Project Gotham Racing 4 - Xbox 360 (360)


	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Racing Publisher Microsoft Developer Bizarre Creations ETA September 2007
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Project Gotham Racing 4

Soon to be pulling its way out of Microsoft’s gaming garage is the newest rendition of its popular arcade-style racing game, Project Gotham Racing 4. Due for its second appearance on the Xbox 360, Project Gotham Racing 4 plays essentially the same as the previous three, and once again includes the franchise’s signature Kudos scoring system, but this time around the block there’s a few overhauls.

The four biggest enhancements Project Gotham Racing 4 will offer are races with new weather features, a revised Kudos system, new online choices, and, for the first time, motorcycles.

Weather will play a big factor in Project Gotham Racing 4 with the new dynamic weather system. There’s now a greater chance than ever that gamers will have a

Advertisement

sudden rainstorm or snow flurries start falling during racing, and it will actually have an effect on the racing conditions.

As expected for a racing game sequel, there’s new vehicles coming along for the ride in Project Gotham Racing 4, including one of my favorites, a 1965 Corvette Sting Ray. Other cars of iconic

Advertisement

fame include a 2006 Ferrari GPR V12, a 1993 Toyota Supra Turbo, 1957 Maseratti 250F and a 2005 Gumpert Apollo. Gamers get the chance to once again drive at ridiculous speed in cars they could only dream of owning. But the big vehicle news is that you can now drive motorcycles. Playing the game in its current development state at this year’s E3 showcased stellar handling for the bikes, so that anyone racing on a cycle against Project Gotham Racing 4’s cars will be able to keep pace.

And there’s also an increase in the amount of tracks that can raced on, too, with three new locales for your racing pleasure: Quebec , St. Petersburg and Shanghai.

I’ve never personally liked the Kudos point system that much in both of the first two Project Gotham Racing titles on the Xbox. It was hard to focus on racking up Kudos when you were worried about getting a good enough time to further your gaming progress during the race.

In Project Gotham Racing 4, there are still Kudos, but it has been refined so that there’s more focus on the Kudos than there is about finishing with the best time in races. In Project Gotham Racing 4, it’s all about style over substance. The objective of Project Gotham Racing 4’s gameplay has been refocused so that players will race well, and look good doing it, too. The emphasis is on drifting around corners and doing wheelies on your motorcycle, not just racing to win. Even the game’s A.I. racers will center more on the Kudos scores and less on winning.

Online, there’s new Team Play functionality, where you can now race as part of a team online instead of just in “every driver for himself” events. And following in the spotlight of Project Gotham Racing 3’s Project Gotham TV is a YouTube-style Project Gotham On Demand, which allows gamers to save their racing successes to share with friends and competitors alike.

With Microsoft having already released its simulation-style Forza Motorsport 2 earlier this year, Project Gotham Racing 4 is looking to give the Xbox 360 the best 1-2 racing punch around.

- Lee Cieniawa

lcieniawa@armcvhairempire.com

(July 31, 2007)