Project Gotham Racing 2

"PGR2 just highered the bar for racing games"

Project Gotham Racing. A launch game for Xbox. It was indeed a great game and people wondered how a sequel could possibly top its greatness. It did. This game has set a new standard for all racing games. Simply the best racing game ive ever played. Online or off, this game rocks. Its also very innovative. If you are a member of Xbox live it doesnt matter if you are playing single or multiplayer. You will still be on.

What is it?
A racing game. You race cars(in this games case super cars) around modern day cities in hopes that you will win the race. But, in the gotham series you dont earn cash for races(like many other popular racing series's) instead you get kudo's. Project Gotham revolves more around how you win the race, not if you win it. Style is everything, and if you want to survive, you have to adapt.

Graphics 10/10-
This game has some of the best graphics of any Xbox game ever(and that is saying alot). The cars all look like the real thing. Everything looks polished, and, well, re polished! But it is certainly a good sight to see when you gaze at the cities you are racing around in. A couple times I got distracted by the cities and paid no attention to the race(bad idea). This game really takes advantage of the Xbox hardware, if you're a graphics whore than go out and buy this right now.

Control 8/10-
This is the weakest part of the game. In Project Gotham 1 I didnt like how almost all of the cars handled the same. In PGR2 it is the opposite. Although I understand that all cars handle differently this game over emphasizes it. Some cars oversteer and slide a bunch while other tend to not slide at all. With some of the higher end cars I found myself sliding 20 feet and banging into a wall. Im no pushover at driving games so I dont think it was entirely my fault.

Sound 9/10-
Nothing to complain about here. The music is really great, it comes in the form of radio stations you can switch between. All the music sounds great. And if you dont like the music than you can always use the custom soundtracks. All of the effects sound good also, from the tires sliding across the asphalt to the little sound it makes as your kudo's are going up, its all good. Bump the score up .5 if you have Dolby 5.1 surround.

Overall 9/10-
Simply one of the best racing games I have ever played. Racing games now have a new standard. Anything below PGR2 caliber doesnt deserve your time of money anymore. This game takes the best of all worlds and puts in a kickass online mode to boot. Pick this one up, no matter what.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/15/04