Project Gotham Racing 2

"This game is so awesome that I actually bought two of them!"

That's right. I bought two of Bizarre Creations masterpiece! I have two xboxes hooked up through Live at one time and me and my family just can't get enough.

First off, one of the things that hooked me into the world of PGR2 was the ease of the controls. This racer has some of the best controls available for a console racing game. The Standard Microsoft ''duke'' controller is my preference over the smaller ''S'' controller for this game. It just feels right and is very responsive. The ''S'' controller works excellent also. You'll find that the cars you control in the game are very responsive for whatever controller you prefer. I didn't get this feeling with Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2. I just felt alienated from the car in that game. I feel I am actually one with the car in PGR2. Control and response is very important for any racing game and this game deserves a 10 in this area for how well it is implemented.

For controls I give it a 10.

Graphics, to say the least, are absolutely pain-stacking detailed. The different locales you race in can vary dramatically and everything looks absolutely gorgeous. The cars have damage modeling which is very well done. Fenders get banged up, windshields can get smashed, headlights and tail lights can get broken. Even tail pipes can get busted in and drag from the street offering a realistic light show from the sparks flying off. Smoke burning out from the tires, racing in the rain, lighting effects, etc. are all done very nicely. The cars look absolutely gorgeous as well.

For graphics I give it a 10. The best you will find in a console racer right now.

The sounds are done excellent. Cars have their distinctive sounds and I suggest you keep this up in the option menu. Engine sounds, tires squealing, hitting walls or other cars are all done well. The soundtrack in the game has hundreds of songs already there and Custom Soundtracks can be added as well. If you have Xbox Live voice chat with this game is definitely recommended. Make sure you have a headset. People love to talk on this game on Live.

Sound and Audio deserve a 10.

The gameplay offers a ton of different modes. Kudos World Series, Time Attack, Arcade Challenges, Xbox Live and more. There's even split screen racing for up to 4 people on one Xbox and TV. If you have 2 Xboxes, 2 PGR2 games, 2 TVs and a link cable you can race via LAN. There's enough in single player to keep you occupied for a long time. There are tons of interesting tracks. There's even a showroom where you can view cars, test drive cars on a test track and even purchase the ones you want with your Kudo Tokens. You actually get to walk around in this 3D showroom not just see a ''pop up'' view in the menu. It's nice touches like these that make the game even better. There's also a fun, uniquely original arcade type game that controls similar to Robotron in the garage that you can play anytime. If you like street racing, you will like PGR2 immensely.

On Xbox Live the gameplay is the best racing experience I have ever had on any video game racer. 8 player racing! You can race people all over the world in PGR2. Finding a game you want to participate in is done easily. You can wait in the lobby while a race is already in progress, thus giving you many options of what game you'd like to join. Hosting is done easily also. Creating a game is easy and chances are your races will fill up quick. In the future there will be downloadable content available if you are subscribed to Xbox Live. The game can only get better!The gameplay in PGR2 has unlimited replay value with Xbox Live. Buying Live for just this one game is worth it, in my opinion.

Gameplay I'd rate a 10. With Xbox Live it even get's better.

The only gripes I have with this game are minor. Very minor indeed but worth mentioning. One thing I don't like on some of the tracks is on some of the curves, it can be hard to see the fastly approaching guard rail. This is due to some of the grey barriers not having arrows. However when you get used to the track it doesn't pose a problem. This is not present on most tracks but is on some.

The other gripe is that on Xbox Live you can do split screen on Live but the other person must be a guest which means no voice chat. You cannot sign on two Xbox Live accounts at the same time on one Xbox playing PGR2. Crimson Skies and Mechassault let two people sign on their separate accounts from one xbox at the same time via split screen. This means if my son and I who have different accounts want to race PGR2 at the same time on Live with Voice capabilities we must do it from two separate Xboxes. I have 2 Xboxes hooked up through Live so buying a second PGR2 game was a no brainer considering how awesome this game actually is on Live.

Overall my rating of this game gets a 9.8!
No need to rent. Buy it now if you like racing.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/04