Australian Gamer Review :: Project Gotham Racing 4

DON'T PANIC! WE'RE NOT CONTAGIOUS

Project Gotham Racing 4

Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Available on: Xbox 360

I kind of think that is what PGR4 has become; A more mature, cultured and fancier looking racer than its predecessors.

Players: 1 - 16 Players
Genre:
Release: 2007-10-11

Developer: Bizarre Creations
Distributor: Microsoft

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My driving instructor was a pain in the ass and never stopped complaining. I mean, the guy was getting paid $45 an hour and yet all he did was whinge at me.

“You’re going too fast.”

“Stop taking corners so close to the gutter!”

“Drifting is NOT allowed in my car!”

“What’s that ticking sound you keep making?”

Of course, it didn’t help that every time I stepped into the car, I had a racing helmet on, a pair of aviators and would crank to full volume ‘The Danger Zone’ by Kenny Logins on the little red Excel’s stereo system.

In any case, my 7 speeding fines as an L plater and the dozen or so school children I put into hospital when I pulled this wicked handbrake turn in the wet probably justified a lot of the fear I saw in his face. *

I just wish he didn’t whinge all the time.

I don’t know if anyone’s ever had this happen, but have you ever played a game (Or franchise) so many times, that you have found yourself adopting certain behaviours you take out of the game? Whilst Jack Thompson will probably read this and use it as evidence the next time he’s trying to persecute gamers and the negative influence games have on our lives, I have to truly state that the PGR series actually influenced the way I drive.

Ask Matt and Yug. Although I’m fairly sure they’ve tried to repress the memories.

*Drifts back to January 2007*

Yug – Starks, you didn’t really indicate there man.
Starks – Yeah I did.
Matt – You were merging well before you indicated.
Yug – Woah, hey, we’re meant to turn here.
Screeching tires
Slight gap in conversation…
Yug – Dude, you really need to slow down…
Matt – I think I need new underwear.

*Snaps back to reality*

Too fast even for a screenshot

Whilst I tend to treat my new little Mazda 323 quite well, the Corona I used to hoon around in really did get a work out. Handbrake, drifting around corners (Although passengers tended to think I was aqua gliding rather than drifting) and just general recklessness was a characteristic of my driving – My complete and utter desire to flog the car to it’s limits saw me lose my license once as well as have quite a few ‘near misses’. **

The fact I now own a pretty decent car that is probably twice as powerful has actually seen me pull my head in (Well, I don’t hoon any more… Much…) and pay a fair bit more respect when it comes to the road rules.

In some ways, I kind of think that is what PGR4 has become; A more mature, cultured and fancier looking racer than its predecessors.

As a franchise, there are some solid elements that have stayed true to the game; Kudo’s, challenges, nice cars and ample replay ability. PGR4 has certainly stayed true to the vein of game people associate with it, and whilst it is a really solid title there are some things I do want to delve into.

I don’t really want to rehash about past PGR’s and the pros and cons of the game, but I will tend to compare what I see to the features that made the previous games so enjoyable. For mind, there are two major elements that you will immediately notice when you play the game.

The first, and probably most emphasised, was the inclusion of motorbikes. The fact that I generally overlook using the bikes in the game itself is merely a purist’s choice – 4 wheels are better than 2 for me, but some of the Honda’s were an absolute hoot when you wanted to do a wheelie or two. Never the less, I am really impressed by what the game offers in this department, especially since most of the traditional, pure racing games are either one or the other; Nobody has incorporated the two. At least, not to my memory, nor recently.

It's Moto PGR

The bikes themselves are as difficult to drive, if not more so, than their four wheeled counterparts. So in terms of giving the player something new to master, I find this an excellent addition by Bizarre. They compromise the incredible acceleration you have on the bikes by generally giving you a lower top speed, and the disadvantage of coming to a complete halt when you stack it.

The second difference is changes to the weather mechanics. Instead of rain and snows, PGR have included acid rain, mudslides, tornados, hurricanes and occasionally the odd raining of cats and dogs.

Ok so that bit’s a lie. What they’ve really done is allowed a game to have weather changes mid race, so it goes from sunny to raining, cloudy to snowing etc as well as allowing players on LIVE to experience weather in online matches that mimics current conditions in the city you’re racing on. So if it’s raining in London (And realistically, when isn’t it in that dreary place of warm beer) then it will be raining in your game. I find that pretty neat.

To be honest, in terms of groundbreaking developments into the racing genre, this is it. And I think I have stretched the second element a little bit further than it really should have been.

Does this take away from the game? Well, not really. But it does make those who have owned wonder why they spent $100 on a game that has invariably changed no more than about 10% since the last instalment. I suppose that’s the main thing that bugs me. Outside of some amazing new cars and a slight upgrade in graphics (And by slight, I mean almost imperceptible – I mean, lets face it, PGR3 looked fantastic) the game really is a rehash of PGR3 without the terrible loading times that plagued the 360 launch release.

I suppose that in itself makes it reek of an EA release, but to be honest EA could never release a racing game of this quality so that in itself sets it apart. The main problem is that as solid a game as it is, there really isn’t anything new apart from the bikes.

Mmm Bow Bow ... Chik, chikka chik-kaaaaaaa - OHHH YEAAAAH

There are a few tweaks to the game, such as the inclusion of a new multiplayer game type called ‘Bullfrog’, which I really enjoy. Essentially, it’s like tag. You get an entire city to roam through, with multiple avenues, roads and alleyways to drive down and you essentially have to keep driving in order to prevent yourself getting caught. Once the ‘it’ hits you then you join the quest in rounding up everyone else. It’s a bit of fun, but I doubt it would keep your attention for longer than the hour I played it for.

The driving engine they’ve used is different also. Whilst I enjoy the new mechanics in some way, I do feel that they’ve made the cars a lot more realistic from the viewpoint that driving an old Lotus Esprit will obviously be a lot harder than taking the BMW Supercar out for a spin. By extension I believe this has led to an oversight, as you tend to start at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to cars itself. So getting used to the new mechanics on crappy cars that you really don’t want to drive is at first off putting, and then gradually irritating.

Frankly, I want to drive cars I’ll never be allowed to get behind the wheels of, not pieces of shit I could pick up at the junk yards for a few hundred dollars.

I persevered for a few hours and finally broke into some of the nicer cars, and by that stage I was beginning to enjoy myself. However I really began to notice that the tasks being required of me were becoming repetitive. I began to think about what actually made me enjoy the original PGR, and PGR2, and I worked out that the incredible kudo challenges where you had to earn kudo’s in different manners to gain multipliers was where the real fun was.

And that’s where it began to hit me. There were no multipliers in the game itself. So if I was playing a kudo challenge, all I really did was fishtail for 30 seconds, then race to the end of the circuit when I had gained the points required to come first. Yes, it’s an oversimplification, but that’s what I felt like I was doing sometimes. Add to that the fact that they would cap the kudo’s you could earn, and you walk away from some races feeling like you only just beat the guy in 2nd, when in actual fact you were limited by the kudo’s limit. Considering I found the variations of challenges, such as speed tests, elimination, and overtake challenges, had always been secondary to the true test, I really did find myself searching for a challenge after a good 10 or 12 hours worth of play.

Sadly, even at higher difficulties, I couldn’t find anything that caused me the kind of addiction I’d experienced in the past PGR’s, where you would replay over, and over, and over the same map in order to shave off that extra few seconds and earn the gold medal.

Probably the last thing I found that annoyed me is that previous PGR’s seemed to emphasise, to me anyway, a hoon style of driving. And whilst you can still be a retard to the AI drivers – Read: Take the inside corner at 100k’s, rebound off the leader, and continue on to take 1st place as the AI all spin out in a giant pile up – I found most of the trials encountered, wanted you to become a cleaner, classier, and more ‘mature’ driver. For mine, however, I love getting the back end of a car out and hand-braking it around a corner. To me, getting the perfect corner in that fashion is much more enjoyable than simply taking a ‘Good Line!’

The classics never die

Anyways, in terms of multiplayer and online content, there’s a world of opportunity there for Bizarre to release new cars, tracks, helmets etc, and the online leader boards will no doubt be a haven for time trial crumbs that will play a map to death to improve his PB by 0.4 of a second. There’s virtually no lag when you play, which is a nice thing. I have some terrible memories of playing previous PGR’s and warping across the map when you faced off against Europeans of Americans.

One of the major comparisons people will no doubt make is ‘D you think it is better than Forza 2?’ Before I belt you over the head for comparing an apple to an orange, I will state that the games themselves differ in the audience they’re addressing. Forza 2 is a simulation; A game seeking to address the hardcore needs of restless mechanics who can’t afford the RX-7 turbo they so desire.

PGR4, on the other hand, is one of those ‘Pick up, play for a half hour, then go out’ type of games. It’s for people who really don’t want to adjust the angles their tires are sitting at, or alter the suspension to get better cornering. As a result, it is really a different genre altogether, and is an arcade racer, rather than a simulation. I think that’s the important thing to remember when comparing these two franchises.

* May be a figment of Starks’ twisted imagination
** Unfortunately, not a figment of Starks’ twisted imagination

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Final Verdict

Overall PGR4 is a solid game. Does it really offer anything new? Not really. Nice cars, decent single player with good replay ability, and definitely some hot looking cars. But I figure most people play games to do things you can’t in reality. And the loss of the ‘hoon’ factor is one I think the game sorely misses.

Pros
Graphically impressive, beautiful cars, the bikes are a bit of fun.
Cons
Lost the ‘hoon’ factor, relatively similar to PGR3 doesn’t have any Sydney tracks.