Project Gotham Racing 2

"Fast real-world cars, real cities and real opponents...how could this go wrong?"

“How could this go wrong?” – simple answer, it can’t.

Project Gotham Racing 2 is the second instalment on Xbox by Bizarre Creations of this modern day racer. Featuring some of the most exotic cars know to man, and photo-realistic recreations of cities around the world, PLUS taking advantage of Xbox Live, PGR2 is a very real contender for Best Racing Game Ever .

As with its prequel, ‘Project Gotham Racing’, you start with a small selection of lower-end vehicles, and work your way up through a series of races around the world gaining kudos. Kudos are simply points for driving as stylishly as you can, pulling off slides, 360s, etc., WHILE keeping ahead of your opponents.

In PGR2, there are 3 main modes of single play: Kudos World Series, Arcade, and Time Attack. Time Attack is just racing your unlocked cars on any unlocked track trying to beat your ghost. Arcade is a 3-part mode where you complete preset challenges. But Kudos World Series is the main crux of the game, where you go through racing in different classes of cars such as Compact Sports, Coupe, and the faster Extreme.

In order for you to gain access to more cars, you must earn Kudos in Kudos World Series and Arcade mode, which in turn, level you up, gaining you more Kudos Tokens, which you use to buy new cars.

And that’s just the single-player. Then you have the multiplayer part of the game, where you can choose to race other people in split-screen matches on one TV, connect a LAN for upto 8 players over 2 TVs, and, if you have Xbox Live, you can connect and search for other people in your skill range, or just race friends. Whatever you do, you’re in for a treat.

And if you hear people complaining about the frame rate being 30fps instead of 60fps, just remember: there is NO slowdown that I have experienced, and it feels just as fast as (if not faster than) the original.

The Scores:

Graphics:
This is the single most beautiful game on the Xbox to date, featuring full-screen antialising, bump-mapping, etc. The cars are perfectly remodelled and look like the real thing, featuring real-time reflections – see other cars on your paintjob as you pass them, the cities are beautiful as well, the ability for you to drive around the cities and recognize real landmarks and stores just makes the experience more enthralling. The environments are amazing too…featuring birds in the distance, trees blowing in the wind and dropping their leaves as autumn comes… also, each car features a detailed damage model. Though not as involved as most rally games, the licence plates fly off and lay on the track for the remainder of the race, the hood and bonnet come loose and the windows crack, and the actual car body gets a great deal of damage done to it with the frame being crumpled and lights, etc. being broken.
The driver even leans into the corners when turning sharply and you can see him even reaching for the radio when you change the track/station. 10/10

Audio:
Bizarre stated once that they used recorded sounds for the cars…though I have never really heard a Ferrari Enzo revving up in first gear, I’m going to have to say that I believe them, each sounding authentic and meaty. It really makes the difference when climbing in a 700hp car to be able to hear the power. As in the original, bizarre licensed musical tracks and radio stations played in each of the cities. As an Australian, I loved the ability to race in Sydney to a car I’ve driven listening to real stations that I would be listening to on any normal day…though I am upset that they didn’t try and get Triple J…as well as the hefty assortment of tracks on the radio, you can use your custom soundtracks. 10/10

Gameplay:
While being a racing game implies racing against other players/opponent, PGR2 is more than that…that being said, you are racing against the computer/other humans/clock…but you are also trying for the most stylish racing techniques you can master. You will be playing for a good deal many hours trying to find the ideal racing line and perfecting your slides around the corners on a rainy night with both your lights broken…
Whether playing alone or with other people, there is a great amount of fun to be had…
The only thing people may not like is the A.I., while I personally liked the challenge, many people do not enjoy racing a 10-minute race only to be nudged into a wall on the last corner of the last lap. The A.I. tends to be a little aggressive at times and will not hesitate to give you a *little* nudge to help you into an unwanted 360. 9.5/10

Extras:

This game features Live support to it goes without saying that it must take SOME advantages of having it. Thankfully, Bizarre Creations handled this well…the main appeal to this feature is the 8 player Live races with no slowdown, but also, there is the option to download new cars/cities when they become available. You can also download other people’s ghosts to test your skills and post your own top scores. 10/10

Pros/Cons:

Pros –

· Superb graphics, superior to everything available.
· Hefty assortment of vehicles including Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota, BMW, VW, etc.
· Photo-realistic real-life cities including Sydney, Edinburgh, etc.
· Amazing animations whether they be the driver in the car, the birds in the distance or the cars themselves.
· 8 player races available in solo, split-screen, LAN, and Xbox Live.
· Downloadable content, eg. cars, cities, etc.
· Large amounts of options to fiddle with.
· Custom soundtracks.
· Real life radio stations with real DJ’s.
· Realistic sounds.
· The explorable car showroom and garage.

Cons:
· Slightly aggressive A.I.
· The stuff you will miss out on without Live

Overall:
Overall, this game is the greatest racing game of all time! Get it now…you will not be upset.

OVERALL RANKING: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/19/03