Project Gotham Racing 2 reviews

The original Project Gotham was a launch title for the Xbox and a couple of years on it's still impressive. PGR2 boasts many new features over its predecessor including new cars, new locations and now the ability to play up to eight people over Xbox Live. The updated Kudos points system rewards you for sliding around corners, drafting and other moves that can be pulled off while trying to retain the pole position. You unlock new cars with these points.

A variety of modes are available. Single player is simple; choose a race a car then the difficulty. Easy offers no challenge but change to platinum and you will be in for many attempts of the same race, though the higher the difficulty the greater the rewards.

In multiplayer same rules apply but now it’s you against someone next door or over the other side of the world.

The cars start with the Mini and the Beetle and later the outrageously fast TVR12. Variations between speed and handling can throw any racer and once you have a grip on one car you need to learn how to drive a completely different one.

The locations are real world and look very nice. One race can be in Sydney and then Moscow. Don’t expect racing to be easy, tracks range from fast ovals to tricky hairpins waiting to catch you out.

AI drivers are difficult to beat especially in the later stages. If you aren’t in the lead within the first few seconds you have no chance to get first place. These opponents are experts and will rarely make mistakes, so don’t expect that if you are behind.

PGR2 won't let you down and with over 170 races and multi-player capability you will be playing for some time.

Well what can I say about Project Gotham Racing 2? I can say that it is the most polished, tightly formed game I have ever played on any platform of any genre. I don’t know exactly how long Bizarre Creations spent on this game, but that time was well spent. Everything about the game just shines. They clearly listened to their fans on this one.

Xbox Live integration is the best yet, for example you can log into Xbox Live while doing the single player Kudos Challenge, and can see how you rank in the world on each track, you can also download the top 10 ghost cars in the world for that particular track. Xbox Live online play is flawless, you can invite friends who are playing PGR2 in single player mode into one of your online games and they receive a little email icon and can choose to join right away.

The Kudos system is talked about a lot, but it is just as good as the developers make it out to be. Sure you can complete the game by just winning each track, but the real key to PGR2 is to race with style; everything from overtakes, good racing lines, and power slides and more earn you Kudos which can then be used to buy better cars or just rank up online. It adds a whole other dimension to the arcade-racing genre.

The selection of cars is refreshing. A few of the cars you can choose are the; Ford Focus, Mini Cooper, Porsche 911 Turbo, BMW M3, Nissan Skyline GTR, Ferrari Enzo and Porsche Carerra GT. The full list is extensive; enough to keep any car fan happy.

Overall this is the most amazing game I have ever encountered. I can’t say enough good things about it!