Project Gotham Racing 2 - Review

Added December 2nd, 2003 by Joel Kownacki

Introduction:

The original Project Gotham Racing game appeared along side the launch of our beloved Xbox console on November 15, 2001. If you were a racing fan, and had picked up an Xbox, Project Gotham was in your game library. It snagged great reviews from both the general public and game critics alike. It was also one of the first games to show what this black box could actually do. The game wasn’t without its problems though. For one, most of the people I talked to agreed with me on the difficulty level. I for one loved the game but never beat it for that reason. Another thing was the flat looking environments. But the positives greatly out numbered the negatives. Rest assured that Gotham 2 fixes these problems and adds a whole lot more to the world of racing games. Microsoft has done it again with the release of Project Gotham Racing 2. You’re not going to need a new racing game for a very long time!

Gameplay:

One of the huge differences that make this game stand out from all the other racers is the rewarding Kudos system. If you don’t know what I am talking about, read on. The kudos system is really another word for points system which keeps count of anything out of the ordinary done on the pavement, such as lifting two wheels off of the ground, and power sliding or drifting like some people call it. The more difficult the move, the more kudos will be awarded. Drivers will also be rewarded for doings things professional drivers do such as drafting off of another car, overtaking an opponent, or picking the perfect line while going through a set of windy turns. You will be awarded with additional bonus kudos for completing a race without a dent, recording the fastest lap, or placing better then third in any street race. You can also use combos to rack up the number of kudos points by linking them together. If you own Xbox live, after every event, your total kudos score will be compared to the rest of the world. If you want to see how the person sitting pretty at number one racked up 5,000 kudos compared to your 2,500, you can download his or her ghost. You can then race against that persons run and see how they did it. There are a number of different modes you are allowed to play online and off. Kudos World Series lets you race in over 14 different classes of cars ranging from a ford focus to a Ferrari Enzo. There are 5 different medals (difficulties) that you can pick to archive in each event. Beating The Kudos World Series on Silver will unlock you three new cars. The harder the difficulty, the better cars you unlock. Arcade Racing is usually used to get your kudos rank up online. Race an Xbox Live Ghost Challenge to improve your Xbox live Scoreboard position. In time attack and Instant Action, your goal is simply speed. This game is sure to keep you busy for a very long time.

Graphics:

Graphically, Project Gotham Racing is a gem. The look and feel has gone through an overhaul in comparison with the first game. When first playing this game, the thing that will hit you the most will be the car models. Each car is magnificently modeled to the real life car. The focus looks exactly like a focus. The Enzo looks exactly like the Enzo in real life. Major Kudos to the development team. One of graphical slumps from the first game as the boring environments. It looks like the devs listened to the fans and greatly improved upon how the environment looks and feels. Paper is scattered in the streets, leaves fall as you wiz by. The building and backdrops make you believe that your really there. Some locations look better then others and you do occasionally run into some flat textures but I could only notice these when I wasn’t going 150mph down the streets of Washington. The road textures are unmatched. They are all beautifully bump mapped giving you the impression that each brick or load of cement is actually real. This game supports 480p and Widescreen playback for all of the Home Theatre junkies. One of the best looking Xbox games and the best looking racer to ever exist.

Audio:

Right from the get go, the audio is dressed to impress. Every car sounds like it does in real life. That is because the development team has painstakingly recorded every in-car sound to every exhaust note. Every time you slam into a wall will make you jump just a little. The sound effect is so real, its actually quite scary. The game is presented to you in Dolby Digital 5.1. It really comes into use when playing online or off when a car is approaching you from the rear. You can tell which side he’s trying to pass you be listening to which speaker is picking up the sounds his/her car is making. The game comes with a long list of songs that you may listen to. You aren’t just confined to using the in game music, because whatever songs that are stored on your Xbox can be played during the game with the custom soundtrack feature that is being a lot more used in Xbox games today. The audio team did a wonderful job on adding additional realism to the game through our speakers.

Controls:

Left thumbstick- Steer
Right thumbstick- Look around
D-pad- Steer
Back- Horn
Start- Pause
Left Trigger- Brake/AutoReverse
Right Trigger- Accelerate
Y- Look behind you
B- Shift up
X- Shift down/AutoReverse
A- Use handbrake
White- Change camera
Black- Change camera

The controls in this game are very easy to get used to. The way the vibration is used in this game is unmatched. It adds so much realism to the game. You need to experience it for yourself.

Replay:

Xbox Live was the biggest addition to this game. One of the things I factor in my decision to buy a game is whether it has live support or not. For the game not to have live support, if needs to shine extremely bright in every single area. While Project Gotham Racing 2 shines in all of those areas, live adds unlimited value to the game. Almost all of the people I have played with over live have been positive and very fun to race against. When playing single player, you earn kudos coins that let you buy cars and then race them online. So if you bought a better car then the other people in the room, then you have the advantage. The game supports four player split screen on a single box, 2-8 people on system link, and 2-8 people over Xbox Live. I haven’t run into any lag as of yet, every game I have played has been silky smooth. If you have Xbox Live, add another +. If you don’t, you’re still in pretty good shape. The best racing game on live so far.

Summary:

Project Gotham Racing 2 is so good in a number of areas it has to be considered the new king of racing games. The gameplay with the kudos system along with the ability to race eight at a time on Live and also recieve rank updates via the scoreboard makes it very unique and unmatched. The graphics and audio are top of the line. The new cars add a lot more enjoyment. The added mini game in the garage is a blast to play but extremely hard. Microsoft is becoming one of the top Xbox publishers today. I can recommend this game to any person that has a fancy for racing games. If you don’t like this genre then at least give the game a rental, it might change the way you look at racing games. My hat is off to you Bizarre Creations. Well done.