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The Project Gotham Racing Appreciation Thread

soldat7

Member
enzo_gt said:
Some say that the inclusion of motorcycles aided the demise of the franchise, but a large contributing factor was that the game was released within a month of Halo 3. The marketing was just not enough for the game to make as big of a blip as the previous titles in the franchise did.

PGR4 was actually released one week after Halo 3, but I was there Day Uno. Unbelievable. Curse you Macro$haft!
 

adelante

Member
benzy said:
Not sure what environment that is, but I don't think that version of the McLaren was ever in the PGRs. ;)

Oh, remember this video guys? :O

http://youtu.be/EjhhpcxrW6U
That was one fuckin awesome video


Fortinbras said:
My favorite racing franchise, PGR4 ist still the best racing game this gen.

So beautiful...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RIsPjoIPxk
And so is this....Gat dayum, offscreen capture really highlights the amount of effort they've put into creating those locales...the insane amount of building textures, environment objects, the volume of crowd... wow.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
I liked the motorcycles.

The only thing I didn't like about PGR4 was that they simplified the kudos system a bit too much, and de-emphasized it. Any challenge with kudos was a total breeze.
 

chris-013

Member
PGR4, this game was so good and the online was even better... and I don't like racing game !
It's the only one I played a lot with the burnout series.
 

coldvein

Banned
so many great memories of PGR1, 2, and 3. those were good times.

PGR1 even introduced me to what would become one of my favorite bands - the murder city devils. yes!
 
MSR and PGR4 are my favorites in the series. Wish we could have gotten a Richard Jacques soundtrack in PGR4. Meh, I just play the MSR soundtrack in the background.
 

adelante

Member
The ones at the top are all real-life shots....heh pretty damn amazing isn't it. Best virtual recreation of a city at night imho
 

Raide

Member
Love the entire series. MSR was such a awesome game. Out of every game, it was PGR2 that I loved the most. I loved the balance of crappy vehicles and awesome sports cars. It made doing those speed tests so much more fun when you had to lug around a big old 4x4. :D
 

see5harp

Member
PGR2 is probably the most fun I've ever had with a racing "sim" but I enjoyed both incarnations on 360 greatly as well. RIP Bizarre.
 
Yes, PGR2 is the best racing game ever made. Truly fantastic soundtrack as well, title theme in particular.

i think what added to 4s 'failure' was timing as well, it being released in the same year as forza 3.
 

benzy

Member
adelante said:
Quoting Wario64 from this thread:

I remember those. The only thing that looks fake were the trees, lol.

Here's one from PGR2.

gotham_3.jpg

gotham_4.jpg
 
Congrats on the wonderful thread, Enzo and Xun. Thanks for the memories.

Looking back on the list of titles in the series only underscores the fact that the team at Bizarre were absolute masters of the racing genre. They imbued the games with genuine character, and any potential future PGR without their unique touch is a PGR I'd rather not have.

Having played every game in the series from MSR onwards, I'm still amazed how each one remains a worthwhile experience with something unique to offer. PGR2 remains the best, though. It's still one of the most diverse, polished, and rewarding games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

I really need to get back into it one of these days, though I can't be bothered to dig out the OG Xbox. How does the 360's BC PGR2 hold up?
 

adelante

Member
Fallout-NL said:
Yes, PGR2 is the best racing game ever made. Truly fantastic soundtrack as well, title theme in particular.

i think what added to 4s 'failure' was timing as well, it being released in the same year as forza 3.
This, I can never understand. The game was basically sent out to die... :(
 

[Nintex]

Member
Incredible games, PGR4 is easily my favorite racing game this generation.

Why cant we have nice things Microsoft ;_;
 

cbox

Member
PGR2 was the closest to racing nirvana with a controller. It was like you were dancing and wrestling with the cars, and when you got things right - you flew around the tracks. Edinburgh with it's amazing complexity will always be my fav track in any racing title.

Never had so much fun online as well.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
PGR4 is still the absolute best experience I have yet had with my MS wheel. Yes, even moreso than Forza 3(the game I bought the wheel for).

The game just hit an absolute perfect balance of sim and arcade, all handled fluidly on thw wheel with amazing force-feedback and response.
 

Xanadu

Banned
ConvenientBox said:
PGR2 was the closest to racing nirvana with a controller. It was like you were dancing and wrestling with the cars, and when you got things right - you flew around the tracks. Edinburgh with it's amazing complexity will always be my fav track in any racing title.

Never had so much fun online as well.

PGR2 with the controller S was definitely amazing, loved the physics to that game. i loved using the 993 GT1, much prefer it to the 996 which is in all the games now
 
I have only played PGR3 and 4, but 4 was, by FAR, the better game. Fucking fantastic game.

Also, I loved Blood Stone also, and it has made me want to seek out the rest of Bizarre's games.
 
Brandon F said:
PGR4 is still the absolute best experience I have yet had with my MS wheel. Yes, even moreso than Forza 3(the game I bought the wheel for).

The game just hit an absolute perfect balance of sim and arcade, all handled fluidly on thw wheel with amazing force-feedback and response.

This. The only other racer I've had as much fun playing with was GRID. I absolutely love it when developers can get the perfect balance between arcade and sim, and PGR4 and GRID did that absolutely brilliantly.
 

Snubbers

Member
Awesome thread!!

I so remember when my brother phoned me up like a hysterical school girl telling me about this awesome racing game on the Dreamcast.. It of course was MSR..

When PGR came out on the Xbox, it had lost nothing, with PGR2 being my all time favourite, it had the right arcade handling model for real fun, and the graphics where superb at the time..

PGR3 was a bit of a disappointment, it was a great game, just not quite so awesome, however, I still to this day have this as my desktop on one of my PC's, my first photo attempt in the game..

5eBZfh.jpg


I think PGR4 was a mixed bag, like it was trying too hard to do everything, perhaps it was me, perhaps it was because after 3 PGR's I was burnt out..

But this thread is going to make me pop PGR4 in and give it another go, being a new 360, it'll be from scratch, maybe it'll rekindle the old PGR2 love affair!
 
Did I ever tell you that you are awesome, Enzo?

I freaking loved this particular racer as a kid and the gifs in the rain thread just flooded my mind with all the good times me and my buds had with the game. PGR4 was a blast and PGR2 started it all for me.
 
So many hours spent on pgr2 online...
Back then the xbl community was lovely too, no screaming racist kids around. Good times really, miss them so much. Plenty of time for videogames during highschool :/
The thing I loved the most about pgr2 was how you could feel every difference in height on the road and how it impacted the car's handling. Edinburgh especially was tough.
It really was a hardcore game.


Oh, and best car in a racing game, ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLHr_1htW2Q
 

acm2000

Member
my ratings out of 5 hearts

F1 ------ <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
F1 97 -- <3 <3 <3
MSR --- <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
PGR3 -- <3 <3 <3
PGR4 -- <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

sadly never had an xbox, so didnt get to play PGR or PGR2

F1 was the most fun ive ever had in a formula one game (and still was up to fa 2010 from codies)
F1 97 was a great upgrade, but i never really got into it as much as the first game
MSR opened my eyes to how dull gran turismo was getting.
PGR3 signalled next gen for me, so far ahead of anything out so far.
PGR4 was the icing on the cake, absolutely stunning.
 

vixlar

Member
h3ro said:
Loved PGR4... So many amazing memories of that game! Thanks for putting this thread together Enzo.



Loved putting the Gulf livery on all my cars. :D

For those who want to see more of this gorgeous treasure of a game, here's a link to the Photomode thread.

Wow and double wow at your image. It is just a picture, and I can feel the speed. Kudos to you (pun intended)
 
I remember when the 360 launched, seeing ads of PGR3, and I'll always remember the closing shot of a car skidding to a halt with the London Eye in the background. It was what signalled this gen for me, and when I jumped on 3 years later (lol) PGR4 was one of the first games I got, and I still play it on a regular basis; I played through a year of the career just the other day for no reason apart from just how fun it was, and the split-screen multiplayer is a beast.

And dem graphics. What they could have gone on to produce considering just how good PGR4 was would have blown our minds.
 

watership

Member
I really loved the garages and really wish more games stole this. Forza 4 might bring it back somewhat with the AutoVista mode tho, but it would be great to have a warehouse full of cars to walk around again.
 

cbox

Member
watership said:
I really loved the garages and really wish more games stole this. Forza 4 might bring it back somewhat with the AutoVista mode tho, but it would be great to have a warehouse full of cars to walk around again.

I've wanted that since pgr2, picture seeing all your painted cars in a nice environment - it's a no brainer really...
 
loved the series

getting all platinums was always fun

EXCEPT for the 66 corvette sting ray 427 Washington D.C. Cone Challenge. I put holes in my closet doors over that one.

i drove myself almost insane perfecting it. i remember having almost double the Kudos i needed i was getting so many
 
What a thread, thanks Enzo.

I only started on PGR3 and that's the reason I bought my 360 after playing it in Gamestation. Was blown away by the graphics and sound.

PGR4 is still one of my favourite games of all time and will be for a long time. Just had soo much fun playing it and especially bulldog online :)

Gonna have to play some now.
 

TheOddOne

Member
enzo_gt said:
I remember seeing this before and..

...I don't know if T10 or anyone else can recreate the Bizarre magic. Stop spreading false hope TheOddOne ;(

Also, remember this guys?
Never give up hope, man.
 
Some highlights of the PGR games I've played:

  • PGR2: An under-appreciated fact of why this game's online play was so great was its online collision physics. Where in the later games (and many other online racers) cars spin out if they even get near each other, PGR2 had a very robust (and surprisingly lag-resistant) collision system, which enabled very close online racing.
  • PGR3 had the most realistic physics, with pretty heavy understeer in many cars, which made it difficult to drive for some. Also it had the best in-car view (which surprisingly was a bit worse in PGR4).
  • PGR4 had the best career mode of any racer I've played. Still not ideal (the Codemasters F1 games could surpass it, if they get it right), but much better than the random collection of races that are the career in most other racing games.

Oh, and the medal system of the Kudos challenges in the PGR games is genius. Much better than just having a single, global difficulty setting.

And on a final note, despite its many achievements, Forza will probably never receive the love and affection that the Bizarre games get. It's just too impersonal a game.
 
enzo_gt said:
Pictures I took
Dude, we should totally race sometime. I have not played the game in a while, but I could probably do well enough.

I say this because I saw you online. You were probably taking those PGR pictures then and there.
 
Great thread :) I still play PGR4 to this day. For me it is probably still the most impressive game of this gen graphics-wise. The detail in the cities is amazing. Even now, watching replays of New York and seeing the draw distance as the cars cross the bridges is breathtaking.

My only disappointment, is that after MSR they never captured London as well as that first game. The central reservations, bollards etc, all added to the authenticity. And it's a pity no other game ever managed to use the custom radio stations in the way PGR2 did - mixing in your own songs with the games D.J's was genius.
 
PGR2 is the best. The end.

1500 hours+ online play, absolutely perfect. Best game on Xbox.
Amazing environments, tracks, car choice, handling, online play, voice chat. Perfect. PGR3 was laughable and '4 was just taking the piss. They got bored and added bikes, shut the fuck up.
 
djplaeskool said:
Loved the Music in MSR.

Time keeps telling me to keep on waiting, but I just don't know how to carry ooooon&#9834;
I keep thinking that you might be missing me, but how can I tell when you're goooone&#9834;

Few racing experiences can compare to driving in London at night (Dreamcast clock) listening to the amazing soundtrack and funny commercials.

Before I had a driver's licence and could go for a drive at night this is what I had. I still put the soundtrack on the player to this day.

edit:

Lovegooder said:
Any custom soundtrack I create for a racing game always includes tracks from MSR, even a couple of the radio commercials.

Club Paris

SWATCH TIMING!

The memories!!! ;_;
 

a.wd

Member
freakin love this thread, still think PGR4 is one of if not the best looking racing games out, and it looks so much better in motion than pictures also...awesome...

PGR2 4 lyfe
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
SolarPowered said:
Dude, we should totally race sometime. I have not played the game in a while, but I could probably do well enough.

I say this because I saw you online. You were probably taking those PGR pictures then and there.
Yup! And I suck at racing so it's all good! Shoot me a message/invite sometime and we can PGR it up! :D
 
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