Project Gotham Racing 2 Review
Rating: 96/100
By Dan Clarke
Let's get this out of the way : if you enjoyed the original PGR , or even Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast, this is absolutely, positively the game you will want to get this holiday season.
Do you remember all those racing games that have 'ghost' cars that you download to race against? Well, PGR 2 has it as well, but the way it is implemented is so "golly gee wow" that you'll keep playing just to try to beat other racers. That my friends is the way all games should be – that "just one more game" mentality that keeps you playing until 3am, and this one is definitely one of them.
From the wide array of cars (Mini Cooper, VW Bug, Porsche GT 2) to the wide array of locales to race (Scotland, Italy, Russia, the US), you'll really feel like you are whisked away to these environments.
Where does Xbox Live kick in? Right from the initial start screen – you'll sign in and immediately see who's best on what track whether it be a kudo challenge (where you earn points for making moves in your car) or a time challenge (flat out racing). Once you start racing, you know what you're trying to match up against.. After you finish racing, you'll be told how well you raced against your own personal best and how you fared online.
Weekly online challenges on tracks to add to the community – you'll also see an overall 'kudos' leaderboard. Oh yeah, in addition to the 'ghost' cars, you'll also be able to race head to head online. Drooling yet? If not, you should be.
Of course the radio stations are just as cool as in PGR and MSR. I believe you can also rip your own music on this game; however the music in game was so good I didn't bother to take advantage of this option in my playtime. Unfortunately, switching stations isn't as easy as it was in earlier games, but still, it's fun.
Graphics are excellent and the damage models are very cool to look at , although they don't seem to change racing physics all that much. Back in the original Metropolis Street Racer, your system clock and time zone set the time of day you were racing in each specific location (ie if it's 7 pm and dusk in New York, it would still be sunny in San Francisco and morning in Japan)…this doesn't seem to be the case with PGR2 , which is a little of a bummer, but doesn't affect the actual gameplay.
Of course, here at GameRankings, we've had the game since early September in previewable form. This game has taken up a lot of my time, even more time than a certain well known football game.. It's highly recommended and absolutely a must buy if you have Xbox Live.
-Dan
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