5 Best PS3 Racing Games That Still Hold Up Today

The PlayStation 3 was a great generation for fans of racing games. Developers were consistently churning out high-quality racers, giving fans several different options for gameplay style. If you wanted arcade racers, there were dozens. Fans of simulation-style racers also had quite a few choices. Many of them still hold up very well these days, thanks to the power of the PS3’s hardware. Obviously, it’s not going to look as pretty as a new Forza game, but the drop in graphical fidelity won’t be as strong as bouncing back to the PS2 or further.

Here are five PlayStation 3 racers that still hold up.

5) Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Technically speaking, you’d want to get Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition. That version takes the gameplay fans loved in the main game and adds all of the DLC that was released. There are also a few bug fixes and balance changes, but the Complete Edition will give you the best version of Midnight Club: LA possible.

That means you’ll be racing through one of the best recreations of Los Angeles that we’ve seen. It added a big splash of Rockstar’s trademark style and gave players plenty of ways to jump into online races. Unfortunately for fans, Rockstar decided to shelve the Midnight Club series after this one, instead focusing on Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead. Still, if you want to see Rockstar cook as a racing studio, this is the game to do it.

4) Gran Turismo 5

If you want to play what might be the best-looking PlayStation 3 game of all time, go with Gran Turismo 6. That game is still jaw-dropping and is a more than competent racer. However, I think Gran Turismo 5 is a slightly better game to go back to for everything besides visuals.

Look, there are over 1,000 cars and 77 different tracks in GT5. Toss in dynamic time and weather effects, and you have almost unlimited options for racing. Oh, and we can’t forget the new damage model system that finally shows cars getting beast up. There’s a reason it’s the second-best-selling PS3 game behind Grand Theft Auto V. If you’re a simulation racer, GT5 is the one to get.

3) MotorStorm

MotorStorm takes players off-road for some of the most thrilling racing on the system. You’re not driving a standard car here. Instead, you’ll jump into everything from ATVs and buggies to rally cars and big rigs. Each vehicle has its own strengths and weaknesses, adding a little bit of strategy to your selection.

As you race, you’ll notice the road breaks down in real time. That makes each lap unique, adding new obstacles to your path. There aren’t a ton of modes, but you’ll have a blast with this easy-to-learn racer. Anybody looking for something that’s basically the opposite of Gran Turismo 5 should look no further.

2) Burnout Paradise

The Burnout series is all about smashing into the cars around you to cause massive pileups. At least, that’s the mode I always go back to. Burnout Paradise took the classic racer and dropped it into an open world. You might think that would muddle things up, but the world is so large and filled with so much to do that it turned into a massive positive.

Sure, there were a few disappointments. You couldn’t immediately restart races, and there were tons of product placements, for example. However, all of that is offset by how incredible the total package is. The car unlock system was sublime, and all of the different race types gave fans so many options. At this point, you should probably just grab the remastered version that dropped in 2018, but if you go back to the original, you won’t have a bad time.

1) Split/Second

Split/Second has a lot of things going for it, which is kind of surprising considering Disney published this one. However, developer Black Rock Studio was a legendary racing studio, with games like Pure, MotoGP, and ATV Offroad Fury in its catalog. The team made one of the best high-octane racers of the era, letting you loose and encouraging you to take big risks for even bigger rewards.

The setup is that you’re on a new reality show and need to build your “power play” meter by making jumps, drifting around corners, and causing wanton destruction. It’s all about becoming the most exciting racer possible to force your opponents to drive through game-changing obstacles once you’ve built your meter.

Split/Second lets you use everything from exploding tankers to dam breaches. You can also use some of your power plays to open new shortcuts to make your path easier. It’s a phenomenal racer that deserves so much more love. Sadly, it did not sell well, and Black Rock closed its doors soon after.

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