Developer : Microsoft Game Studios
Release date : November 28, 2003
Synopsis :
Project Gotham Racing 2 is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox in November 2003.
As in 2001’s Project Gotham Racing, the route to advancement in Project Gotham Racing 2 differs from most racing games. Advancement in Project Gotham Racing 2 requires a combination of driving fast enough to meet the challenge set, and scoring enough Kudos points to advance. Kudos points are gained through the player’s driving skills, such as power sliding around a corner at speed, or overtaking other drivers in the race. Kudos points are used to unlock new cars. The Kudos system, challenges set, available cars, and the tracks around which players race were expanded greatly from the original.
Project Gotham Racing 2 supported Xbox Live and allowed players to race against other people all around the world. The in-game garage featured the cult-classic mini-game Geometry Wars.
There are four main parts to the single player game: Kudos World Series, Arcade Racing, Quick Battles and Time Attack.
In Kudos World Series the player has to complete a series of races in 14 different categories of car. The player begins with just three cars in the Compact Sports Series and eventually can have access to 102 cars (118 cars after purchase of the downloadable content). Most cars can be bought in exchange for kudos tokens, although some can only be obtained by completing enough races at a high level. Each car is made from around 10,000 polygons.
In Arcade Racing there are 60 medals available, 20 each for street racing, timed runs and cone challenges. Each race is with a preset car and track.
In Quick Battles (basically a racing game’s version of a sport’s game ‘exhibition’), the players can choose from most of the game’s cars, and race on any of the courses. Custom Race is a single race against a CPU or human opponent, or alternatively, they can watch a CPU race, and can choose from Street Race, One on One and CPU Race.
Time Attack does not use kudos, the aim is for the player to try to get round the circuits as fast as possible. The player can either choose circuit or car challenges. In circuit challenge the player can choose from a selection of up to 92 circuits and then choose any car to race in. In car challenge the player can choose from a selection of up to 102 cars and race on a predetermined circuit. In both styles circuits and cars may only be chosen if they have previously been unlocked in kudos world series or arcade racing. If the player enters the showroom, it can view and test drive all cars on a test track. The players can also race against a ghost car that got the record time.
Challenges are divided into five difficulties: Steel (novice), Bronze (easy), Silver (medium), Gold (hard), and Platinum (expert).
Source : Wikipedia
