MotorcycleUSA staff takes a day off from riding the real deal and gears up for some virtual knee-scraping on the XBOX 360 with Project Gotham Racing 4.
We were incredulous at first when Motorcycle USA was asked to review Project Gotham Racing 4 (PGR4) for the
Xbox 360. Why would an e-zine based on motorcycle-industry related content want to review a game that previously featured only cars? But when we discovered that the latest rendition of PGR4 now pits motorcycles alongside cars in head-to-head racing action, we were chompin' at the bit to get our hands on a copy. Choosing a high-performance bike from a list of our favorite manufacturers like BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph, Suzuki and Yamaha gave us even more to smile about.
One of the trick features of PGR4 is that winning isn't the only thing. Doing it with style and pizzazz in front of your adoring fans is just as important as crossing the checkers first. We enjoyed accumulating Kudo points for riding style and tricks while playing it in Career Mode. It's about time we get rewarded for riding like hooligans. Players can run the gamut of simulated stunter-style tricks, ripping off wheelies, pulling out high-speed stoppies, backing it in or dragging a knee, all while thumbing your nose at the cars you leave in your wake.
"I do like how you can taunt drivers," said Motorcycle USA's Head of E-commerce, Greg Anderson.
In its simulation of real life, the more you win, the larger your fan base grows. Even in virtual reality, everybody loves a winner. In the new and improved Career Mode, you assume a racer's identity. As you learn to execute more tricks, you'll pick up more fans. As you become more competitive, you get a fleeting sense of what it must have felt like to be Casey Stoner this season, rising to superstardom after a season of mediocrity. As our legion of loyal fans grew, so did our egos as we tried even harder to outmaneuver and outrace the dreaded cagers.
As we battled cars through photo-realistic cityscapes, we became aware of the different handling traits of the motorcycles. Bikes are quicker, nimbler machines capable of squeezing through the narrowest of gaps. Bizarre Creations did an admirable job of not making them overly temperamental or fragile. Sure, cars will still plow you off the road. But the virtual bikes are able to withstand confrontations with cars in PGR4 that would send you over the high-side in real life. If the motorcycles would have been overly susceptible to scraping it out with four-wheelers, then the game's fun factor would also have taken a hit. At least in PGR4 we've got a fighting chance. But there are certain penalties of competing on a motorcycle. If you get hit, falling off the bike and getting back up costs you a lot more time than a car loses from driving smack into a wall.
PGR4 continues to use cities from around the world for its backdrop, exotic locations like Shanghai or Nurburgring. The courses are based on real street circuits with the facades of buildings blurring by as you storm around the tracks. But whereas before you only had to worry about the Ferrari on your tail, the programmers at Bizarre Creations have added a new nemesis that is one of the highlights of the game - the wrath of Mother Nature.
You can be haulin' a** around New York Harbor on a sunny day when a snowstorm will unexpectedly start dumping on you. Just like real life, riding dynamics instantly change. Cornering becomes more treacherous, traction is fleeting, and the challenge to maintain control becomes even greater. You never know what you're going to encounter - rain, snow, fog, they're all in there. And Bizarre Creations has done an admirable job paying attention to the small details, like buildings reflecting off puddles in the streets and the winter sun shining off patches of ice. It is in scenarios like this when PGR4 blurs the line between reality and video games.
Turning laps in the virtual world is much less hazardous, especially street racing, although Project Gotham Racing 4 delivers realism like dynamic weather systems.
And while we enjoyed stunt riding through realistic cityscapes, the graphics are more akin to what you'd expect in games from a few years ago.
"The graphics are a little outdated, not cutting edge. Compared to all the sims out there like MotoGP, it has got a really retro feel," said Motorcycle USA's Head of IT, Joe Wallace.
In its defense, PGR4 is an arcade-style game. It's meant for pure entertainment more than cerebral stimulation. But graphics similar to the ones that may have wowed gamers in prior releases fall short of the ever-changing expectations of avante-garde gamers. We liked the sparks shooting out the first couple of times we drug a knee, but it quickly loses its novelty.
Which is another shortcoming of the game. Being arcade-style, after a couple of hours of playing PGR4, it's time for a break. Our testers found extended play a little tiring. It is still fun and entertaining, but is more suited for people who aren't into hard-core racing tactics.
The Indy-Euro rave music from the game's soundtrack also gets a little grating after awhile. Which is too bad, because we dug the rumble of the bike's as we rolled on the accelerator. The boom of an Aston Martin's engine bearing down on you is a solid sound bite as well.
And while online multiplayer and team play is available, we don't recommend going online and competing on a bike.
"Online, riding a bike is useless. You'll get plowed over," said Anderson.
When ranking PGR4 as a Must Have, A Good Rental, or Play Only at a Friend's House, we categorize the latest version of Project Gotham Racing as A Good Rental. It's a fun arcade racer, but lacks the polish of some of the other racing games out there. But the handling physics when the weather takes a turn for the worse are some of the best around, which makes it worth checking PGR4 out yourself.
Project Gotham Racing 4
MRSP: $59.99
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer:
Bizarre Creations
Genre: Racing, Driving
Players: Multi
ERSB Rating: E (Everyone)
