile, recording gameplay often results in corrupted files. The AI mindlessly crashes into walls. Need I go on?
Okay, so I will go on, but be warned that it doesn’t get any better from here. Case in point, Speed 3: Grand Prix has the bare minimum number of game modes. In fact, it has only three modes in single-player: Tournament, Quick Race, and Time Trial.
Tournament resembles a very simple career mode where you get to choose a car and rack up points from race to race. Quick Race lets you choose from one of the game’s six tracks. That’s not a typo, either. There are only six tracks. Lastly, the Time Trial has you go for a track record.
Needless to say, the amount of content here is severely lacking. But then again, I guess they spared me having to play the game for very long since it was technically over almost as soon as it began. There’s also split-screen multiplayer, but unless you hate your friends, you wouldn’t subject them to the cruel torture that is Speed 3. Okay, that’s a wee bit dramatic.
Conclusion
There’s not much more to write about other than to warn you to not buy this game. I probably didn’t have to warn you outright since the rest of the review makes it abundantly clear just how much of a wreck Speed 3: Grand Prix really is, but I’ll wave the red flag anyway.
In summary, Speed 3 controls poorly, the frame rate is awful, the AI is dumb, there are barely any tracks, it’s ugly, and the game crashes. Other than that, it’s great! [Insert sarcastic emoji]
Game Freaks 365 received a free review copy.