Project Gotham Racing isn’t really an arcade racer and it definitely isn’t a simulation; it’s that holy middle ground where you can expect an authentic and responsive racing model without having to worry about the branding on your brake cables.
The Project Gotham series is known for fast cars, an accessible entry point and an emphasis on style. With the news that this would be Bizarre’s final swansong, PGR4 perfectly delivers on everything the series stands for and has aimed for since it started on the Dreamcast.
One of the major additions is weather; a dynamic change between sun, rain, snow and fog not only demands change on your vehicles handling, but your entire driving style. While the team is eager to show off their talents with rain drops drizzling down every options screen, the weather is subtly introduced; usually an overcast start will pass from light drizzle to heavy storm and finish the race with a blanket of water under the gleaming returned sunlight. Other than a thick floor of ice, the weather isn’t going to vastly change your experience in PGR4; it merely ups the ante on some of the more interesting races, and produces an astounding graphical level.
Project Gotham Racing is a beautiful game by its lonesome, but when thick pellets of snow are hitting your windscreen in an early morning Nürburgring or a night time race through Tokyo is accompanied by a light drizzle, reflective puddles and a flash of thunder, it creates an overall feeling that very few racing games can keep up with. Putting aside pedantic complaints, in the heat of a race, you’re not going to find a better looking racer on the Xbox 360 this year.
Gotham 4 also introduces bikes to the fray. They seem to have really separated the community; some love them and some hate them. I’ve found myself in the camp that appreciates their existence, but not choosing them over a stylish Ferrari Enzo. They control well and have an interesting kudos system with endos, wheelies and taunts, but my main complaint is when playing with the steering wheel.
You can “control” bikes with the 360 steering wheel, but I mean that in the broadest sense of the word control, like you can “control” Soul Calibur with the Dreamcast Fishing Rod, but you’re not winning any races; the major problem is that to change from wheel to pad means signing out of the profile on the wheel, returning to the main menu and signing in on the pad – it’s more of a complaint with the closed and streamlined Xbox 360 system than the game, but it really turns bikes into a gimmick rather than a viable winning strategy.
Project Gotham’s racing model hit its apex with 2005’s PGR3 featuring an extremely realistic but wholly accessible system. The majority of players could pull off satisfying drifts and handbrake slides with ease. Bizarre has admitted to using the PGR3 racing model as the base with minor tweaks and upgrades to polish the cracks; it feels perfect and the Force Feedback Wheel support is extremely well implemented, most definitely the best compliment to the accessory on the 360.
Gotham has a larger emphasis on kudos than PGR3; the style-tracking points have returned to being the overarching currency (like PGR2 and kicking out PGR3’s “credits”) meaning that pulling off clean sections and impressive drifts will move you ever closer to your shiny new motorbike.
The individual manoeuvre list has been condensed, the words appear in the middle of the screen and creating combos earns you a visually striking combo-star system. It all adds so much more emphasis to the system than some obscure terms appearing in the upper corner; you’ll appreciate the importance of keeping your combo going from massive jump to hand brake drift when the difference is silhouette fans congratulating you at 5 stars or a shattering graphic of losing your kudos.
The different modes have all received revamps and steps to distance one from another. The career mode is set on a constantly moving calendar as you complete championships and majors, to climb the rankings, or special invitational events, to earn unlockable cars. The latter makes up the most memorable events; Nürburgring in the deadly icy snow or an economic showdown between Electric Roadster and Gas Guzzler Ferrari; the challenges are specific and the rewards priceless.
The arcade mode features plenty of interesting match-ups as well and recognition for both expert drivers and bikers. While the career mode simply differentiates between easy, medium and hard, the arcade events offer the full array of all five medals.
The online mode has received a sizable revitalisation as well; a party system lets you take on foes with your buddies and every multiplayer race adds to the worldwide meta-game where your very performance is in serving to your country; All Hail Britannia!
Gotham TV has also been changed for the better to PGR On Demand letting you view and rate mountains of replays and photos, creating a massive hall of fame for racing enthusiasts. The amount of options, modes and events offers so much for racing fans with every fancy.
Project Gotham Racing 4 really is an all encompassing racing-fans package. With no hesitation, I strongly believe PGR4 is the absolute perfect mix of arcade pick-up-and-play fun, car nut authenticity and stylish racing. Everything from the incline in the career to the layout of the HUD to masses of modes of play all lead to and strengthen these three cornerstones that Bizarre has trying to balance since Metropolis Street Racer.
This is either the perfect swansong to end the series on, or an extremely daunting benchmark for whoever ends up with PGR5 on their work load.
Rating: 
4/4 Incredible
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