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da bomb racing game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 15
Date: October 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

don't listen to the texas guy, he's not a real gamer(he's probably never heard of E3!). but anyway, this is the best racing game(tied with GT3 A-SPEC)to ever come out. visit the xbox website and you'll be blown away by this game, even if you're not a racing-gamer. the cars, the graphics, the sound, and even the kudos system(check out the site)are just SWEET.
this game is definitly a winner.

Great looking game with a few important problems

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: December 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Yes, I agree it's a great looking game and all that. However, there are two problems - the more significant one being that the AI is too annoying - the other drivers seem more out to get you than to win, which makes it unreasonably difficult to win races. In the kudos/arcade challenge races - which are really a lot of fun, getting a bronze medal is easy, a silver is very difficult, and I have no idea how to get a gold - simply too many kudos required.

And it's getting kind of old tooling around in the VW bug... Though I've found the camaro betting for sliding around corners in the arcade/kudos challenges. But those are the two best cars going and I'm fairly far into the game. Kinda depressing to unlock a new car and find it's worse than the one I've already got...

I very strongly recommend you purchase a wheel for this game (just came on the market a couple days ago) or you're in for a lot of frustration - controllers do not cut it in driving games.

GRAN TURISMO ,BYE BYE BYE CAUSE PROJECT GOTHAM IS HERE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: October 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

These Game has over 300 track first off all. And they are really different NOT MIRROR Track like on gran turismo 3. And they in clude 20 cars and you can unlock more like ferrias and porshues.You can also see the drive in the game(on gran turismo you couldn't see the drive in the seat, specially when you get a coverretable that just cover up the top). Project Gotham you can down load your own music from the xbox hard drive. I own Gran Turismo and it has nothing on Project Gotham. It's True, It's True!!!!!!!

A Solid Notch Harder Than the Hardest Racing Game Ever

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

For the first time I entirely agree with the editorial review.
This game is amazing but at the same time amazingly hard.
I have played racing games all the way back to Atari's Night
Driver and this game just blows my mind.

The computer is a bit ruthless and never makes an error
even with the poor handling cars. Oh yeah, the cars. Well
there are some really spiffy ones I doubt I'll ever drive. To
unlock most of them requires perfect scores on impossible
tracks. The cover should just have a Mini Cooper on the front
because that's what you will be driving most in this game!

If you feel yourself ready to throw the controller against the
wall just remind yourself it isn't real. Or is It?

Geat sound and graphics - but way 2 hard and gamplay lacking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After hearing all the hype on this game I decided to give it a try.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are the best I have seen in any racer yet. the cars and the cities look amazingly real and the cars show off a showroom shine and reflects all lights that come from the city around them. The details are amazing as well. Your driving can be actually seen shifting gears as you speed down the city streets. The cities show off spectacular lighting effects and even have logos of popular resturants.

Sound:
Next to the Graphics the sound is the second best part of this game. Different vehicles have different engine noises. The Ferraris gives off a high pitched roar while other cars have lower sounding engines. Everytime you shift you can hear the engine actually changing gears and it is pretty realistic sounding. Aside from the cars, you have a wide range of music tunes to choose from while your driving, depending on what city your in you have the option of choosing 3 different local radio stations which each play about 6 different songs. If you are in Japan, you will actually hear Japanese music being spoken in Japanese! When you get tired of the radio you can choose from your "CD" collection which is included on the game CD. When you get tired of that, you can always play your own music while you drive.

Gameplay
The controls are very responsive and are not loose like alot of other racing games; which is a good thing. When you press left or right to turn, your car does not spin out of control...most of the time. Sometimes when your turning a corner at 15 MPH your car will mysteriously start spinning for no apparant reason. Also the computer seems to have "tank" cars. By that I mean, if your racing against the computer, all he has to do is just "tap" you and your car goes spinning out of control. However if you ram into the computer at 50 MPH it will keep moving as if you did not even hit him. That is very stupid and frustrating to say the least. The gameplay gets pretty impossible after you reach a certain level. Unless you have hours upon hours to spend each day just restarting the same race over and over again, you will probally never get all of the cars and tracks.

Presentation
This is where I feel the game is most lacking. First of all, there are not that many cars compared to other racing games. While most of the cars on the game are great, it is missing a lot that I would have like to have seen in this game. Where is the Lamborghini? M3? M5? Mclauren?. They have a Chevy Camaro, Subarau Impreza and even a Ford Focus, but they don't have a Mustang Cobra. In fact the only car represented by Ford is the Focus, big dissapointment. No Honda's either, but they do have a mitsubishi lancer. Strange. This game needs more cars period.

In addition to the lack of cars, I am not too crazy about the "Kudos" system. Basically what it is, is that you get points for "cool" things you do, (ie. sliding, spining, getting air time etc). The kudos you earn add up and depending on how many you get, you can unlock new cars and levels. This is not as easy as it sounds, because while your kudos are adding up, if you hit a wall or a cone, you lose all of the kudos you will have earned, very frustating especially when "unlocking" the next level or car depends on if you earn enough Kudos. The kudos system makes the game VERY difficult, and after while it becomes more frustrating then challenging. It seems like the game concentrates more on how many cool tricks you can do rather than how good you can drive. This is racing not an X-games competition.

Finally one more bad thing about the game play, While the city driving can be very fun, the tracks the game does have are not made in such a way that you can ever reach top speed in your car. They do have a speed challenge course, but it still is not made in such a way were you can actually maintain your speed. The track has two straight-a-ways but end in a hairpin turn where you almost have to come to a complete stop to turn. The highest speed I ever gotten was 152 in the Ferrari F50, and since I was out of road I crashed into the wall. The Ferrari has a top speed of over 200 MPH, I would have liked to have reached this speed, in a race. I remember in Need For Speed 2, I was able to get 238 MPH in the GT90, and actually was able to keep it there for a few seconds. This is impossible in PGR, which takes away from the game. What is the point of having all those fast cars if you can't really see what they can do? If they werent goign to let you get over 150 MPH in your car then they should have had all Sedans and Coupes in this game rather than exotic sports cars!

Conclusion
Overall I am dissapointed in this game. While the sound and graphics are the best I have ever seen, the amount of cars and gameplay is lacking. This game is not for everyone, some people might like the Kudos system, but it is not for me; I I just want to race not see how many cool tricks I can do; who cares that I can slide and spin on a turn going 80 MPH?, or see how many cones I can drive through. (Again, this is supposed to be a racing game not a driver's ed course.) If you want to spend hours and hours (and I mean HOURS) trying to gain kudos points just to unlock new cars and tracks then this game is for you. If you just want to race and push your car to its limit then wait on another racing game to come out.

Incredible graphics and realistic driving

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

For those who love racing games, Project Gotham Racing boasts amazing graphics, incredible physics and hundreds of great courses.

I love car racing games. I've watched over the years as car models have gotten better and better looking, as the cars have handled more and more like a real car. Project Gotham Racing really takes all of these to the next level.

While there isn't a huge selection of cars here, the ones that are represented are done VERY well. All of the details are there, including lighting detail and dents when you crash. The cars have great physics, so while you're doing all sorts of fancy slides and spins, the cars handles just like a real car would. I take my real car for winter driving practice in icy parking lots, and have tried some of these things :)

The kudos system helps make the game even more interesting. Instead of just racing to the end of a course, you have to do so with style. Ride on two wheels, do spins, and avoid hitting other cars and objects for more points. The more points you get, the more special features and courses you unlock.

The courses and towns are done extremely well. There are a variety of cities you get to drive through, and in each one you really get a feel for that area. London, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco are the basis for the tracks.

Highly recommended to any racing fan!

Best racing game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game less than a week after getting back from London, so even though my wife wouldn't let us rent a car to get around in the UK, I really feel as though I've driven through London (REALLY FAST).
That said, the graphics are superb, the levels laid out true to life, and the physics engine was very realistic. I also loved the fact that the cars took damage.
Oh, I loved the fact that if you choose radio, instead of CD music, the radio reception peters out when you go under bridges and through tunnels.
Pros:
Cars take damage.
Textured roads make the controller shake.
Graphics are beautifully rendered.
Loads of playability.
Wonderful true-to-life environments.
Nice controller setup.
Although there weren't 5,000 cars available to choose from, I liked the ones that they chose (like the Mini Cooper!).
Customizable music.
Cons:
Didn't have 5,000 cars.
The single player became too difficult too quickly.

Anyone who considers themselves a car fan should buy this!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Xbox has been on store shelves (and in my living room) for two-and-a-half months. During that time I have played some of the best games I've seen in my long tenure as a video game guru, including Star Wars: Obi-Wan, Halo and, Amped. Being distracted by such wonderful examples of gaming genius, like the ones above, and about a half dozen others, my wandering Blockbuster eye always passed over Project Gotham Racing. Boy, was that a mistake.
Now that I've had a good 7 days behind the wheel of PGR, I can honestly say that it is my favorite car racing game to date. PGR combines the best aspects of Gran Turismo 3 (PS2) with the pure fun of Beatle Adventure Racing, the underappreciated racing game for the N64.

Like GT3, the graphics, gameplay, and physics are excellent. In fact, graphically speaking, PGR edges out GT3 due mainly to the attention to detail. The way the light reflects off of your shiny silver Audi TT makes you drool as your highly polished windshield glistens in the sun. You watch as your driver (yes, there is actually a person in the car in PGR), leans with the turns and takes his hand off the wheel to shift, a nice touch if you ask me.

Gameplay is well thought out and highly customizable. There are six main racing options, three of which I'll talk about: Quick Race, Arcade, and Kudos Challenge. No, the latter isn't sponsored by an early player in the energy bar market, Kudos is a point system. You earn Kudos as bonuses for placing in certain races, pulling off stylish moves, or just generally kicking butt. In order to progress and earn new cars, you have to race in each of the 3 modes. The Quick Race mode pits you against 5 other cars in a classic battle for 3rd, 2nd, or 1st. You progress through various cities and try to get at least a bronze to advance from say NYC to SanFran. The Arcade mode is purely for Kudos. Yes, you have to get very good at going through cones and pulling off cool slides and 360s to earn at least a bronze. The Kudos Challenge is my favorite mode. You work your way through an array of different races including the good ol' me vs. 5 other cars, one on one, overtake challenge (pass "x" number of cars before time runs out), speed challenge, and several other creative and challenging ways of putting your driving skills to the test.

The Kudos point system is very customizable. By raising or lowering the difficulty level for each race you determine how many Kudos will be awarded. The more difficulty, the higher the reward and vice versa. Getting that bronze medal is not necessarily dependent on whether you place 3rd, but how many Kudos you have earned. It may be a little confusing, but just think of it as a great way to keep score.

Despite the warning to the contrary, driving in real life like you drive in PGR will, in fact, probably work for you because the physics and feel of the game is phenomenal. You almost feel a couple of Gs as you blast around a corner doing 75 in a Nissan Skyline GTR. The controller only adds to the complete immersion in this game. Not only does it vibrate in sync with whatever you're doing, but the weight of the controller itself gives you the feel that you're controlling something with power. I don't know how this game would feel with a puny GameCube controller in my hand. You almost need the size to harness the power. Speaking of the controller, the default button and control layout leaves a little to be desired, so I switched it up a little and made the trigger buttons be my up and down shift and "A" my gas. This works well enough except for the fact that my right thumb is red and shiny from constantly pushing on the "A" button. I know, I know, I could use the right analog stick for that, but I'm just not that type of guy.

Unlike GT3, this game is not so big that you get lost in it. There are not hundreds of cars with a plethora of confusing upgrades that you'd have to be an auto mechanic or listen to an absurd amount of "Car Talk" to understand. It's very straightforward: win this circuit...get new car. Beautiful. New car faster, now must go back to Quick Race and see if I can win that damn London race. See, it's completely manageable, thus giving it that feel of Beatle Adventure Racing. Pure fun.

Let's not forget that PGR is soundtrack enabled which means you can listen to your own CDs that you've put on your Xbox. I can't tell you how nice it is to have my personal playlist of 80+ songs. Oh...cool feature, Radio DJ's announce your music and break in on your songs with contest winners and request hotlines.

I hope you get the feeling that this is a well thought out and highly polished game because it is. And all that thought has helped make Project Gotham Racing the best combination possible: both fun and challenging.

Totally addicting, but not perfect

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

After playing PGR for about 8 hours I have to say that this is a very fun game. Once I got over the initial problem of controlling the car I couldn't stop playing. I found that the best camera mode for enjoying this game was looking out the windshield, rather than looking from behind the car. When I changed the camera angle it changed the dynamics of the game completely. You could tell the difference in speed and I actually had better control of the car using the behind the windshield camera angle.
Couple of things I didn't like were that there was no computer controlled cars in the multiplayer mode and I also found a bug that when you play in multiplayer mode and have to pause the game, that the game loses track of how many laps you have completed in the race.
Other than these minor gripes, once I changed the camera angle and learned to control the car it was awesome driving all of the different vehicles and really feeling the speed and the beautiful graphics.

A lot more variety than your average racing game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

So many people were desperate for Project Gotham Racing to be the "Gran Turismo killer." Well, it isn't the first to be saddled with that hope, and won't be the last. My advice, don't try to compare the two. Both are successes in their own right and both are quality titles. But, if I were forced, I must give the edge to the PS2's Gran Turismo 3.

The best thing about Project Gotham is the variety. Turismo has a marked tendency to get stale after awhile, but both games require a lot from the gamer to get full enjoyment. This is not a game for those with short attention spans. It's all about style in Project Gotham, and after awhile you will be wishing you had some, because chances are your best ain't quite good enough.

There are relatively few "levels" in Gotham, but each is sectioned off into different portions depending on what the object of the race is. Sometimes your objective is to finish first, sometimes to finish a lap under a certain time, other times it is to get above a certain Kudos level. Kudos are achieved by utilizing impressive driving techniques during your run, like long power slides around corners, overtaking other cars, riding on 2 wheels, turning 180's, etc. The tough part is being able to show off enough style to rack up Kudos while still finishing the race in a reasonable amount of time.

And this game is not easy. You start out with relatively small, unimpressive, measly cars which can get you to the Bronze level of the various challenges. From there, the more challenges you complete the more cars you unlock. People have complained about the lack of "cool" cars at the start, but let's not forget that Turismo limits your initial spending $$$ to the range of Mazda Miata or Plymouth PT Cruiser. But it will take some time before you get around to unlocking the mean machines.

Personally, I like this game. Anyone can smell a poor-quality game coming a mile away, this is NOT a poor-quality game. It does demand a lot, and I think that is where many will criticize it for not being user-friendly enough. And let's not forget that this is simply an updated version of Bizarre Creations old Sega Dreamcast game, Metropolis Street Racer. Gotham is leaps & bounds better than MSR, but some of the old gameplay gripes still exist.

So don't judge MSR on the Turismo scale, and have some patience with it. It is a rewarding experience eventually. It's just a shame that many will trash it in frustration before reaching that point.

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