ic-games Review - Project Gotham Racing 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Project Gotham Racing 2

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Reviewed: Xbox
Genre: Racing
UK Release: 28th Nov 2003
Article Date: 11th Nov 2003
Difficulty: Hard
Retail Price:
Price Comparison:
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Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 95%

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Pros

100+ Cars

100+ Tracks

Many different ways to race

Xbox Live Love

Cons

The name?

Screenshots

22 of 50

It’s not often that a journalist will give away a strong opinion of a game they are reviewing in the first paragraph. But it’s also not everyday that a sequel so fundamentally brilliant and as competitive as Project Gotham Racing 2 is released either. So if you’re in a rush, late for work or just about to switch off for the night I can honestly say without doubt that a serious contender for Xbox game of the year has just landed – and you’ll be a fool if you miss out.

Project Gotham Racing 2 (PGR2) sets out to be different from the start. Ever lost a race when you knew for a fact that you were more skilful than the person that crossed the finish line first? Well Bizarre Creations have finally appeased the better driver in all of us, as in this title it’s not what you drive, its how you drive. It’s all about ”Kudos” (praise for exceptional achievement). It’s this “Kudos” that becomes the lifeblood of the game as the points will unlock further courses and cars. You not only earn Kudos from coming first in a race but each move you make during that race. For example power slides are rewarded, utilising the slipstream of cars ahead of you earns you kudos as well. There are many other ways but the best way to discover them would be on the tracks themselves. All these tricks are then stored in your “stash” during the race, if you manage to pull off tricks in succession then you’ll start a combo – these score the highest points, the only danger here is that combo points are only “banked” at the combo end (5 seconds without a trick) and if you hit any barriers during that 5 seconds then your whole stash is lost, but when didn’t the greatest risks bring the biggest rewards? After each race the totals are calculated and the kudos earned during that race is revealed to you. As mentioned coming first doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll score the highest kudos so even at the end of the race there are still a few more surprises in store.

The 100+ real cars on offer are separated into 14 classes. And with every class you have certain missions and conditions to fulfil. These classes contain around eight unique cars, for example the Kudos World Series “Compact Sport Series” contains a Mini Cooper, Seat Leon Cupra R, the new Volkswagen Beatle and R32, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Renault Clio and the Lancia Delta. The next higher class (Sports Convertable) contains different cars from the BMW to the Porsche Boxster. Some of these cars will be unlocked for you straight away in each of the classes with the rest purchasable using your kudos points gained from missions. You are not forced to buy any particular car over any other in the series but you will definitely need to be utilizing certain cars strengths to complete some missions. Each Mission has 5 difficulty settings from Novice (Steel) to Expert (Platinum) with the harder missions being worth more kudos but in turn demanding more from the driver. Once you have earned at least one medal in all missions its then on to a more powerful class. Fortunately these missions do not just involve you going round countless circuits, there are many different variations of racing to keep up the interest. The usual Time Attack and street racing against up to eight players have been included but also many more interesting side challenges have been thrown into the mix. One challenge has you trying to pass a speed camera at the highest possible speed that you can muster others have you having to pass a certain number of vehicles on a track in a predetermined time. It’s all just different takes on the basic art of racing but the different incarnations of the same theme does help to keep the interest up by having a slight mix to choose from. Thoughtfully Bizzare Creations have included a garage mode so you can walk around and actually view your cars you have earned or you can perhaps visit the complete car showroom so you can test drive all 100+ cars without purchasing them first. (Even in the test drive mode you can break records).

There is no denying that PGR2 has been designed from the outset to be played using Xbox Live. Immediately after starting you are prompted to sign into the service (even if you only plan to play offline) this is so that any progress and records achieved during single play can be uploaded to the stats section. After each race your score and lap times are uploaded and compared with every PGR2 player in the world and you’re ranked accordingly. If you manage to hit the top ten in the world a "ghost" car of your fantastic achievement is also uploaded so other players can download it and view exactly what you did. When you have potentially millions of people battling for a place on the world leader board (everyone’s best score on each mission will appear) you have a recipe for some great online addiction. There are also over 100 events you can compete and specialise in with some special weekly and monthly competitions and ghost car challenges thrown in for good measure.

Graphics are just about as realistic as your going to get with the powers of Xbox – (and that can only mean that they are absolutely stunning). The realistic replays (downloadable for all top ten records if your kitted out with Xbox Live) are the best seen anywhere on any console or even the PC – they are breathtaking it’s as simple as that. The actual 100+ courses are based on real circuits and as such anyone who lives in the area will instantly be able to point out shops and recognise other landmarks. For the British that means driving around in Scotland while passing famous shops like Boots and Marks and Spencer’s and of course taking time out to view the historical landmarks like the beautiful Edinborough Castle.

The soundtrack that accompanies PGR2 is certainly impressive as well, especially as we have been lavished with around 100 decent songs from various artists. These can be played separately or they can be styled around local radio stations that you'll receive on your car's cd/radio player when you travel to the various locations. This basically means that whilst driving in Germany for example, you’ll be treated to a radio station with DJ’s speaking German between the tracks. You may not understand the actual DJ, but it’s still a great touch. If you have a soundtrack ripped to your Xbox HDD using the dashboard then that too can be imported directly into the game. The radio stations will then use your selected tracks and base a show around them. (Talking in-between your tracks again) it’s just another splendid touch.

We’ve seen it mentioned before that Halo saved the Xbox and if any game deserves to be placed in a category like that its PGR2, but this time it’s with the Live! service. If you were left wondering why you paid for Xbox Live in the first place with some of the mediocre Xbox live titles then PGR2 will without a doubt restore your faith again. Or maybe for whatever reason still not succumbed to the powers of online gaming then really now is the time to take the service out for a test drive. This is without a doubt going to be a massive Xbox Live smash and you really don’t want to be left behind.

What is the secret of PGR2 success? Is it the fascinating helping of pure unadulterated Xbox Live! fun with downloadable ghost cars, more stats than you can shake a large stick at, and of course the bonus content? Or could it be the almost photo-realistic graphics of the plethora of available cars and courses that are probably the best seen on a console or PC to date? Or is it the fantastic single mission structure that saves your best records for the world to view? It's all undeniably more fun with Live enabled but even as a single player experience, nothing really touches Project Gotham Racing and nothing probably will for some time to come.

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