Another one. Whee.
Last year’s Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3) was the best looking racer we’d ever played, but even at our most bored, we’d never accuse it of being an adrenaline-pumping joyride you can just pick up and play. The PGR series isn’t for fans of the less-realistic (but so much more fun) Need for Speed series, clearly. In all fairness, PGR4 is definitely less boring than its predecessor. The purpose is the same—race the world’s most exotic sports cars in the world’s most exotic cities to earn Kudos and unlock more exotic sports cars. Pull stunts like drifts and power-slides with skill to earn even more Kudos and unlock stuff faster. Not complex at all, you see. The twist in the story this time is the addition of motorbikes, which you can race alongside the cars.
Fans of the series love it because of the cars’ realistic handling, but as with the rest of the series, the realism factor of the game itself is rather hypocritical. AI drivers are still flawless, but at least they’re also trying to drift and earn Kudos this time round. During a race, colliding with an opponent will take away some of the control you have over your car, but if you’re trying to play dirty and knock an opponent off the track, get ready for a nasty surprise—the blighters don’t budge! Even NFS is more realistic. What you have now is a racer in which your car controls realistically, but in a frustratingly unrealistic setting. Call Freud, I smell identity crisis.
Rating : 6/10
Platform : Xbox 360
Developer : Bizarre Creations
Publisher : Microsoft
Distributor : Redington
Contact : xbox360@redington.co.in
Price : Rs 1,895
Yes, the game looks good. Car and track detail is impeccable, and I’d never have figured that I’d enjoy racing to the sound of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody (look up Tom and Jerry’s Cat Concerto and you’ll know the tune). The weather can change in the middle of a race, which is a nice touch. Playing the game on Xbox Live is also more enjoyable than the single-player races. This is definitely not a game you can just pick up and play—you’ll have to invest a couple of hours getting used to the fact that speed isn’t everything—so think before buying. Oh, and the bikes? They’re there. Enough said.