Project Gotham Racing 4

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on August 16, 2007

Final Glimpse: Because who doesn't want to pop wheelies in the snow?

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Quick: name the number one clutch player for Microsoft's gaming console. If you said Bungie, you'd be wrong. Certainly Bungie and that Master Chief guy are the big stars, the ones who get all the press and ooze sex appeal. But as a clutch player, someone who consistently delivers when the pressure's on and the deadlines are tight, it's not Bungie Microsoft has turned to.

No, that honor goes to Bizarre Creations, who has been Microsoft's number one launch developer since day one: the first Project Gotham Racing launched the original Xbox; the sequel launched Xbox Live; and PGR3 launched the Xbox 360 with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved simultaneously launching the new Xbox Live Arcade. Whew! Best of all, they have proven time and again that they can deliver high quality products despite the tremendous pressure and deadline constraints of creating launch titles. If they can perform under these stressful conditions, imagine what they can do with the luxury of actually having a little time on their side.



With the upcoming Project Gotham Racing 4, it looks like that time has been used to add several cool new features to the franchise, the biggest of which are the wrath of Mother Nature and knee-dragging.

The new weather effects aren't just pretty window dressing; they will significantly alter track conditions and force you to adjust your driving style. There will be ten different weather variations: Clear and Overcast are simply visual changes that will not affect driving conditions. Light Rain will make the track a bit slippery while Heavy Rain will create huge puddles, including really deep ones that will slow you down; in addition, the heavy downpour will reduce visibility. Storm is a nastier variation of Heavy Rain that adds ominously dark clouds, thunder and lightning. Wet is after the rain stops, so there will still be puddles on the track. Light Fog and Heavy Fog don't affect road conditions but will reduce visibility (a cool feature on some tracks in Macau is that you can drive above the fog and look down on the fluffy stuff). Icy will have you dealing with frozen patches while Snow will have big visibility-obscuring flakes falling from the sky in addition to slippery ice-covered tracks.

The weather system is dynamic and will change during the course of a race but in a realistic manner; in other words, you won't see dramatic changes like going from a sunny day to a raging downpour Ц instead, it may start off as cloudy and finish with a light rain. Fortunately, the weather isn't too restricted by realism; for example, you can set conditions manually in Playtime Mode so you will be able to drive in the snow in Las Vegas (however, the weather is scripted in both Arcade and the new World Tour Mode). Also, just because it's snowing it doesn't necessarily mean the road has frozen over yet; the ten weather variations are not rigidly set and so there will be variations within the variations.

The weather also won't alter track conditions over the course of a single race. The developers decided to keep track conditions constant throughout the race to ensure consistency and eliminate random changes that could frustrate gamers.

Normally, slippery tracks are the bane of racers but this is PGR we're talking about here: that loss of traction can help you rack up some big time Kudos scores. Sweet! The Kudos system has also been tightened up to be a bit more realistic, which means you will only earn drift points while sliding through a corner rather than purposefully fishtailing on a straightaway. It should also be easier to chain Kudos together thanks to a small timing adjustment. There is also a new Kudos type but this is still under wraps.

Now imagine how fun it will be tackling the new weather system on two wheels. Of the 130 vehicles in the game, about 30 will be motorcycles from Ducati, Honda, MV Augusta, Suzuki and several other renowned manufacturers. Bike handling will naturally be different from cars but don't expect the realistic physics a la MotoGP; PGR is all about having fun and pulling off Kudos rather than simulating actual racing physics Ц heck, that's what Forza and MotoGP are for. That said, expect the bike to require a light touch as the handling and explosive acceleration will be much more sensitive.

Bikes let you earn kudos in cool new ways by performing wheelies, stoppies, endos and catching air, in addition to the traditional drifting. You will also be able to perform a few tricks like waving at the crowd, flipping one leg over to the other side, and even shake an angry fist at your opponents. As with the cars, you will have a variety of camera choices including a first-person in-helmet view.

While the weather and bikes are the two biggest changes, Bizarre has added and reworked several other features. For example, unlike the previous games, they are now using a programmer who is specifically focused on AI. As a result, the reworked AI will realistically adjust their driving styles according to the weather, and for the first time they will earn Kudos.

All Kudos that you earn, either online or off, will be added to your bank. You will need to rack up those Kudos to unlock garages and vehicles that include those sexy exotics we all dream about, along with classics like the Corvette Sting Ray, the Plymouth Hemi СCuda and the Shelby GT500E.

Team Racing is a brand new online mode where you compete in club races. You first create your character by choosing a gender, nationality and customize his or her liveries. You then create or join a club and compete in up to 4v4 team races like Cops and Robbers, Capture the Flag, and everyone's favorite, Cat and Mouse. Driving as a team will let you to pull off team-specific Kudos like blocking opponents and letting a teammate draft off of you. And as your victories start piling up, you will notice that the fans surrounding the track will start wearing your colors. Cool!

Similar to the new video capture system in Halo 3, PGR On Demand will allow gamers to share photos and videos to show off their elite driving skills, spectacular crashes, or even helpful tutorials.

Naturally, the developers are raising the graphical bar once again. Needless to say, the game looks gorgeous with stunningly beautiful car and bike models. The new weather system necessitated the need for new environmental effects that are simply amazing Ц especially cool is how rain beads on cars realistically. Very nice! Vehicles will also get increasingly covered in snow over the course of a race and kick up huge rooster tails when plowing through puddles. Rain and road spray will splatter on windshields and external cameras, and puddles will realistically reflect the environment around them.

The ten cities have also been given nice graphical touchups and look particularly impressive at night. The old favorites Las Vegas, London, New York, Tokyo and the famous Nurburgring track return, along with new additions Macau, Quebec City, Shanghai and the Michelin test track. St. Petersburg also returns from its previous appearance in PGR2.

Last but not least, Bizarre hints that there will be a brand new arcade game found in the garage. It likely won't be Geometry Wars 2, but nevertheless gamers are eagerly looking forward to it almost as much as PGR4 itself.