A fantastic game. Its only real shortfall is its difficulty, which is far to high, even for most seasoned gamers.
Project Gotham Racing is a solid game. It suffers from the same problems that all arcade racers do, but the difficulty in this particular game stops it from becoming just another Ridge-Racer clone.
When I say this game is difficult, I really really mean it. By the time you're onto the hard races in the quick mode, I often find that every single racer is eliminated before they've even completed a whole lap! It would seem, therefore, a trifle too difficult, if even the computer cars cannot complete the race.
What I think would be a better system would be to have you unable to win a race if you do not make the checkpoint, but can still vie for places with others who have likewise not made the checkpoint. If, of course, EVERYONE were to fail to reach a checkpoint, then it would be possible to win again. I'm going off on rather a tangent, and for that I apologise, but it sickens me to see the same formula in a racing game that we saw as far back as old C64 games such as Lambourghini Challenge. The time for change has come, and yet still games devlopers hang onto tired ideas. That said, PGR did, to be fair, at least come up with an innovative twist on the standard Arcade Racer. The matter of Kudos. Kudos can be earned in a variety of ways, for taking a corner particularly spectacularly, and going on 2 wheels, all the way to completing a lap in a quick time, or passing a certain number of cars, depending on the specific type of race you are driving. It is an excellent part of the game, obviously the designers had this particular theme in mind from the very beginning, because it works very well.
The graphics in the game are excellent, the cars all look pleasant enough. Notice that not only is there Ferrari and Porsche in the same game, but that there is car damage as well; a feat the Gran Turismo developers never managed to do. Just goes to show the pulling power of the big M. But anyway, the graphics are very nice indeed. Sounds are good as well, but suffer a little in engine noises compared to some other games (i.e the aforementioned Gran Turismo). No racing game, to my mind, has ever truly been able to accurately represent the raw power that a turbo-charged car's engine invokes. In regards to car handling, however, I feel this game outshadows Gran Turismo, who's car handling physics are rather lacking at times (4-wheel drive cars being able to drive sideways for nearly 5 seconds, for instance). The handling does seem rather heavy to begin with, rather like NSF: Porsche 2000, in fact, but once you get used to it, it handles a lot better than GT. In regards to longevity, it's going to last you quite a long time, but only because it's so difficult, not because the game itself is actually exceptionally long.
Just as a final addition, the Radio stations idea is a really nice touch.
Project Gotham Racing is:
An excellent racer
Probably the best on XBox currently
Still too arcadey
Project Gotham Racing is not:
Gran Turismo
As good as Gran Turismo
For the casual gamer
Graphics: 9 (excellent, but the backgrounds are a little bland in places)
Sound: 10 (Good music in the game anyway (for the most part) plus ability to add your own music and have it announced by a DJ is just awesome!)
Gameplay: 8 (Would be a 9, but it's just so freaking hard!)
Longevity: 9 (It's pretty long in itself, plus the aforementioned difficulty should keep you working at this one for some time.)
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