Project Gotham Racing - Series

[Scrustle]

Been playing PGR4 recently. Picked it up on a whim. I've been doing that far too much recently. I'm enjoying PGR4, so I don't regret getting that, but I have with others. I need to cut down on impulse buying games I don't have time for and don't really want that much, especially when I've already got a huge backlog.

[dezm0nd]

Its too easy to just buy games you don't really have the time to play. I never could get into any PGR game as much as PGR2, am I wrong or is 2 the pinnacle?

[Scrustle]

I've never played 2. I had 3 back in the day and loved it. 4 is pretty damned good too.

[Sly Reflex]

I think PGR2 was the best one too. I much prefered it when you had a selection of best in class rather than if it can't do 170mph it doesn't get in the game, or whatever that stupid rule was they made up.

[NokkonWud]

Its too easy to just buy games you don't really have the time to play. I never could get into any PGR game as much as PGR2, am I wrong or is 2 the pinnacle?

Project Gotham Racing 2 is the pinnacle of racing games, not just the PGR franchise.

[Scrustle]

So what's so great about PGR2 that the other games don't have? And what's this stuff about "best in class", Sly?

I also just took a quick look at the Wiki pages for the games. It says there was DLC for PGR4 with free roaming game modes that got taken down off the marketplace! That's ridiculous! I'd love to play those. I remember there being a similar mode in PGR3 that I really liked. And it's not like any license has run out or anything. MS owns it all! Bloody annoying and stupid. Usually I'm not against DLC but this is certainly an example of how crap it can be.

[Sly Reflex]

The best in class was basically the best of whatever that class had to offer. You were not just locked down to super cars. You had compacts, roadsters, saloons, SUV's and they all handled and reacted different. It had the best cities in it as well. Racing around Edinburgh in a Porsche while it was pissing down with rain or sliding between cones in Chicago in a classic that had more power than grip will forever stay in my mind. PGR2 really cemented that niche of being well crafted in every sense.

I hope that they make a future game that includes all the cities they've had before and open the roster of cars back up to include everything. It'd be a game I'd possibly buy a system for.

[DomsBeard]

Well I've not played any and can safely say Metropolis Street Racer was better than them all

[dezm0nd]

The tracks were incredible in PGR2. The fact is I can remember a lot of the twists and turns all these years later proves how much fun I had with it.

Chemical Brothers on the main menu is a bonus, too!

[Scrustle]

Well PGR4 has some interesting tracks and weather effects too. A good variety of different cities, although I'm guessing since PGR2 had Edinburgh, they're more international than that. Might have to go back to 2 to check it out for myself for that reason. Although, granted, the track selection for PGR3 was a bit limited, and with no weather effects.

But both 3 and 4 aren't just limited to supercars. There's old classics and super saloons and all sorts. I was driving a Mini in PGR4 the other day. They definitely all drive differently too. No SUVs though, but that's not something I'm going to ever miss.

Oh, and if you miss the Porsches, you can blame EA for that. They got the exclusive license for them, which is basically why most games have RUF instead of Porsche. It's why Forza 4 didn't have them before the expansion, and why Forza Horizon doesn't at all. MS had some kind of agreement with EA to allow them to have Porsches up until Forza 4, when EA decided to start being dicks about it because they had their NFS Shift games that were competing with Forza. They worked something out for Forza 4, but I doubt that'll happen again, despite the fact that it seems they've given up on Shift. There's just another reason to hope for the downfall of EA. We get Porsche back.

Also, if you're hoping for another installment of PGR, that looks unlikely too. Or at least, one that's unlikely to be much like or as good as the existing games. Bizarre Creations closed down, thanks to Activision (managed to mention both the great evils in one post!). It's been suggested Turn10 might be able to pick up the series, and while they're certainly a capable studio, I'm unsure they could make a good PGR. Forza shares a lot of DNA with PGR (even some car models, allegedly), and Dan Greenawalt worked at Bizarre on some of the PGR games before taking his role at Turn10, but T10 are already stretched as it is. It seems like a stretch too far that they would be able to create future Forzas in the tight time constraints that they have, as well as create PGR. One of them, if not both, would suffer. Plus, they've also got the Horizon series to oversee now too, if that actually does turn in to a fully fledged series of its own. I certainly hope it does.

There were rumours that a PGR5 would be announced at the last E3 though, along with GRID 2. GRID 2 became a reality, but it seems PGR5 has disappeared in to the aether. Maybe they'll announce it this coming E3 for the Durango, but I'm not holding my breath.

[dezm0nd]

There are heavy rumours that PGR5 will launch alongside the new Xbox and that the team is formed up of Bizarre creations folk.

[Scrustle]

That would be great to see. Hopefully alongside a new Forza too. I'm pretty sure we'll see that at least since we're due a new one this autumn. Still remains to be seen if the console itself will be worth getting though.

Also I went and looked up the tracks for PGR2. Turns out it is pretty international. Not sure I would call it any better or worse than the later games though. In fact, you could probably argue that they both had a more varied track list because of the various layouts of Nurburgring in both, and the Michelin Test Track in 4. Not just all city tracks.

[DomsBeard]

I'd like to see another Split/Second to be honest. I loved that game.

[Scrustle]

Yeah, it was good fun, in short bursts at least. I can't play the game for long sessions. The rubber banding starts to get on my nerves, even though the main gimmick of the game is pretty much a form of rubber banding in itself. It's a double-edged sword of sorts.

But yet again, it was made by a studio that was shut down. Black Rock, another UK based racing game studio. The people from it went to Playground Games I believe, the devs for Forza Horizon. Don't know who has the license to the IP though. It's probably Disney, and they seem to have given up on creating games now, outside of movie tie-in crap at least.

[Sean]

I'd love to see a tightened-up sequel to Split/Second. I was madly in love with it at first, but, the rubber-banding was the worst! No matter how far ahead in first place you were, crash once, and, you were almost guaranteed to end up in last place. Drove me bonkers.

But, man, the races felt so tense, and I really enjoyed the look and feel of the explosions. I enjoyed every mode in it, as well. There's a lot to love about that game. Shame it didn't catch on, but, I still can't believe three different publishers thought it'd be a good idea to release new racing IPs (S/S, Blur, and Modnation Racers) all at the same time. They're all good games too, but, none of them had much of a chance.

[Scrustle]

Yeah a sequel would be cool to see. Split/Second had some pretty cool ideas in a genre where it's sometimes hard to find them. There's only so much you can do with "drive as fast as you can", and the game had some really interesting modes.

Talking of racing games with interesting ideas, another one that is out there is Driver: San Francisco. There's an episode of the podcast coming up soon on it, and it's a really good game, so I really encourage people try it out.

[dezm0nd]

I'd like to see another Split/Second to be honest. I loved that game.

Split Second gets a bashing but I absolutely loved it. It was as close to Burnout without being Burnout with some genuinely great set pieces.

It had a fun multiplayer too!

[DomsBeard]

I'd like to see another Split/Second to be honest. I loved that game.

Split Second gets a bashing but I absolutely loved it. It was as close to Burnout without being Burnout with some genuinely great set pieces.

It had a fun multiplayer too!

Being a PlayStation phobe I've not played much Burnout. The set pieces were fantastic

[dezm0nd]

Ah mate, go play Burnout Paradise and/or Revenge. They are incredible.

[Scrustle]

Indeed. Burnout is too good to miss out on. Pretty much all of them are brilliant. You can't really go wrong with any of them, apart from Burnout Crash, but that's not really a Burnout game. It's a mobile app that David Hasselhoff was in an advert for.