We’ve been patiently waiting for Microsoft to send us a batch of their
holiday offerings for Xbox — but alas, the mailman brought us nothing.
This was particularly distressing when copies of Top Spin and Project
Gotham Racing 2 failed to materialize in our in-boxes. Oh well, off to
the mall….
Luckily I was able to convince the salesperson at the local game “salon”
(say that in a French accent, please) to hand over a copy of PGR2 a week
early. I felt guilty for 5 seconds, until I realized EVERYONE was
selling the game before its release date. The top of the box was clearly
labeled: “DO NOT SELL BEFORE 11/18/03!” I think it was more of a
suggestion than a law.
Now for some bad news: With so many places were selling Project Gotham 2
last week, if you don’t already have your copy (and you’re an Xbox Live
subscriber), you’re already way behind. You have some catching up to do
… more on this later.
First, let me give you a quick rundown of my first 20 hours with PGR2.
GRAPHICS
To put it in the goofiest way possible: this game hits you with a 2-by-4
of graphic goodness. Honestly, I was surprised. I had played an early
build of the title and it looked nowhere near as awesome as the final
product. PGR2 is jaw-dropping beautiful. It’s achingly gorgeous. Argh,
I’m in pain.
The tracks and scenery are exquisite. The draw distance is like nothing
you’ve seen before. For instance, the Sydney track has an accurately
modeled bay bridge which most games would have blown off. This is better
than Gran Turismo stuff, WAY better.
Even though it doesn’t run at a full 60 FPS, I didn’t even notice.
Whatever the FPS is, it fits the look of the game perfectly. It’s almost
hyper-realistic in some cases. Little nuances like glowing sunlight that
flares off the top of cars during sunset and eerily realistic shadows
are abundant in this Gotham edition.
I have one tiny gripe: the vehicles and their selectively reflective
textures. At first glance, the cars look like they’re coated in dull,
brushed metal — not all shiny like the ones in GT3. The more I paid
attention, I began to notice they sometimes reflect the environment and
DO look shiny. Other times the cars seem to ignore what’s around them
and not reflect anything at all. It’s really not a big deal, I promise.
Besides, it’s things like this that make downloadable content so handy …
how about a downloadable texture fix, Microsoft?
GAME PLAY
Gotham 2 oozes quality game play. There might not be another racer out
there that can touch this level of arcade-like perfection. While it’s
not a driving sim like the GT games, it has a realistic feel that will
appeal to every car freak out there, including me.
The single-player games in PGR2 are more than just straight racing.
There are many types of challenges presented for each level of the game,
such as one-on-one races, speed-camera challenges and technical cone
courses. And, as with previous games in the Gotham series, you are
rewarded for your diving skills. Power sliding, jumping and drafting
will earn you “Kudos” points which can be used to buy new cars and open
new levels. In online games, you can use your Kudos for bragging rights
and status rankings. Kudos make me hungry.
Gotham 2 has a brilliantly tiered set of races that allows you to earn
medals based on the difficulty of the challenges in which you compete.
What’s great about this feature is that you can make a lot of progress
through the game by earning only low-level medals. However, to unlock
everything, you need to go back and tackle all of the upper-level tasks
too. And if that’s not to your liking, you can try to beat every level
as it’s presented to you. You can play the game the way you want … it’s
just perfect.
AUDIO
Listening to PGR2 through a pounding sound system is pure joy. The
engine sounds are awesome (the Porsche Cayenne is particularly sweet
sounding) and are some of the best ever to find their way into a home
game. I’m not sure on the production behind the game, but everything
sounds stunningly authentic to me.
The real aural treat is the 100-plus song soundtrack. Most games are
lucky to have a nice list of 10 to 12 “real” songs. PGR2 has a massive
collection that’s tailored to match the game’s locations. When you’re
racing around the Red Square in Moscow, your radio is playing Russian
rock. You even get localized DJs to introduce the tunes. It’s been done
in previous games in the series, but never this well. Genius!
LONGEVITY
Even if you think you’ve finished everything in the single-player game,
there’s a whole other world in Gotham 2.
Thanks to the inclusion of an as-close-to-perfect-as-you-can-get Xbox
Live mode, PGR2 is really two games in one. The online play is so
addictive, I don’t even want to be here at work writing this review — I
want to be home playing.
All the cars you buy in the offline version of the game can be brought
over into the online game. Your Kudos level, however, starts at 1 once
you enter the Live area, no matter how well you have done in the
single-player game.
Winning races and earning online Kudos gives you new tracks and more
tokens to buy cars. And the better you do online, the better your rating
becomes … and isn’t bragging and status what it’s all about?
This is one of those rare games, like Halo, that makes impeccable use of
multiplayer modes and extends its play life to years instead of weeks.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I’m making Project Gotham Racing 2 my Holiday 2003 pick for best racing
game on Xbox. There’s nothing out there that even comes close, not by
miles. Bizarre Creations and Microsoft have really honored the series by
making a sequel that not only tops the pervious versions, but also
destroys the closest competition.
FINAL GRADE: 5 out of 5 buttons
