Project Gotham Racing 4 for Xbox 360

Recently it was announced that Bizarre Creations, the mind behind Metropolis Street Racer and later, the Project Gotham Racing franchise, was acquired by Activision in an attempt to compete with EA in the racing genre. While this is likely good news for all involved, it's a bit disheartening for fans of PGR, seeing that Microsoft owns the property and thus, Bizarre is severed from the game that made them famous (sorry, Geometry Wars). Thankfully, with Project Gotham Racing 4, they're going out with a bang. After PGR3 was lamented by most as a great game, but a step backwards from the epic PGR2, expectations for PGR4 have been lowered, and perhaps that's why the game shines so bright. It's certainly different in many respects from the previous games, with some changes that perhaps might bother long-time fans, but the new tweaks and added polish gives PGR4 a fresh feeling. Is it as good as the legendary Project Gotham Racing 2, which was one of the best games of an entire generation? No...but that's being unreasonable, as PGR2 was like catching lightning in a bottle. Yet PGR4 is a great, great racing game worthy of a play if you're a PGR fan or just want another round of arcade racing on your Xbox 360.

Kudos, now on ice
PGR has always tried to toe the line between realism and crazy arcade styles, which is fairly unique in racing games that usually go one way or the other. The Kudos system rewards skillful cornering and handling in high speed situations, but usually it's done under clear skies without the elements getting in the way. PGR4 however mixes things up. New this year are variable and ever-changing weather conditions that actually affect your driving in numerous ways. Take for instance, a rainy night. Most of us know what happens when driving on a wet surface – brakes take longer to work, handling has to be more precise, and puddles of water are everywhere to slow you down. Now, imagine dealing with this at 150+ miles per hour. Nothing like trying to take a corner fast, only to powerslide into a water puddle and lose control for just a second – enough to make you hit the wall and lose the Kudos combo you just built up. Racing in snow is even worse, with frozen patches that can send you careening right into walls without an opportunity to resist. Even a mere fog can change how things go, obscuring what's ahead. All this changes the game, and while some might think that's a little too realistic for PGR, just remember that most of the stuff you can do on the ice and snow will get you killed in reality.

Otherwise, PGR4 will feel familiar to those experienced in the franchise. The Kudos system has received an overhaul again, this time revolving around Kudos stars. Basically you can earn 5 stars for a Kudos combo, done by drafting, drifting around corners, racing cleanly, overtaking, reaching very high speeds, etc. A new race event, dubbed Superstar, revolves around earning as many Kudos stars as possible in a given time limit, forcing the player to learn how to keep a combo string going longer than usual. Starting such things seems a lot more difficult than usual – while one could rack up powerslide and drifting Kudos easily just by using the regular brakes back in the older games, there's a new reliance on the handbrake to initialize such things. I wasn't used to it at first, but once you do it's pretty easy to adjust to. Some cars are very good at sliding around (generally the usual tuner cars) while others are built for stability and aren't as easy to drive sideways (like the exotics). Again it seems like a move towards added realism, but still done in a way that's not quite matching reality. This year, the Kudos aren't for moving through the ranks, but instead are used to buy new stuff in the PGR Store. Unlock new cars, new tracks, and even get the 1,000,000 Kudos gamerpic if you can save long enough. Sure it's still not implemented as well as how PGR2 handled it with Kudos tickets, but at least there's a purpose to them again.

Of course, this year also features a whole new element: motorcycles. They seem a bit strange to have in a game like this, but here they are, in their glory, and their new learning curve. Riding a bike is totally different than a car; they have totally different handling. Bikes are more sensitive, though very, very fast if you can control them, though they're dangerous too as it's possible to get rammed so hard by a car that it'll remove you from your ride. They're far easier to use to acquire Kudos, especially Kudos stars, as once you set a line it's possible to drift through an entire corner with little effort. All it takes is some practice on the Michelin figure 8 track and you'll be able to take huge hairpins with far less effort than it would take a car. It's a risk/reward thing though, seeing that motorcycles are unstable and a bit scary to race against big cars, but I'm sure there are people who swear by them, and for good reason, as one who masters the bike is probably going to dominate or at least hang with the fastest vehicles in the world. The selection of bikes is solid, ranging from Harleys, to Triumph, to Ducati, to Kawasaki, to BMW. There's probably a familiar motorcycle for everyone.

Start a career, see the world
This year PGR4 offers a pair of modes for single player action (to go along with the usual robust multiplayer component). Arcade is the traditional PGR setup, with 5 choices in difficulty (with increasingly aggressive AI), and numerous events to tackle. Medals are separated for cars and motorcycles, adding a bit more gameplay to the mix. There's a grand total of 70 events over these 10 different arcade tiers, so there's a lot to do, and being able to race as both a car and a bike to earn them adds some replay. On the other hand, the PGR Career will come as a bit of a shocker to long-time fans, as it's something totally different from the norm. In short, the career is similar to a sports schedule, with events to enter over the 4 months of the "season", with three "major" championships like golf or tennis. The career is split into territories, with events taking place in all the cities within PGR4, starting in Asia with Tokyo, Shanghai, and Macau, spreading to North America, where Vegas, NYC, and Quebec await, and finally Europe, home of London, St. Petersburg (Russia), and Nurburgring. There's no medal system for dictating challenge; instead you pick between easy, normal, and hard.

So it's different. Each event offers various races, which get longer and tougher as you work your way through the world rankings and unlock more prestigious leagues. Win, and earn the maximum amount of points, which goes towards raising your rank, with the ultimate goal being to become #1 in the world. The catch is, it's impossible to do so in just one season – it'll take 3 or 4 seasons to actually accomplish this task, meaning you'll have to revisit events again, though with different ones for the different classes, you don't actually have to repeat one unless you choose to. The major championships are the cream of the crop, with tough competition and strict requirements for qualifying – not until you really reach the upper echelon will the game waive your need to earn a spot in the event. Because of how different it is compared to past PGR efforts, this will likely divide the fans a bit; even I'm a bit iffy on it, as the need to repeat years reeks of artificial lengthening of the game, compared to the large career mode from PGR2 and 3. It's still enjoyable since the game plays so well, but it doesn't seem in its proper place.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...
While the weather elements are better used in altering the gameplay, the also make the graphics oh so purdy. PGR games have always been showpieces, but PGR4 really ups the ante in terms of these effects. Stormy weather features downpours, the aforementioned puddles, and random lightning strikes that, if you are driving the right car at the right speed can be used to time travel. Foggy events have low visibility, and rain can actually come and go during a race, shifting the physics slightly. A few things are weird, like snow in Las Vegas, but when on an HDTV it looks masterful. The car models are naturally up to snuff, and the game holds its steady frame rate regardless of conditions. The music is eclectic and overall nice, with a ton of different styles that you can access at any time, or set up your own choices in the menus to only play what you want to hear. The remainder of the audio consists of the usual sound effects for racing, squealing tires and the sounds of crashes. Typical stuff.

Closing Argument
Project Gotham Racing 4 is yet another great racing game from one of the best racing developers around, and certainly should win back fans who were turned off by the (by their own admission) rushed PGR3. If this is the last time we see Bizarre handle a game like this, we got a fine exit, with enough new stuff to make the game fresh and live with the strange design choices that were made. No, it's no PGR2, but really, what is? Hardly anything can touch that game. While Microsoft claims to be interested in continuing the series, chances are it will never reach the heights of what was previously done. So until Activision puts Bizarre on a new racing project, enjoy this entry into one of Microsoft's best franchises, as it may be a long time before it comes back again in either form.