Project Gotham Racing 4 UK Review - IGN (original) (raw)
A fitting swansong for Bizarre Creations' toil on the Project Gotham Racing series.
Some may question the need for yet another 360 racer, particularly as, at first glance, PGR4 feels more expansion pack than sequel. A few hours in however and all becomes clear. This is no mere add-on to PGR3 but, arguably, the game PGR3 should have been. Not bogged down by launch deadlines and corner cutting, Gotham 4 is a fully fleshed-out, beautifully realised culmination of everything great about the series. The result? One of the strongest 360 racers to date.
Take the circuits for example. All five cities from PGR3 return - minor facelifts included - but they're now joined by four exponentially more enjoyable beauties. Shanghai, with its Blade Runner-esque skyscrapers, stands out in particular while the exceptionally entertaining and extremely hilly Quebec goes down as the potential pick of the pack.
Bikes prove a riot, with a stomach-wrenching wobbly cockpit view.
All tracks have had a makeover since PGR3 though, no longer emphasising monotonous flats and simplistic circles. Instead, they display a far greater range of terrain this time around: there are mountains and slopes aplenty, narrow chicanes meet wide open expanses and even the odd hill-side tunnel spruces things up now. Circuits just feel so much more intricate and enjoyable as a result, and a blast to zoom around in a busy group huddle compared to the game's predecessor.
Adding to the fun is the all new weather system, with 12 different "patterns" ranging from good old sunshine to full-on thunderstorms. Not only are weather effects superb from a technical standpoint - impressively altering mid-race - they drastically affect the gameplay itself too. Fog, for instance, obscures upcoming bends, forcing you to rely on the taillights of your rivals to cut through the confusion. Meanwhile, ice and rain regularly send you off in wild spins when not handling your vehicle with patience and finesse.
PGR3's photo mode returns, with minor tweaks and upgrades thrown in.
If we have a complaint, it's that not every weather condition is available for every circuit, but these additions still manage to add the sort of atmosphere the series has somewhat lacked until now. The snow-covered plains of the Nurburgring come off as looking particularly stunning.
Weather effects aside, PGR4's hardly a world ahead of its predecessor graphically. Discounting the removal of pop-up and some smoothing out jaggies, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart without close inspection. This is no bad thing, given PGR3's graphical pedigree - it's still one the prettiest racers on the market - but some damage modelling wouldn't have gone amiss this time around.
One especially pleasing new feature is the much-touted inclusion of motorbikes and they add a whole new dimension to Gotham 4, gameplay-wise. These two wheelers can take quite the battering on the race track and, although far from realistic to wield, can pull off wheelies and stunts with smile-inducing regularity. Such tomfoolery provides ample opportunity to rack up that all-important "Kudos" though which, in turn, can be used in the virtual store, unlocking additional vehicles, circuits and customisable clothing for your driver.
Courses are more varied and intricate this time, hinting back to PGR2 territory.
This customisation doesn't extend so much to the vehicles themselves sadly; you can apply simple custom patterns to your cars, but it's certainly no Forza 2. Fitting your driver out with a wide range of helmets and clothing should give online multiplayer some extra personality though if nothing else.
In terms of online features, "PGR On Demand" replaces the old "Gotham TV", imbuing the game with excellent new community potential on the Live front. A file-sharing service enables you to upload screenshots and videos, then download and vote on those of fellow players - it's far more fully-featured than Gotham TV ever was. You can even search out specific videos by preference, from cars used to whether they're involved in crashes and jumps. Elsewhere the inclusion of a party system rounds off the online feature-set nicely.
Pick and choose specific events in Career mode while ranking up along the way.
And what of Geometry Wars, the cult top-down arcade shooter that's become synonymous with PGR? A new rendition does indeed appear via the game's garage, albeit a stripped-down take than seen previously. 'Geometry Wars Waves' blesses the player with a single life, no bombs and a ramped up difficulty curve that increases by the second - although perhaps not the true sequel we so eagerly await, it should still provide ample challenge for fans and experts of Retro Evolved.
Verdict
As far as we're concerned, PGR4 is the series all but perfected. With racers starting to head towards a more open-ended sandbox style of play, the days of these more linear, streamlined titles may well be numbered. The addition of bikes, stunning use of weather and a healthy career mode with tons of added circuits gives even long-time fans plenty of new content to sink their teeth into. While it may lack Forza's detailed customisation and in-depth simulation options, for our money, PGR4 is simply the more flat-out fun game. An impressive swansong for Bizarre's Project Gotham series indeed.