Project Gotham Racing 2

STORY / GAMEPLAY
In Project Gotham Racing 2 (PGR2 for short), the route to advancement differs from most racing games of its time. Advancement in PGR2 requires a combination of driving fast enough to meet the challenge set and scoring enough Kudos points to go further. Kudos points are gained through the player's driving skills such as power sliding around a corner at high speeds or overtaking from too close the other drivers or doing more stunts during the race like air-jumps, cruising in two wheels etc. Kudos points are also a must in order to unlock new cars. The Kudos system, challenges set, the available cars and the racing tracks are greatly expanded compared to the first PGR. SO you must proceed further and buy new cars since you'll need more horse power! PGR2 supported Xbox Live and allowed players to race against other people around the world. Of note is that the in-game garage features the all time classic mini-game Geometry Wars. In addition, PGR2 is also one of the games that's backwards compatible with the XBOX 360.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The first thing about PGR2 that will punch you in the gut is its awesome visuals. Absolutely stunning! The cities look almost identical to real-life cities. Each building is bump mapped and looks better than almost every racing game that came out in 2003! Everything is drop-dead gorgeous, with water giving off your car's reflections if you move close enough to any pond or other wet surface. Real time shadows appear during night courses where the street lamps are on, giving your car and surroundings an eerie aura when driving. Apart from the breathtaking backgrounds, the cars are pure art. Each one is beautifully rendered to look exactly like the one you saw the other day running down the road, from the brake indicators to the dashboard. The game's sound is equally perfect. The first Project Gotham Racing featured around 100 in-game songs. This time there are more than 100 songs to choose from, some radio announcements, plus you can use your own MP3s to accompany you during the race! Great isn't it?