Project Gotham Racing 4

Format Xbox 360

Developer Bizarre Creations

Publisher Microsoft

Genre Racing / Driving

8 Comments

The 'loose lips sinks ships' philosophy of many publishers tends to mean that many games are locked up tighter than a Morecambe theme park, developed almost in isolation from their fanbase. Which is why it's refreshing when we see mighty teams such as Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations natter away so freely with their most loyal fans on their website, bizarreonline.net. It's the sign of a truly passionate games development team who fervently believe in what they're creating, and not only do they solicit suggestions from their fans, they tend to go out of their way to actively act upon them.

Number one on their fan's agenda: a more varied vehicular line-up. Don't get us wrong, we loved being able to get behind the wheel of the supercars from straight out of the box in Project Gotham Racing 3, but when there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits? Even the really nice ones with coconut in start to look a bit boring. Around halfway through the gruelling single-player system, all those red shiny cars seemed to merge into one, and it was only through sheer force of will that we managed to fill up our virtual garage.

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Project Gotham Racing 4 returns to a more traditional seasonal single-player structure - starting out life with a chugged-out rustbucket and earning your right to test drive the bigger cars by proving yourself out on the track. And yes - the most requested car of all, the Mini Cooper S (a near-essential runaround for those improved games of Cat 'n' Mouse in the world of Xbox Live) make a welcome comeback.

RAINING POLYGONS
The track design is another bone of contention among Project Gotham enthusiasts, with many on Bizarre's forums hoping for wider corners and faster gameplay - and that's exactly what they'll get. In other news, with many locations yet to be unveiled, we do know of at least one new city set to be featured - Shanghai, which will line up alongside old favourites like Tokyo, Las Vegas and Ye Olde London Town. There is also further evidence in these latest shots that we'll be zipping around new, uncharted territory when PGR4 screeches into town - wide-open, exotic landscapes that are as far removed from the traditional Gotham City as could be possible, short of setting the whole shebang on Jupiter's red spot.

And now, the weather. By our calculations the return of the weather effects so conspicuous by their absence in PGR3 was second only to the Nürburgring in the forum's 'most wanted' stakes, but while there's no news on the inclusion of the World's Greatest Race Track at this time, as far as the weather effects are concerned, as you can see from these shots, it never rains but it pisses down. Rainfall results in puddles swelling up at the track's lowest points, dynamically changing the grip on the surface as the race progresses. Slush, snow, ice - Project Gotham 4's varied racing calendar runs the full gamut of meteorological phenomena and precipitation has never looked so sexy, with individual globules of water distinguishable to the player as they congregate on the back of your car.

Going back to PGR3 nowadays, it's amazing how well the visuals hold up even today, but in rushing the threequel out for the launch, PGR3 ended up being somewhat of a runt of a game compared to its celebrated predecessors. PGR4 aims to be to that game what PGR2 was to the original Gotham offering - a fully fleshed-out sequel that, free of the time constraints that hung over PGR3 like the Sword of Damocles, improves on its predecessor in every possible way. Better handling, more tracks, aggressive AI and a renewed focus on Kudos (cast your eyes right for more on that) - for PGR fans it's the stuff wet dreams are made of, and a clear illustration of the benefits of a close relationship between the development team and their community. More details soon, but until then we're going to sign up to their forums and repeatedly ask for a new track where you race around a giant chocolate gateaux. So when they implement it and ruin PGR4 for everyone, the name to write on that burning effigy is.

Alex Dale