Game Card
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox360)
- Publisher:
- Microsoft
- Developer:
- Bizarre Creations
- US Release:
- 02.10.2007
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Car
- Extra:
- Racing
- Age:
- Modern Times
Review
We play Project Gotham Racing 4...
Of the major racing series’ that have come to the Xbox 360, the most renowned is Project Gotham Racing. Each of the previous PGR games came out at some turning point for the Xbox consoles; the first at its conception, the second by Xbox Live’s introduction, and the third at the 360’s release. As the first of the series to stand solely on its own, PGR4 is perhaps the weakest of the set.
Not to say that the game was poorly conceived; far from it. It’s a good game, but the majority of changes are not up to par with what was expected from it. True, the graphical outlay has only become more beautiful and realistic, but simple things like the menu system have decayed.
The typical PGR style has been changed dramatically in an attempt at realism, but in turn gives up its greatest strength for single player racing. In previous games, any race could be redone after completing the race, win or lose, to try to do better. As a game where winning kudos, the form of points, is a significant part of the series and besting previous high scores is half the fun, PGR4 basically throws that out the window.
Start a new campaign and a few different play modes come up. The standard seasonal campaign pits racers in a year schedule of races. Pass or fail, whatever position earned is what is kept. There is no second chance, unless players gain the keen ability of hitting the start button just before the race ends and restart it completely.
That’s right; realism has taken its first toll on racing games. Failing a race may mean that the next few races meant for the day are out of the picture. Any kudos that could have been earned cannot be made up, at least not until the following season. It’s perfectly feasible to go through the game normally, but of course this is more time consuming than some people would care to go through.
Suffice to say this is a major setback in terms of earning enough Kudos to sufficiently gain all the vehicle packs. Thankfully all the vehicles are open to drive in multiplayer games and need not be unlocked, but fully appreciating the campaign is impossible until several garages are full of very high-end vehicles. That takes time, of course, but this attempt at making us play more just won’t do.
Apart from this near death experience are some more open ended forms of play, none new to the PGR experience, and of course multiplayer. Multiplayer also remains mostly unchanged.
The biggest differences are probably how the weather affects driving and the addition of motorbikes to the series. While the former is a huge improvement towards creating realism and (perhaps) ideal conditions for racing, the latter tends to be more of an annoyance than first expected.
For any race that isn’t against opponents (as opposed to time or kudos races) going up against a bike can be considered insane. This belief would hold water too. In the real world, motorcycles are known to accelerate much faster than cars for the simple fact that they are so light. However, when most maps have big turns that cars simply cannot keep their speed while going on, bikes have an unfair advantage.
To make up for it these two wheeled monstrosities can flip over, shift one gear at a time and have low top speeds, but anyone who practices with it can easily overtake the best of racecar drivers. With the exception of a few maps that have huge straight-aways, motorcycles are far more powerful than this game needs.
Some may point out that the bike’s great power comes at a heavy price, but unlike the cars which can easily be spun out of control when hit, bikes just keep going. Developer Blizzard felt that if equal levity were given to cars and bikes, they would be useless, and indeed they were right. Their complete immunity to flipping over or spinning out from getting hit, however, doesn’t justify that. Argue if you like, but finding yourself using one of the lower-end motorbikes to finish up a round you can’t beat will quell those feelings.
Dynamic weather effects, on the other hand, are a huge plus. A sunny day will bring the average rubber-burning drifts we’re used to. But if it’s raining, snowing, or the ground is drenched or frozen over, don’t think that friction will remain constant. It really depends on what car is driven though, and those with less control tend to fare dramatically worse under the given conditions. The differences between rear wheel and front/4WD become much clearer as well.
Those conditions would be nothing were it not for the amazing maps to ride through. They look and feel extraordinary. The lively world is bright, crisp, and real to the touch. Weather effects were easy to see and feel, though while racing it did look slightly downplayed whereas watching the replays gave the full force of nature. Yet with the weather able to change during the race, an odd addition, things can get downright nasty.
While there should be something said about multiplayer, it really is just more of the same. Anyone with PGR3 need not go out of their way for this to carry out a good race, but a change of scenery and some new rides doesn’t hurt either. For the most part online races are clean of lag, but occasionally someone will win a race when it looks like their car hasn’t left the starting line.
The few things that set PGR4, and its series of games, apart from the competition remains strong, but there seems to be a lack of finesse that the previous games had. Minor details stick out like sore thumbs too often and it feels like the game isn’t fully done. It still has all the elements that make it PGR and a fun racer, yet we still have the ‘but’ factor. Project Gotham Racing 4 remains a strong title, but amid the torrent of racing games for the 360, it falls behind, but not too far.
Top Game Moment: Winning a race with a car by forcing all the motorcycle opponents to run into walls.
 |
 |
|
| The gorgeous vehicles and maps are truly a pleasure to look at | Consider which cars you use based on the weather. If it’s rain… |
Not to say that the game was poorly conceived; far from it. It’s a good game, but the majority of changes are not up to par with what was expected from it. True, the graphical outlay has only become more beautiful and realistic, but simple things like the menu system have decayed.
The typical PGR style has been changed dramatically in an attempt at realism, but in turn gives up its greatest strength for single player racing. In previous games, any race could be redone after completing the race, win or lose, to try to do better. As a game where winning kudos, the form of points, is a significant part of the series and besting previous high scores is half the fun, PGR4 basically throws that out the window.
Start a new campaign and a few different play modes come up. The standard seasonal campaign pits racers in a year schedule of races. Pass or fail, whatever position earned is what is kept. There is no second chance, unless players gain the keen ability of hitting the start button just before the race ends and restart it completely.
That’s right; realism has taken its first toll on racing games. Failing a race may mean that the next few races meant for the day are out of the picture. Any kudos that could have been earned cannot be made up, at least not until the following season. It’s perfectly feasible to go through the game normally, but of course this is more time consuming than some people would care to go through.
Suffice to say this is a major setback in terms of earning enough Kudos to sufficiently gain all the vehicle packs. Thankfully all the vehicles are open to drive in multiplayer games and need not be unlocked, but fully appreciating the campaign is impossible until several garages are full of very high-end vehicles. That takes time, of course, but this attempt at making us play more just won’t do.
 |
 |
|
| …or snow, more control and careful driving will prevail | Hyper-realistic cars…thankfully much cheaper than the real thing |
Apart from this near death experience are some more open ended forms of play, none new to the PGR experience, and of course multiplayer. Multiplayer also remains mostly unchanged.
The biggest differences are probably how the weather affects driving and the addition of motorbikes to the series. While the former is a huge improvement towards creating realism and (perhaps) ideal conditions for racing, the latter tends to be more of an annoyance than first expected.
For any race that isn’t against opponents (as opposed to time or kudos races) going up against a bike can be considered insane. This belief would hold water too. In the real world, motorcycles are known to accelerate much faster than cars for the simple fact that they are so light. However, when most maps have big turns that cars simply cannot keep their speed while going on, bikes have an unfair advantage.
To make up for it these two wheeled monstrosities can flip over, shift one gear at a time and have low top speeds, but anyone who practices with it can easily overtake the best of racecar drivers. With the exception of a few maps that have huge straight-aways, motorcycles are far more powerful than this game needs.
Some may point out that the bike’s great power comes at a heavy price, but unlike the cars which can easily be spun out of control when hit, bikes just keep going. Developer Blizzard felt that if equal levity were given to cars and bikes, they would be useless, and indeed they were right. Their complete immunity to flipping over or spinning out from getting hit, however, doesn’t justify that. Argue if you like, but finding yourself using one of the lower-end motorbikes to finish up a round you can’t beat will quell those feelings.
Dynamic weather effects, on the other hand, are a huge plus. A sunny day will bring the average rubber-burning drifts we’re used to. But if it’s raining, snowing, or the ground is drenched or frozen over, don’t think that friction will remain constant. It really depends on what car is driven though, and those with less control tend to fare dramatically worse under the given conditions. The differences between rear wheel and front/4WD become much clearer as well.
Those conditions would be nothing were it not for the amazing maps to ride through. They look and feel extraordinary. The lively world is bright, crisp, and real to the touch. Weather effects were easy to see and feel, though while racing it did look slightly downplayed whereas watching the replays gave the full force of nature. Yet with the weather able to change during the race, an odd addition, things can get downright nasty.
While there should be something said about multiplayer, it really is just more of the same. Anyone with PGR3 need not go out of their way for this to carry out a good race, but a change of scenery and some new rides doesn’t hurt either. For the most part online races are clean of lag, but occasionally someone will win a race when it looks like their car hasn’t left the starting line.
 |
 |
|
| Motorcycles have a few bonus moves, including taunts, though I can’t imagine what gang sign this is | The fairest race of them all, motorcycles only |
The few things that set PGR4, and its series of games, apart from the competition remains strong, but there seems to be a lack of finesse that the previous games had. Minor details stick out like sore thumbs too often and it feels like the game isn’t fully done. It still has all the elements that make it PGR and a fun racer, yet we still have the ‘but’ factor. Project Gotham Racing 4 remains a strong title, but amid the torrent of racing games for the 360, it falls behind, but not too far.
Top Game Moment: Winning a race with a car by forcing all the motorcycle opponents to run into walls.
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