Genre: Racing
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
# of Players: 1 - 8
Memory: N/A
ERSB: Everyone
Released On: November 18, 2003
Supports: Dolby Digital Surround,
Features: LIVE Online Multiplayer/Downloadable Content, System Link, Custom Soundtracks
MSRP: $49.99
Also On: None
Website: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/pgr2/default.htm
On November 15th 2001, Bizarre Creations helped provide Microsoft with what seems to be, in hindsight, the greatest console launch in gaming history. Alongside HALO, Bungie’s historic XBOX First Person Shooter, stood Project Gotham Racing, a city racer that provided a challenging and enthralling experience different from anything else available on the market. Representing the beginning of great exclusive racers that would soon appear on the console, XBOX owners immediately embraced PGR, and not too long after its release, fans began to demand for more, much more…
Bizarre Creations knew what the people wanted. The fans wanted a sequel. A game that utilized Microsoft’s highly acclaimed XBOX LIVE online service in order to deliver the ultimate racing experience. Now, two years after the release of the original, Project Gotham Racing 2 has arrived.
Presentation
Project Gotham Racing 2 just screams quality. From the moment the title screen hits, it will become evident that Bizarre Creations has put so much into the game, so much style, so much soul, that the fact of the game’s development being finished in just under two years boggles the mind. Simply listening to the game’s audio proves this statement… Seeing as the game takes players around the world to famous cities, including Sidney, Barcelona, Florence, and Tokyo, Bizarre Creations amazingly included real-life radio stations from around the world with their respective DJs playing the game’s near immeasurable multilingual music library, announcing each track in their respective languages. Because of details like these, PGR2 is one of the most polished games ever made.
Gameplay
Project Gotham Racing 2 isn’t a racing simulation. The purpose of the game is, not to finish at the top of the ranks, but more so to drive dangerously. By this I mean performing drifts, 360s, catching air, etc… For doing so, the game rewards you with Kudos points, which in return can be spent to purchase more cars, or just prove how good you are when having the highest amount of them. Of course, racing is still a significant factor of gameplay. However, due to the sequel’s new difficulty settings, you may never need to rank better than 3rd during one of the game’s Street Races. The difficulty of your task, or opponents, is dependent on which medal you’re attempting to shoot for. For example, to earn a Silver medal in a “Street Race” you’ll have to finish in 3rd on the Hard difficulty.
PGR2’s gameplay modes are as follows: Kudos World Series, Arcade Racing, and Time Attack.
Kudos World Series is the bulk of the single player experience, featuring a nice blend of Street Races, Time Attack trials, and Cone Challege challenges. The difference from this mode and the Arcade Racing mode is that, aside from the fact that there are many more tracks, everything in Kudos World Series is divided into car classes starting off with some coupe’s and hatchback racers such as a Honda Civic Type R Hatchback, to the later and more entertaining class circuits such as the GT and Super Car classes. It would also be wise for me to note that in Kudos World Series you’re allowed to select the best car within each circuit you can buy with the Kudos you’ve earned.
Arcade Racing is comprised of Street Race, Time Attack and Cone Challenge. However, there’s a catch. The catch is that you’ll be given a predetermined vehicle to race with on a selected track for each challenge. You won’t be able to choose your car of choice, causing races to become a bit difficult, due to each vehicle’s distinct feel and varying performance stats.
Time Attack is somewhat similar to the Arcade Racing in certain aspects. While you can pick a vehicle of your choosing in order to make some new lap records, in Time Attack there exist challenges which require for you to use a specific vehicle to run a single lap or entire course. Often, you’ll need to retry challenges over and over and over again until you’ve memorized each and every action needed to clear each one.
Interestingly enough, unlike most racing games which are only interesting during races, Bizarre Creation’s masterpiece is entertaining in every possible area, with my personal favorite being Cone Challenge. Cone Challenge is the greatest test of your need to drive recklessly, yet efficiently, earning Kudos points with each drift, cone pass, and quick combo links for a nice amount of Kudos points. Oddly enough, with the original PGR I never found the Cone Challenge races all too fun, however, possibly due to PGR2’s excellent track design, the Cone Challenges in PGR2 are quite possibly the most entertaining single-player gameplay mode available, because it’s just you against yourself and the game’s challenging courses, which are filled with narrow passages, sharp turns, and a bunch of other obstacles that can cause a controller tossing frenzy.
While worthy of purchase solely for its great single player experience, PGR2’s LIVE multiplayer modes add a great amount of appeal to an already appealing title. You can race against human opponents in Street Races online (with hosts specifying which car classes can be used), set records with Cone Challeges or Time Attacks with your own Ghost(s) uploaded to Microsoft’s servers, allowing others to challenge your times and analyze your performance even when you’re not around. Pretty neat, huh? Of course, over the course of time, downloadable content with also be available, including new cars. If you by chance browse the game’s Showroom, which is a gallery of cars in which gamer’s can walk through in a first person-like perspective, you’ll even spot a reserved, enclosed room for cars exclusively available for download off of LIVE.
By now you may be thinking, “This dude has nothing bad to say about the game at all, does he?” In all honesty, I really don’t. PGR2 features an excellent variety of entertaining gameplay modes, ideal controls, and excellent track design. However, there is this one tiny little thing. While I do believe the game has an appeal grander than any racer released to the date, I would have liked some sort of customization option. Tuning vehicle performance, creating decals, purchasing new parts, etc… have always been a fetish of mine with any racer, from the most arcade-like to Sony’s Gran Turismo. Unfortunately, PGR2 lacks this kind of feature, and with a selection of vehicles that rivals that of most sims, and being a game that tries to be a melting pot of both sim and arcade racing categories, this type of option should have been included. Other than that little quandary, PGR2 is by far the best racer released in 2003 and arguably the best racer of arcade nature ever put onto a piece of plastic.
Graphics
Exclusive racers such as RalliSport Challenge, Moto GP2 and APEX have shown that Microsoft’s console is the home of some of the most beautiful racing games available this generation. PGR2 is not only a great addition to the console’s library of great looking racers, but arguably the best looking of them all…
The game’s vehicle models are some of the best you’ll see in any racer. (During a few of the earlier circuits, that statement may become debatable, but there is no denying the beauty of the Lotus Espirit, Ferrari 360 Moderna, and Ferrari Enzo.) While the realistic look of these cars aren’t necessarily thanks to the amount of polygons used to render them. The excellent textures, lighting, and reflection effects used, give them an awe inspiring, realistic look. Add to that anywhere from three to seven opposing racers, the largest and most detailed cities ever created in a videogame, some appreciative subtleties, such as seagulls soaring thru the sky or paper debris being blown across streets, a rock solid framerate (locked at 30fps) and you have the best looking racer currently available on any platform. I say “currently” because another Microsoft published XBOX racer by the name of RalliSport Challenge 2 may outdo PGR2 in terms of visuals.
Sound
In my review of SSX3 I claimed that Electronics Arts’ extreme snowboarding game features “one of the best licensed game soundtracks in recent memory.” While I still stand by that statement, I’d just like to say that Bizarre Creations’ has outdone every game in existence featuring a licensed game soundtrack prior to the release of PGR2.
PGR2’s soundtrack is spectacular. It branches across so many genres and even languages. Never have I witnessed a game that features such a broad appeal in terms of music. Generic Rock (sigh), Rap, House, Trance… all that good stuff is here (thank god there’s no Freestyle) and the amount of songs included is immeasurable. Even after ten hours of game-time you’ll only have listened to a small portion of PGR2’s soundtrack. There are just THAT many. Of course, just like its predecessor or any other XBOX racer, PGR2 allows gamers to create Custom Soundtracks from songs stored on their hard drive, but believe when I say that will never become necessary. Project Gotham’s soundtrack is custom tailored for the game; a perfect fit.
However, the soundtrack isn’t the only commendable audio aspect of PGR2. Featuring Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound for the ultimate experience in sound, PGR2 faithfully recreates the intense roars of each of game’s vehicles, all of which, have their own distinct sound. Other sound effects, such as the screeching of tires or the sound of heavy rain, also sound authentic.
Final Thoughts
Project Gotham Racing 2 is one the most ideal gaming packages you’ll ever come across. With the inclusion of XBOX LIVE multiplayer, addicting/challenging gameplay, beautiful graphics, and an audio library that’s beyond spectacular, you’ll feel as if the game is on a level of greatness beyond that of which the human mind can comprehend. PGR2 is a game that none should go without.
