Run or earn Kudos? Try to answer the question by playing the new chapter of Project Gotham Racing published by Bizzarre Creation exclusively for Xbox 360
Introduction
Project Gotham Racing is a title that made motor racing history on Microsoft's home console and beyond. Many will truly remember the ancestor of PGR 4 for Sega's Dreamcast, “Metropolis Street Racer”, when, with unforgettable freshness and novelty, he introduced the Kudos system that has always distinguished the series. From that first episode, in fact, the title managed to conquer hordes of gamers with its “arcade but not too much” setting and its spectacularity both from a graphic and playability point of view. With this chapter, those of Bizarre Creations, recently incorporated into Activision (mother MS continues to own the rights to the PGR brand), wanted to outdo themselves by innovating a title that was already close to perfection. They did this by introducing some elements that made the game a little less arcade but definitely a lot more fun.
gameplay
The first and most important novelty introduced by PGR4 are certainly the motorcycles. With this last chapter of the series you will be able to try your hand at the various circuits available using a vast assortment of mopeds competing side by side with authentic beasts such as Lamborghini Gallardo or Ferrari Enzo, but also cars that have made history such as the legendary Lancia Delta HF Integrale .
The attention paid to motorcycles is equal to that reserved to cars, with models that are very faithful to the originals (not all to tell the truth) and a game experience that changes considerably from car to motorcycle but also and above all from motorcycle to motorcycle. The strategic choice on the use of two or four wheels is left to the user who will have to keep in mind the different circuits: just like in reality, using a two-wheeler will certainly give you a considerable advantage in corners while on the straight the advantage is reversed.
In order to make the user better prepared and safer in riding the bikes, the developers have decided to offer a slight advantage in terms of performance to the bikes available at the beginning of the "Career" mode, an advantage that is then reset to zero when new ones are unlocked. more powerful cars.
During the race, the centaurs will be able to perform a series of spectacular maneuvers in order to earn Kudos useful for the purposes of the classification: in addition to wheelies, skids, skids, it will be possible to rude the vehicle just passed or earn the applause of the public by carrying out real stunt-man maneuvers such as standing up on the bike while wheeling up.
The other big news is certainly the weather factor. The Bizarre programmers have focused their attention on this factor and the result is clear and surprising from the very first games. The different environmental conditions that can improve or worsen during the race (this will happen more frequently if you increase the number of laps) not only offer a truly spectacular sight - small drops of rain on the hood of your car that slip away as you Full speed tackling the straight, a sudden brightening after a thunderstorm, these are images that will really blow your mind - but they directly affect the behavior of your car and therefore your driving style.
Is a thin rain starting to wet the road? do not even think about facing that curve in motion at full speed, you will find yourself 100% squashed against the guardrail losing numerous positions. Are you on a completely snow-covered circuit and have the brilliant idea of letting yourself go off-piste in the snow? well, say goodbye to the podium, even a single tire off the beaten track will make you do a good series of spinning certainly useful for the kudos (maybe even the applause escapes us) but certainly not for your place in the standings.
All these elements contribute, and not a little, to making the game a little less arcade and a little more realistic without distorting the spirit of the series. At the same time, the longevity, already extraordinary in itself, with hundreds of races, events, goals to unlock and dozens and dozens of cars, draws a significant benefit.
In all races it will also be essential to learn how to calculate the right trajectory to face the curve; to facilitate this operation, the developers have added the signs near each curve and have changed the appearance of the tracks making them more (so to speak) "racers".
The "Career" mode also changes and becomes somewhat more realistic. Unlike Project Gotham 3 in which we had a series of events, with relative medal, to choose from; here instead we will have to participate in a series of championships, each set in a different city and with a series of races (from Assault to the skittles, to the classic race against time) that will accompany our gaming experience. The advantage of such a setting is that a tone of continuity is given to one's entire career, the disadvantage is that once the race is over it will not be possible to repeat it to improve our performance until the following year (videogame is meant). or restarting the race before its conclusion.
To conclude, regarding the gameplay, we must say that only one aspect left us very perplexed, namely the impossibility of setting the vertical split screen. The game only allows horizontal split making it very uncomfortable to play with a friend even on medium-sized TVs (26 "/ 32")
It is a choice that we notice more and more often on the Xbox 360 platform (see halo 3) and we honestly do not understand why, since most users now play on 16: 9 TVs (wider than tall)
Online, graphics and sound
Online
The online mode is another strong point of the Bizarre Creations title and there are numerous changes made to the engine in order to fully exploit the potential of Xbox Live. Particularly well done the integration with the PGRNations.com site that allows you to see player statistics, the garage of other users and share images and replays with all the other "drivers". Even the matchmaking mode both in single player and in career or team mode is particularly accurate, lag is practically absent and, another novelty, by competing online and winning you will be able to climb the world ranking of players available from the PGRnations website or directly from the game itself .
Graphics and Sound
We have already said something about the graphic aspect, here we will only have to tell you that the bizarre developers have improved the already excellent work done with PGR3. The graphics engine of the game never comes off from 30fps and the play of light, the detail of the car models (a little less that of the 2-wheeled racing cars) and that of some night tracks such as Tokyo, Las vegas or Quebec is really very high, on the edge of photorealism.
Audio
The audio part is the same as always of the PGR series, sound effects worthy of the roaring engines of the fantastic cars that you can drive with the addition, this time, of the deafening exhausts of the two wheels. Music, the friend of every good driver, will accompany you throughout the journey, not only by setting your favorite track in the game, but also by selecting your mp3s directly from the Xbox 360 disc.
Conclusions
Project Gotham 4 is ultimately confirmed as a worthy fourth installment of the series and thanks to elements of sure value, such as breathtaking graphics and a state-of-the-art weather conditioning system, the best arcade driving / simulation game on the Xbox 360 platform .
