| Project Gotham Racing 4 | |
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| Developer(s) | Bizarre Creations |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Series | Project Gotham Racing series |
| Released |  NA October 2, 2007 JAP October 11, 2007 AUS October 11, 2007 EU October 12, 2007 |
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 |
| Input methods | Gamepad, Steering Wheel |
Project Gotham Racing 4 is the fifth title (after the mobile title, or sixth, if you include Metropolis Street Racer) in the Project Gotham Racing series, developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios.
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Development history
Project Gotham Racing 4 was accidentally leaked by a Peugeot press release for a competition for a car designed by a contestant to be featured in the game before the official Bizarre announcement.[1][2] The competition was won by Mr Mihai Panaitescu with the Peugeot Flux. Shortly after, the game was then officially confirmed at X06, with a trailer titled Eclipse shown.[3] The trailer is also now available to download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The car featured in the trailer is a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. The song in the trailer is "Keep Hope Alive (Trip Hope Remix)" by The Crystal Method. Microsoft announced at the 2007 E3 that PGR4 would be released in September of 2007. However, Bizarre subsequently said that game wouldn't be released "until it's done" citing reasons that they had spent a substantial amount of money and time on the game. "We feel like we've got more time [on PGR4]. Last time round, we feel like we got the game ripped away from us" said Brian Woodhouse of Bizarre Creations.[4] Having since been acquired by Activision, Bizarre announced that PGR4 will be their last game produced for distribution by Microsoft Game Studios. [5]
New features
Weather
The most prominent addition to PGR4 is advanced weather effects that affect the look of the game and the physics of the cars on the track. The weather can change from sun to rain to snow to hail within a single race. A system logged on to Xbox Live will download weather data from The Weather Channel, allowing users to set in-game conditions to mirror current weather in their respective cities. The game simulates ten types of weather, including clear days, clouds, light to stormy rain, fog, snow and even ice. In user-created races, weather is fully customisable along with all the other race variations. In the game's expanded and improved career mode, weather is predetermined, which adds an extra obstacle for players to overcome.[6]
Bizarre Creations has released two videos showing the weather effects; one of the rain effects in St. Petersburg and one showing the snow in the Nürburgring.
Tracks
PGR4 includes all of the tracks of the series' previous installment, including Tokyo, New York, the Nürburgring, London and Las Vegas; plus five more cities and tracks: Shanghai, St. Petersburg, Quebec City, Macau and the Michelin Test Track.[7]
New online components
PGR4 introduces a new online game mode, called "Bulldog". One player starts out as the Bulldog, whose job is to tag every other opponent in the game, thus creating new bulldogs as he goes. This mode will be played in an open section of a city, allowing the players to turn into presumably any street they want. Both cars and bikes will be allowed to play in this mode simultaneously. PGR4 will build on the online component of its predecessor
Vehicles
PGR 4 features more than 120 vehicles, including cars and — new to the franchise — motorcycles.[8] It is a return to production based vehicles after the third installment emphasized supercars.
Critical Reception
Project Gotham Racing 4 was met with generally favorable reviews, most criticism emphasized on its lack of departure from Project Gotham Racing 3's formula. Official Xbox Magazine UK rated the game a perfect 10/10. It also received 93% from GamesMaster magazine and 9/10 from Edge. TeamXbox gave the game an 8.4 citing it was more of "the same" and Bizarre should move on to bigger and better things. In Gameinformer, they gave it an 8.75 and a 9.25 as a second opinion
References
- ^ Pencils ready? Peugeot announces 2007 Design Contest
- ^ Bienvenue sur le site du Concours de Design Peugeot (in French)
- ^ X06: Press conference liveblogging (update 28)
- ^ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26918
- ^ http://www.developmag.com/news/28531/Activision-acquires-Bizarre-Creations
- ^ Daniel Needham (2007-07-05). Project Gotham Racing 4 Preview (HTML) (English). NZGamer.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ Ben (2007-07-30). Let's talk PGR4 locations (HTML) (English). BizarreCreations.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ http://www.bizarrecreations.com/games/pgr4/vehiclelist.php
External links
- PGR4 official site
- Official PGR4 community site
- Xbox.com | Project Gotham Racing 4
- PGR4 Bizarre Creations interview at Gamertag Radio.
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| Metropolis Street Racer · Project Gotham Racing · 2 · 3 · 4 Project Gotham Racing Mobile |
