Publisher: Microsoft
Ages: five and up
Parental
Advisory:
Reckless driving
For exciting car races, Microsoft's Project Gotham Racing 2 offers lots of vehicles and racing venues, great graphics, entertaining action and the ability to play online against up to seven other players. For now, it's the Xbox's definitive car race game.
The title offers first rate circuit-based racing through detailed city environments. Racers may choose from some 100 cars and speed through the streets of ten cities, power-sliding around corners and accelerating through straightaways.
In its single-player mode, gamers race against fairly smart computer-controlled cars through some 230 races in world series and arcade racing modes. The game features vehicles such as the Enzo Ferrari, Pagani Zonda and Porsche Carrera GT, and classics such as the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. The cars are rated for velocity, acceleration, powersliding, and handling, and players can customize their paint jobs, but can't alter their performance characteristics.
Races are set in scenic cities such as San Francisco, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Sydney, London, Edinburgh, Yokohama, Florence and more. And races may occur during the day or night, and even in the rain.
The game rewards aggressive driving in the form of "kudos." Gamers earn kudos by performing power slides, 360-degree turns, staying on the racing line, drafting and more. And these rewards may be used to unlock more cars. Vehicles don't take much damage and don't lose performance after collisions. Because the game is so forgiving and because it offers different skill levels that lets all levels play, the title is a good one for families.
Via Xbox Live, players can match-up against seven other players online and download "ghosts" -- replays of the best races -- and race against them or learn from them. They can also take online challenges that are rotated monthly or even weekly and talk "trash" using the Xbox Live communicator.
The game looks fantastic with its photo-realistic vehicles and environments. Despite the reckless driving and the many collisions, the game is mostly non-violent.
When it comes to race games, Project Gotham Racing 2 leads the pack. It's got enough to appeal to die-hard drivers and car enthusiasts, but is approachable for gamers and novices. It's definitely worth a test drive.
12/15/03 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
