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One of the best racing games EVER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Project Gotham Racing is without a doubt one of the best racing games developed for any game system including the PC. The graphics are the best, the attention to detail in the cars, environment and game play positions it above all other racing games including GT3 for the PS2.

This is a game for the serious racing gamer only! The "it is too hard" crybabies need not apply. I read several reviews complaining about how long it took to unlock additional cars; nothing could be farther from the truth if you know what you are doing. In the limited time my children have allowed me to play the Xbox since yesterday, I have unlocked six additional cars (two Audi TT's, AWD Beetle, Boxster, Z3 and Cosworth Focus) above the initial complement of three vehicles.

If you enjoy the challenge of mastering a game using just your own skill this is the game for you. However, if you search the internet, looking cheat codes 20 minutes after you get a game to claim that you have mastered it; this is not the game for you. If it is not already available, I am sure in the not too distant future; there will be some cheat code to unlock everything in the game. What good is a cheat code, if you lack the skills to master any of the cars or tracks you unlock?

As I said this is a game for serious racing gamers only!

Slam the controller to the floor frustrating

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game gets incredibly frustrating at times. However, it's also too addictive to quit. The challenges are, for the most part, fairly short, from 1 to 5 minutes, though there are some longer ones at the higher levels, and it's easy enough to restart after screwing up. However, when the frustration mounts after restarting ad nauseum, the 3 second countdown to restart gets very annoying.

Despite the intense frustration, I haven't given up. I've unlocked all the cars, and all the tracks except Pall Mall, and currently have about 225 thousand kudos. Although at times, making progress seemed impossible, I managed to steadily make progress, since there's a variety of challenges, it's possible to switch from being stuck on one to start fresh on another.

In the early levels, the street races, where one races against 5 other cars for a set number of laps, are one of the easiest challenges. However, in the later levels, they become much more difficult. The computer cars are just vicious. They try to knock your car into the rails, sideways, or backwards at any opportunity, unless they get far enough ahead of you, in which case they'll start driving perfect lines so that you'll never catch up.

The kudos challenges are also horrendously difficult. The key is to string the combos along as long as possible to get the big points, which means doing slides between sets of cone gates, which means driving out of control, which usually means ending up hitting a cone or the rails.

The graphics are, of course, very nice. There is some popup in some NY and SF courses, and slowdown on some rainy tracks with lots of reflections, and slowdown sometimes when the radio voices come on. But these minor glitches haven't affected the gameplay.

The sound effects are also very nice. Being able to put together your own soundtracks with songs from your own cds is also a great feature. However, the in-game song "Beat 'em up" really captures the game, because you'll really want to pound those computer cars after their persistent ramming of your car.

Good game, but not for those easily frustrated

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is a stunning game and one that I enjoyed immensely. Graphics this good have not been seen on any system to date and there is quite a bit of technique and things to unlock. Project Gotham does not lack variety and you'll be challenged to keep improving your times and abilities to move on or to unlock new things like new cars and helmets. The game takes advantage of the Xbox internal clock so after X amount of hours played (or miles driven) you are rewarded with a new helmet or a new track! Most cool!!

The only fault I can find with this game is that it truly requires an investment of the player's time and patience. Each car handles slightly differently and the ultimate trick is knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each car's powersliding ability which is a big part of the KUDOS scoring system. To fully unlock every level and to earn all golds, it will require master-level skill and technique which many casual gamers do not possess and will quickly grow tired of failing or bored of the various stages. Definitely not for someone prone to throwing controllers in frustration!

If you want to get a sense of the XBOX can do, get this game. If you like your racing game to give you a variety of tasks/stages and you enjoy chipping away at your games via unlocking and gradual learning, Project Gotham is for you. If you are a casual gamer and not someone who enjoys the thought of replaying the same scene over and over again to get that elusive passing score, then Project Gotham is NOT for you. Get a straightforward racing game like Nascar or 4X4 Evolution 2 instead!

I happen to like Project Gotham!

A practical review

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Why write a review that follows many others? To provide a somewhat objective evaluation of a game other than, "I really liked it because it was really cool," or, "this game has the best graphics," etc. I read many reviews before I buy my games because, let's face it, we all don't want think we're buying a 4 or 5-star game, and end up with a 2-star game.

Pros: Graphics rendering shows high detail--impressive lighting; the sun produces a lens flare effect as it tracks in your vision, semi-permanent skid marks, seemingly range-based fog, brake discs (yes, you can see them) show as red hot on external TV views after too much braking. The external "TV camera" view after a race completes is very impressive, and looks very much like a camera tracking a real car - this is where the "video-like" rendering shows off. The car movement and physics seem realistic, as well as the appearance car damage/scratches. Forward and lateral acceleration (G's) are very noticeable between the different cars with pitch and sway even accounted for in the 4-wheel drive models. The heads-up display isn't cumbersome, and the controls are easily learned & managed. The level of detail in the city scapes is high, though just general enough to make you wonder where exactly you are, even if you live in the city in which you're racing. External views of cars also show "luminance fog" near headlights and taillights of varying degrees. Car engine sounds are nearly impossible to reproduce realistically on a game system, but Project Gotham provides very good sound renderings for each of the various car models.

Cons: Having to unlock nearly every car (except for three) by winning races or besting difficult challenges. This is really frustrating when all you want is to race, not play your Xbox for five hours attempting to unlock a single car. NOTE: fortunately there is a "cheat" which will allow you to play the other cars by creating a user with the name "Nosliw". Car damage impairment is grossly unrealistic--I would think smashing into a wall at 112 MPH should render the car at least a little impaired. However, you may like this feature during competition with the computer since it hardly ever bumps into a retaining wall. The heads-up also has a Kudos points meter in the top right corner which would be nice to remove at times when it's really unnecessary and distracting. The music tracks are a fairly large selection, but become redundant after many plays, and can fortunately be turned off. The reddish tint when racing in many of the "far east" countries makes it difficult to navigate those courses correctly-their sky is and should be blue, just like everywhere, not red-tinted; well, maybe if you are in Los Angeles... ;-)

Overall: I wish there were more detailed reviews available when I was buying Xbox games when they first came out. I held out from buying this game because I didn't know enough about it, but fortunately my friends bought it for me as a gift. Of multi player games, Project Gotham Racing is one we mostly choose to play for 1-on-1, even over HALO. This is one of the better games available for Xbox mainly because of the attention to detail in the game, and the realism. For a second release of this game it would be nice to see realtime damage, and less lockouts for better cars.

You like racing - this game is racing at its very best.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Think all car racing games are the same? Think that all XBOX games are filled with violence? You may surprise to find out the Project Gotham Racing isn't the typical racing game nor is it a game with a great deal of violence.

Having over 25 cars to choose from, coupled with over 200 tracks, in different cities around the world, to choose from, your choices may endless and the fun certainly will be.

What I found to be the best feature of the game was the radio DJ with real music, and if you don't like any of the stations you can always rip your own. One thing to keep in mind is some of the lyrics are explicit and offensive, yet you have the choice.

The involves skill, style and speed, each of which give you points and the higher you score the more you'll want to keep going. I also found the realism in the game quite amazing, any doubts, just wreck the car and see what happens.

After playing this game I can now see way Electronic Gaming Monthly claims "Bets Racing Game on the XBOX!" and they are correct. So if you are looking for the Xmas gift, Xbox and Microsoft may have your answer.

The best racing game on the Xbox

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game was obviously Microsoft's answer to GT3, and in my opinion it has surpassed GT3. The graphics are great, it makes full use of the X-box's graphic capabilities, the cars are detailed and the cities are photographic in their appearance. The sound and music are great, the sound effects are perfect, the revving of the engine, the skidding around corners, it's true action. The music is great, it's in the ever-popular radio form and it really does go well with the game.

The game is based in 4 Cities, each city being split up into several courses, you unlock each city and each course as you play the game. You will never get bored of these courses as there are so many.

The game has loads of cars, each one reacting differently to the player, I can't say if its realistic (I've never driven a F50 at 150 MPH around Trafalgar square before) but its an awesome representation of it. The game never gets boring, it's been out for a while but in my opinion it's still one of the best titles for the X-Box.

5 Stars.

Looks and drives great, but too difficult

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Project Gotham is like a high-performance sports car. It looks absolutely gorgeous, dishing up thrills and giggles in generous portions. But be warned, if you want this as your daily driver, there are plenty of frustruations to live with.

Even though it was launched nearly two years ago, the game still has some of the best graphics for an Xbox driver out there, topping newer releases like Burnout 2 and Midnight Club 2. The only one that comes close is Sega's GT 2002, but that title is hampered by repetitive tracks. Project Gotham has dozens of routes through four cities and you'll never get bored of the scenery.

There is a wide selection of cars, ranging from sporty compacts like the Mini Cooper to muscle cars like the Camaro and high-end luxury sports cars from Ferrari and Porsche. There is no option to upgrade the cars, though new ones are unlocked as you progress though the levels.

The gameplay is really tight, and the cars behave more like a simulator than an arcade game. Forget just gunning it all the way, you'll have to learn to apply the brake and watch the speedo going into corners. But there is a payoff for learning the ropes -- the kudos system that awards points for tricks like slides and catching air.

HOWEVER. There is a big drawback to Project Gotham, and that is the difficulty. I admit I'm not great with driving games, but certain races are nearly impossible without complete mastery of every trick in the book. This puts a good number of cars out of reach. I basically got stuck after unlocking a third to a half of the cars. Because you need faster cars to compete better in the more difficult races, if you get stuck on one or two races you will be out of luck as far as the single player mode goes. Fortunately there is a widely known code that lets you unlock all the cars, but that robs you of the feeling of accomplishment for doing it yourself. An adjustable difficulty setting could have solved this.

All in all, Project Gotham is a must-have driving title for the Xbox, and gets perfect scores for graphics, cars, and overall feel of the game. But the head-pounding difficulty keeps it out of reach of the checkered flag.

ugh....(Yes I have this game)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: November 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm just sick of some people. I'm not going to compare this game to anything else. If you have an XBox and you like racing games, you have to buy this game. There's so many different challenges and so much to unlock that this game seems to just last forever. Unlocking everything is purely the fun of it all. Even though the tracks can just be a couple different turns there's still a great amount of diversity(yes there are over 200 track layouts). It definitely starts to become very hard, but withthe built-in 65 tracks of music or so you'll never get bored. I'm don't know what the heck people are talking about. Plus you can use all of your own songs as well. This is definitely one of the better racing games no matter what some people think.

Doesn't live up to the hype

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I give PGR credit for being unique. The system of scoring "kudos" for driving with style is certainly different among the current crop of racing games. However, I found that I quickly lost interest in the game.

As I mentioned above, the game is based around a system of points called "kudos", which you earn for driving well. Sliding your car and getting it on two wheels are examples of moves that earn kudos. You compete in various events such as races, top speed challenges and overtaking challenges (see how many people you can pass in a given time). Along the way you earn kudos, which unlocks more tracks and cars. The challenges are varied enough to keep things interesting for a while. And the promise of new cars and tracks serves as a good carrot and keeps you playing.

Although PGR is unique as far as racing games go, I found it just didn't hold my interest. The tracks weren't nearly diverse enough and working toward new cars and tracks eventually lost its fun.

I also found the graphics to be a bit of a letdown. The replays look very good, but half of that comes from the aggressive camera angles/motions that are used. This makes it seem more like real TV, but it's just a camera trick. To be fair, the renderings of the cars are very good, especially when you see reflections on them at night. The biggest graphics disappointment are the tracks themselves. The buildings look very flat, making the scenery less lively than I would hope.

Overall I did have some fun with this game, but in the end it wasn't for me. Try renting it first, maybe your mileage will be different.

Decent, but frustrating, and a little disapointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm only giving this game 3 stars, and have mixed feelings about it. I am usually forgiving in my reviews, but with the Xbox games I am a little biased. With such hype surrounding them, too many of the few games leave you wondering what all the fuss was about.

The good:

1) Cars look great

2) Scenery is wonderful, making the tracks easy to see and follow, even if it is your first time through that track.

3) Fun, Arcade feeling

4) Sounds are decent to great, and the cars balance, motion, "feel" are all nice, except steering.

The moderate:

1) Difficulty. You will literally be running the same race forever before you luck out and have a smooth enough running to progress. While I'm not saying it is by any means impossible, it is, I feel, overly-hard. While some (reviewer kclemmer4) enjoy a really hard game, most do not (including the games originally editorial reviewers who struggled with it themselves). I feel most don't have the time, nor the inclination to invest that much time in running the same cars over the same tracks. However, there are those that enjoy it, and if you are one, more power to YOU.

2) Steering. While I feel the high-speed steering is accurate, the cars don't turn sharp enough. Even with the handbrake you are straining to make a corner the car shouldn't have any trouble with.

The bad:

1) No car damage. You slam a building at 90mph head-on and all you do is break out your headlight.

I say, another rent-before-you-buy game. Hope this review helped...

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