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::PUBLISHER::
Microsoft Game Studios
::DEVELOPER::
Bizarre Creations
::GENRE::
Racing
::RELEASE DATE::
October 2007
::PLAYERS::
1-16
::LIVE::
Xbox Live play, Leaderboards, Downloadable Content, Online Co-op
::COST::
$59.99
::FEATURES::
720p/1080i/1080p, In-Game Dolby Digital
Good: Weather effects are cool in gameplay and visually, lots to do
Bad: In some moments the game feels to easy, sound could be a bit better
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Project Gotham Racing 4 Review
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With all the new motorcycles, weather effects, fantastic visuals, and more that PGR4 has to offer will it be enough, and how well is the biggest new feature, the motorcycles implemented? Find out in the full review.
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Project Gotham Racing 3 was not only my favorite launch titles for the Xbox 360, but while many others across the U.S. where lining up in anticipation for their own 360 I was plastered to my seat swearing that I couldn’t get that next Platinum medal because of some damn opponent A.I. Maserati that was “cheating”. Well I am back to my swearing, and Bizarre Creations has released their follow-up Project Gotham Racing 4 today. PGR4 is built off of a solid foundation of PGR3, adding in some additions such as motorcycles, weather effects, an improved Kudos system, and overall the entire game is completely improved.
Every new PGR title the developers try to put more emphasis on the importance of the Kudos style point system, and they seem to have perfected it this time around. The events throughout the career are all dictated by how much Kudos you end up with, so while getting in first is great and all in races, it doesn’t always necessarily matter as much as how stylish you have been driving. When you are earning Kudos, the Kudos are indicated with a circle in the top middle screen, when it fills to 100 Kudos, you get a star, getting up to five stars, that will then link to another line when you start one. The stars also pulsate giving you a better idea of when your line is done, so once it starts pulsating faster you know the line is almost done with. With the stars, this opens the Kudos system up to a new racing type where you actually have to earn the most stars in the event. There is also a PGR Shop in the game that allows you to buy some new colors, oddities, and cars. The great thing about the shop is that you use Kudos you earn, giving you even more incentive to drive stylishly. The only negative thing about it is that there is actually an achievement called “Buy an Achievement”, essentially you pay a million Kudos points to unlock a gamer picture and you get the achievement. That to me is kind of weak.
Visually Project Gotham Racing 4 is overall the best looking racing title you will find on any system at all.
Motorcycle racing is arguably the biggest new feature in PGR4, and because of the quasi-realistic quasi-arcade nature of the series you shouldn’t expect them to be all that hard to control. The worst (or best however you look at it) thing about the motorcycles is they control like the cars do, but are smaller and will haul ass a lot better than even the most impressive Mercedes-Benz or Ferrari car. It is kind of odd racing against cars in a bike, and there is plenty of incentive to do it. You rarely will crash in your bike unless hit, take a way to sharp, or slam into a wall, so you feel like the guy is almost glued down at times. It can get a bit hairy though, it took me awhile to realize that if you let go of the analog and your having trouble with a turn it will just line itself back up, and unless you are some kind of super-beast at PGR and kind of first-person view is virtually impossible to play. Nice little touches are the guy on the bike will shake his fist at cars that cut him off, shake his hands for a bit to get that itchy feeling off from the vibration of the handle bars, and pump his fist in the air for victory. Overall having the bikes, with some pretty good variety, was a good choice on the developers part but it could cause some balance problems online, in Career, and hopefully if there ever is a PGR5 they tune it up quite a bit.
Motorcycles inclusion spices up the gameplay.
The weather effects are the other big addition to PGR4 with fog, rain, snow, and ice. Snow will bank realistically as it falls, and more and more will pile up as you go through the laps, but strangely when you run over the snow you leave no tire treads. What the snow does leave you is into trouble if you go over it to fast and are turning. The snow adds some great challenge, but with some experience, it can add some great Kudos as well. The snow will ice over your car in a pretty decently realistic fashion, and while it is hard to see going fast, it flurries realistically in the air as well when looking at replays, or if you slow the car down. The rain slicks the road even more it seems, and it can be a joy or a pain to drive in depending on the goal and the track.
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