Pros: Beautiful to play, a variety of challenges, the best I’ve ever played
Cons: Hard to complete
The Bottom Line: This is quite simply a fabulous racing game, executed with amazing detail and great playability. If you are up for a challenge, it is a must-have for your Xbox.
kylev's Full Review: Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox for Xbox
Since I bought my Xbox (2 weeks after the release), I’ve hardly had the chance to play it and Project Gotham Racing is the reason. My two roommates, both driving enthusiasts, have been logging hour after hour racing around the cities portrayed in this, the most enjoyable racing game I’ve ever played.
To clarify something right off the bat: this is an arcade racer, not a racing simulator. The physics are not perfectly real (encounters with guardrails don’t drag you to a stop). The damage modeling is merely cosmetic (the wonderfully rendered damage to your fenders won’t ever rub on your tire). If you want maximum realism, you’ll want to find something else (a friend mentioned Gran Tourismo 3, though it isn’t currently available on the Xbox).
I could go on for several paragraphs about the soundtrack, graphics, rendered fog, 5.1 stereo sound and amazing detail, but I won’t. Trust me: it’s all there in scads. It’s a visual treat every time you fire it up. The frame-rate is enough to keep you from getting a headache, and that’s all that matters in this area.
What makes PGR enjoyable is the unique twist it adds to the racing genre: the concept of “kudos”. Simply put, you get kudos for stylish driving. Get it in the air, up on two wheels, or sliding through a corner, and you’ll start racking up kudos (with a satisfying “tink” sound). In most cases, passing a challenge is kudos-centric. Here lies the wrinkle that has been alluded to in the television commercials. You can choose to make things technically harder and obtain a higher kudos bonus at the end of the race. For example, the challenge called “Hot Lap Single” requires you to simply run 3 laps and finish one of them under a proposed time limit. Before starting, you may increase the difficulty (by lowering the time) for which you will get a higher kudos bonus. So, you get to choose: will you drive fast and clean, letting the bonus get you over the required kudos level to get a medal? Or will you lean on flashy driving style to rack up kudos during the race? Or some combination thereof? You decide.
As far as racing challenge, there is plenty of variety. Levels will have you racing the clock, battling fields of other cars, overtaking as many as you can, or negotiating cones as fast and clean as possible. Each of these challenges will force you to improve your overall driving, and find the best strategies for each track. At times we’ve wanted to pull our hair out, but have felt all the more satisfied having beat a difficult track or challenge.
There is only one complaint I have. This is indeed a very difficult game, and the car and track selection is initially very limited. This isn’t so bad since you’ll get to be very proficient at driving these cars, and won’t get frustrated when you finally unlock the Lotus Exige and the tail end keeps whipping around on you. It’ll take you a long while to progress far enough to get that, though. Trust me.
It is worth noting that there is a cheat being widely circulated on the Internet that will allow you to unlock all the cars and tracks with a special name. If you’re interested in multiplayer battles (you can run 4 people at a time), go find this cheat and enjoy the Ferrari F50 and other exotics. This lets you bypass the challenge a month’s worth of play before inviting your friends over to go head-to-head.
PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 2 - XBOX The game is a New XBOX , guaranteed to work. Game comes in original case with instructions. Shipping will be $4.00 for ...More at eBay
Earn Kudos and gain recognition for cornering on two wheels around the Sears Tower in Chicago, power sliding through the ancient streets of Florence o...More at Walmart
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