Gamernode: Reviews - Project Gotham Racing 4

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• Project Gotham Racing 4
• Xbox 360
• Bizarre Creations
• Microsoft Games
• October 02nd, 2007

To go along with some stunning visuals is a stellar audio soundtrack. PGR4 features a seemingly spontaneous selection of songs that spans from old classical music to modern hardcore techno. The songs are randomly chosen, but customizable on the music menu. Each different genre of music has around ten songs each, with includes popular rock artists as well as unknown jazz musicians, and everything in between. My only complaint with the music selection is that there's simply not enough. Even after a few hours of play, you find yourself listening to the same songs over and over again. While the soundtrack is good enough to rip onto your iPod, using your own custom songs is still a better option.

You know what I love in video games? I love extras. Extras make me feel like I squeezed more out of the game than I should have. And I have to tell you, PGR4 has some pretty sleek extras packed in. First off, there's just a plethora of cars and bikes to collect. These may not seem like "extras" per say, but there are a good bit of cars that are just pure garbage. What I mean is that no one's using these four-wheelers for actual racing, and I think the developers acknowledged this. That means they simply threw them in the game to make a few people happy. Maybe you had an old Camero a few years back and would like to see how it holds up against a new Celica. Well, do it.

Another nifty extra is the replay and camera mode. Similar (but not nearly as awesome) to Halo 3's replay system, you can replay and save all of your races, as well as take pictures using an expansive photo mode. Possibly the coolest (and most useless) feature in this is the ability to take 3D pictures. You know, those blue and red pictures that you need the glasses for? While there's no need for that in the game, it's still really cool the developers took the time to throw it in for the few people who are actually going to take advantage of it. (But let me actually race in 3D, next time! Seriously, even Rad Racer on the NES let you race in 3D!) And then there's Geometry Wars, which has always been a major-minor part of Project Gotham. Sadly, this one is pretty crippled. Your ship only has one life, you get no bombs, and it just doesn't look as good as its XBLA counterpart. (I'm personally waiting for the Wii version, myself.)

After you sit back and look at everything that comes in the PGR4 package, it really only boils down to one thing: the racing. And you know what? It's good. It's damn good. If you're the type of gamer who wants a little more meat from titles like Burnout and Need for Speed, but don't want to dive right into the Forza 2 swimming pool, Project Gotham is certainly the series for you. With magnificent visuals, a ton of vehicles, and a beefy single and multiplayer experience, PGR4 is a great way to quench that speed demon thirst.

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