Oct 1, 2007

Massive disappointment, the feeling of being cheated, and a nagging sensation that a series is well past its prime: we’re pleased to report that we never once felt any of these emotions whilst merrily plowing through PGR4. This is a sensational racing game, so make yourself comfy and read all about it…

First off, you’ll notice that the Career mode is totally new. The individual racing events have been relegated to the Arcade mode and the Career is more of an involved affair that sees you competing events to clamber up a world ranking board. You still earn Kudos to unlock fresh cars, and yes, you can still strut proudly around your virtual garage to fawn over the supercars you’ve collected along the way. At first, the loss of career medals made us a little sad, but there’s more than enough silverware (or should that be platinum-ware?) to bag in Arcade, so hardcore medal-collectors won’t feel too stinted. Oh, and while you’re in your garage, there’s always the semi-new Geometry Wars Waves to keep you amused for the odd hour or five.

Longtime fans of PGR will be pleased to hear that the changes don’t stop with the Career mode. The actual racing is a big improvement over the sorry affair that was Gotham 3, especially when you get to the high-end vehicles (which mercifully, won’t take too long). The quicker cars and bikes are all very affordable, and there’s a decent selection from the off, so you don’t have to mess around in an MX5 for hours to save up for your first Murcelago.

Plus, when you actually get behind the wheel of a decent car, you’ll know exactly what you’re in for. One criticism leveled at PGR3 was that the vehicles were too similar in the way they handled, and that this didn’t necessarily reflect their stats. PGR4 fixes this problem like the most efficient mechanic. Driving cars like the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo and the Aston DB9 (two of our personal favorites) is an absolute joy, because they look, sound and handle exactly like they’re meant to. Sure, PGR4 doesn’t have the same level of technical detail as Forza 2, but it does take enough realism from the real-life cars to make learning to drive each one a pleasurable challenge.