The Xbox gets its very first racing game, but can it compete with GT3?
Every console launch needs a good racing title and the Xbox is obviously no exception. Bizarre Creations, best known for MSR for the Dreamcast and their earlier PlayStation and PC Formula 1 games, was drafted by Microsoft to put together a racer worthy of the powerful new hardware. Despite a few issues, Project Gotham Racing should satisfy most Xbox owners looking for a good racer.
Graphically, the game definitely has some good things going for it. Beautiful real-time lighting, environment mapping, and environmental effects highlight the rock solid 60 fps framerate. Thankfully, the ugly low-resolution shimmering found in MSR on the Dreamcast is not present at all. The car models are extremely similar in construction to those in Gran Turismo 3, and honestly it's difficult to pick out which actually look "better". One noteworthy advantage that Project Gotham Racing has is that fact that the licensed vehicles actually take damage. The more obvious real-time environment mapping on the vehicles looks great as well. The courses and environments look great as a whole, but there are some issues with low quality textures and "flat" lighting. There are quite a few really nice effects tossed around, such as steam, smoke and excellent real-time lighting from the car headlights. Overall, the Gotham still does not come close to touching the detail and near graphical perfection found in Gran Turismo 3.
Unlike Gran Turismo 3, Project Gotham Racing is in no way a simulation, nor does it try to be. Just like MSR, the game is not just about racing around a track against other vehicles in order to post the fastest time. It's about driving cleanly, taking risks, and being stylish in order to earn "Kudos". Fundamentally the game is quite a bit different from simulation racers and even ordinary arcade racers. The style, skill, and goal-oriented gameplay may not work with some gamers, but the originality should hook those who just simply love to drive.
Project Gotham Racing centers around the concept of earning Kudos, and only about a third of the game actually has you racing against other vehicles. Three modes comprise the heart of the game; Quick Race, Arcade and Kudos Challenge. Goals outlined before each race/series can include driving cleanly on a course through green cones, beating a certain quick lap or race time, or simply placing in the top 3 in a race. During Quick Race and Arcade, the goals are fairly static, but in Kudos Challenge you can actually adjust the amount of Kudos to potentially earn. For example; if you believe you can beat that 2:50 fastest lap goal which would normally earn you +200 Kudos, you can decrease the time to 2:40, which would drive the amount of Kudos earned, to say, +500 Kudos. The game keeps track of the overall amount of Kudos you earn, along with the amount of time you've played, and miles you have driven. Increasing each of the three variables will unlock new courses, vehicles, driver helmets, and other assorted features and items. The challenges sometimes come off a lot like the License Tests found in the Gran Turismo series, and there are definitely a group of people out there who couldn't stand that feature. Somewhat like GT3, this cannot be avoided if you wish to make progress in the game. If you had no love for that aspect of the game, then PGR will probably annoy you just as much, and maybe more.
The courses in Project Gotham Racing, are all meticulously detailed real life cities and locations. The game is set in just 4 big cities; New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and London, and the courses are constructed within the real streets found within the respective locations. This has basically given Bizarre Creations the ability to put together hundreds of different layouts, and it definitely shows. Some are simple and rectangular, while others are twisty, and full of 90-degree turns and obstacles. While they all look nice, the cities are too lifeless and sterile. These big cities should be full of bystanders and pedestrians, regardless of whether or not a race is taking place through them. Most are well designed, but there are a few which can become quite annoying, especially when coupled with the A.I. of the other vehicles.
Speaking of the A.I., this is where my biggest gripe with the game lies. At the start of the game it isn't much of a problem, but as you get into medium and hard difficultly races expect some frustration. While the game does not just center around racing against opponents, I sometimes found that aspect to be the least fun of them all, further into the game. The CPU cars drive with a complete disregard to everyone else around them, yourself included. In a tight race, if you slow down a little too much on a corner, expect a pack of vehicles to slam into the inside/rear of your car. More times than not, you end up either spinning around or headfirst into a barrier. The control is overall a bit slippery at times, even when using a 4WD car with a high Handling rating. That is a bad combo usually, and drove me crazy on several opportunities.
As opposed to GT3's hundreds, Project Gotham Racing features over 25 licensed cars. I personally don't mind the small selection as long as there are a good variety of fun and interesting cars to drive. Gotham is packed with some really cool licensed rides such as Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs and Audis, and nearly every one needs to be unlocked one by one. As mentioned above, while smoothly sliding around corners makes for some great Kudos, it does cause problems when other cars are on the course. Besides the color, it is not possible to tune or configure the cars at all. Most already accelerate, brake and slide more easily than their real life and Gran Turismo 3 counterparts.
The music is based on a "virtual" radio broadcast utilizing real DJs and local stations. Many weren't crazy about the selection found in MSR, but PGR has a much better set of tracks. Along with that, Bizarre Creations included the super cool ability to use songs that you ripped from CD to the Xbox's hard drive, as part of the soundtrack (with or without the already included tracks). The songs I've been racing to range from the Foo Fighters, to Kenny Rogers, to Alvin and the Chimpmunks. Most are in there just for laughs, and hearing the Hot 97 DJ introducing some of these ridiculous selections, is hilarious.
Project Gotham Racing has a lot of good things going for it, despite some annoying issues. The visuals are great, it has an interesting and dynamic audio system and there are a good amount of play modes. The Kudos system works for me, but I can see it not being embraced by some gamers, which prefer other popular racing series. Project Gotham Racing is a great first racer for the Xbox and should at least be taken out for a test drive by those new Xbox owners.
