Project Gotham Racing 2 review - ColourShed

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Project Gotham Racing 2 review
Platform: Xbox
Release Year: 2003
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Publishers: Microsoft Studios
Genre: Arcade Racer
Music (in order):
"Main Menu Music"
"Kudos Series Theme"
"Showroom Theme"
"Arcade Mode Theme"
"Main Menu Music" from Project Gotham Racing (1)
"Believe It" by Jingle Punks
Music from Project Gotham Racing 2
Gameplay, audio and images from:
Bungie
Bizarre Creations
Microsoft Studios
Turn 10 Studios

[@gravity45b]

One feature you didn't touch upon: the dealership feature where you can walk around a showroom and test drive every car in the game on a test track. It was awesome

[@mafjaguar2677]

Personally that is one of features that stuck to me when i first played it, it’s cool having to navigate a massive showroom to find the cars you want to look at.

[@doughmay]

Was just about to say this! I can't believe it wasn't talked about. The dealership had so much attention to detail and it was a cool concept I've never seen replicated anywhere else!

[@ImadHadjersi]

EXACTLY! It was THE thing that had me "WOW" while playing the game as a kid.

[@TurboProductions250]

@RICHIESCO12 2,3,4 all have that feature.

[@SaltyChip]

Another hard figuring out the kudos. It’s alright to have to race more than once to accomplish goals.

[@jammeslive4050]

On the original xbox? This game sure is gorgeous

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

It's still a good looking game.

[@Starfire_Storm]

This game showed just how good games could look on the Xbox, since even though most games looked better on the Xbox than on the PS2, they couldn't use the potential of the Xbox because the PS2 was the main focus. Something that would end up happening to the PS3 a few years later, with games that either looked the same or actually worse than on the Xbox 360 despite being a more powerful console

[@SaltyChip]

Yep this game and splinter cell really separated the Xbox as having superior graphics. Also, I still play the OG Xbox and have over 100 games with saves and the hard drive is still at 50,000 plus!

[@meteor_smash]

Starfire Storm That and most developers hated the PS3’s guts for having such weird architecture

[@GraveUypo]

@@Starfire_Storm that's because the ps3 hardware fucking sucked, not because the xbox 360 was limiting it. it was a nightmarish architecture and it was simply easier to extract more from the xbox360 hardware even though it had lower PEAK performance throughput, because it was a balanced and well-thought out system. The cpu AND the gpu on the ps3 sucked ball. The cpu had only one generalist core with one thread (it had to be supplemented by the spus to even hope to compete with the 360's 3 cores and 6 threads) and the gpu was an afterthought that sony threw in there after they realized the xbox360 was more powerful than their console-to-be. Why is having to use the SPUs a problem? Well... Here's how you make a hello world applet on a playstation 3 SPU research.ncl.ac.uk/game/mastersdegree/workshops/ps3spuprogramming/tutorial%201.pdf for comparison, here's the entire code in c++ ====================== #include int main() { std::cout

[@v.losity498]

Just wait till you get to PGR4... Another great review as always!

[@batmangovno]

My first X360 racing game...what a looker it was!

[@chrisis649]

@@batmangovno ayy!

[@pp3k3jamail]

I still have my Xbox 360 and PGR4

[@Skumtomten1]

@@batmangovno I remember driving the nordschleife in the rain with my Ferrari F430. The graphics were mind blowing, PGR4 was and still is a fantastic game, but the physics is weird in some cars though.

[@tropixx_xlr1549]

PGR4 is the best in the whole series.

[@SvDKILLSWITCH]

Awww yeah, I've been waiting for this one! Edit: My thoughts after watching; very good review. I would have liked to have seen you touch on one of my favourite features of PGR2 - the radio stations based on real life, but it seems like you played without music probably for copyright reasons. This is still one of my favourite racing games of all time. The depth and breadth of content available was unbelievable to me at the time, and the DLC packs added a bunch more. One of these days I'll clear the Kudos World Series on platinum difficulty.

[@FizzyPop]

Actually I've tried playing it on the 360 emulation myself and I know why he didn't talk about the music. Apparently all of the music and radio stations do not work in the emulation aside from the menu music and the music that plays at the end of each race. You have to play it on the original xbox for it to work. I was so sad when I tried to play it on my 360 years ago as the radio stations were one of my favorite aspects of the game too with each city having it's own set of stations, music, and DJs who would speak in the language/accent of that city. Made it feel incomplete.

[@TotoDG]

Claims to be Project Gotham, but Batman is nowhere to be seen. 0/10.

[@Gergo421]

Yeah i wonder why its called that

[@Gergo421]

@@eleven99 Huh cool but also dissapointing. When I saw this video I was hoping for a racer where you drive the batmobile and race against various gotham criminals such as the joker or the penguin. Oh well.

[@Lightblue2222]

batman only comes when needed.

[@CulpinKing]

I believe I read that Bizzarre Creations licensed the name to make a batman game then never did so recycled the name into this. Unsure how true that is though.

[@suntannedduck2388]

Gotham is in England/UK I don't know if they worked in that area or it just came to mind when they came up with the title on a whim. I don't know the behind the scenes details. I don't think it's because of Batman city. It was Metropolis Street Racer before PGR so whatever town/city came to mind I guess. That and the oh it's not just a street now. Maybe an in joke. Developers do that.

[@MrFreeman626]

Nice review but I can't believe you didn't talk about the Showroom. Best part of the game.

[@mafjaguar2677]

Personally that is one of features that stuck to me when i first played it, it’s cool having to navigate a massive showroom to find the cars you want to look at and see what the game has to offer.

[@heathcummings2962]

One detail I loved about PGR2 is that it keeps track of the miles you drive in each car on the odometer.

[@Vixen1525]

Forza 4 did that too. But 5 did not 6 neither xD

[@peari8676]

@@TRACKSTARRR Most Wanted 2012 did that. I got so hyped when I first got 1000 miles on my Buggati Veyron. Lol.

[@peari8676]

@@TRACKSTARRR it said on the side of the screen.

[@MicroChirp]

That goes way back to Metropolis Street Racer. Full of little details like that

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I almost looks like a 360 game. Really advanced for it's time.

[@deanchur]

Best memory of this game was an online race with TVR Speed 12's on the Nordschliefe. I was in 1st and the guy in 2nd was never more than a second behind me. We were both silent throughout the whole race until we exited the final corner and complimented each other on a great race. Fantastic game that had many hours spent on it.

[@Kyokiri_46]

Project Gotham Racing 4 is gonna be amazing when you play it.

[@yumikomiura88]

I know, these have gotten better with each passing entry.

[@archivedaccount5990]

PGR2 is one of the few games that feature a Porsche Cayenne as a drivable vehicle.

[@yumikomiura88]

There's also 007: Everything or Nothing.

[@rianrichardson4297]

I'm still waiting for GRID review... Great job on the video ...

[@JMikaelian95]

Never got to play PGR These reviews do the job though. Thanks for this man 🙏

[@iansteelmatheson]

SAME

[@Starfire_Storm]

I tried to get every Platinum medal a few years ago so I could finally unlock the TVR Cerbera Speed 12. Man, that was a really difficult task, especially on the Time Trials, you really had to use the best car of each class to make it, which was always the one with the highest acceleration stat. Trying to get all the Platinum medals was easily one of the most difficult challenges I had to do on a racing game and it was really satisfying to finally get them all.

[@wooziebaby]

Been binge watching all your videos would love to see you review Manhunt and it’s sequel! Keep up the awesome work man!

[@Halocline]

You need more subs man, I love your reviews.. amazing work!

[@seeowins]

PGR 2 is honestly a top 5 gaming experience for me. Playing online was so fun. Regular races and Cat and Mouse. Easily my personal favorite racer of all time.

[@SgtSnazzerino]

I'd love to see you cover Enthusia Professional Racing or Auto Modelista

[@IncompetentExplorer]

Another great racing game review. I can't wait for your PGR 3 review. It was my favorite Xbox 360 racing game. I really miss Bizarre Creations.

[@humperdinckfangboner9749]

Was lucky enough to play this online on the original xbox. It was some of the most fun I've ever had in a racing game. A lot of the modes that would be featured in later games actually got their start as user created games in pgr2. Games like Last Man Standing and Cat and Mouse were very popular back then and were completely reliant on a bunch of random people agreeing to abide by unwritten rules. The best of these by far was Cat and mouse; 2-4 teams of consisting of one 'mouse' and 1-3 cats. Mostly done at the nurburgring with Mini but there were a lot of other great track/car variations. Because there was no option for it you HAD to choose a car color based on what team you were in, i really missed that in other games, I also miss some of the other rules we used too. Like only focusing on the lead mouse, it kept every race moving and it was less annoying to be a mouse. And the physics! If you could hit a mouse the right way they'd fly! All the collision physics had just the right feel, although the later pgr games werent that bad either. But still, to me pgr 2 catnmouse is still the best.

[@jayive34]

7:02 The exact reason why PGR4 is my favorite. It has Quebec city in it, and I grew up there. Racing on those familiar streets was a blast.

[@kgk8010]

Just earned a sub! Amazing quality. Can't wait for you to review PGR3 and 4. Im soon getting a used 360 just to play these games and some halo.

[@CarTierlists]

Love all your videos! Keep it up!

[@AAYMF]

One of few channels where I always watch the whole video 👍❤️

[@HikariSakai]

love these reviews keep up the great work :)

[@noxiuz]

that menu music seriously takes me back. nostalgia overload

[@ocdman3910]

I was waiting for this review, great job as always👍! The game then it's simply fantastic, imo it's one of the (forgotten) masterpieces of the racing genre and it's a shame that this series is not that popular in general, but also among long-time Xbox only players

[@KesMonkey]

I've been looking forward to this review. I love this game so much and I still play it (on an original Xbox connected to a CRT). I'd love to see this come to Xbox One BC.

[@9MAYHEM6]

I seriously cannot wait for you to review PGR4! its the ultimate PGR experience! I've burned so many hours on that game during high school. I always thought the engine sounds and graphics were so realistic and top notch! I'd always play bulldog mode with an old friend and a couple random players! It was basically "tag" but for cars and bikes in a open world version of whatever map you chose! I remember my buddy and i would drive around in our custom police paint job for our cars, pursue and catch all players before time ran out and just have a blast!! Such good memories!!! I highly recommend you try that mode when you get to PGR4. If you need players to experience "bulldog" mode, I'll dust off my 360, load up PGR4, and be more than happy to play with you man!(:

[@Elkatraz]

PGR 2 was a big part of my childhood back on the original Xbox. Always challenging my brother to try and beat his times and kudos for every track. Not to mention the real life radio, nothing like a bit of "Rock Klassiker" when roaming the streets of Stockholm!

[@balazs.menlauer]

Great review, as usual. I played the crap out of Metropolis street racer, and PGR3, PGR4. But never 1 or 2. Now after the reviews I will start them for sure, I just love the old JDM cars and all the others in Bizzare Games, these games had maybe the greatest car lists ever...

[@Sn0reSnoreDan]

I knew there was some reason I couldn't sleep tonight. Great review. I could never play any of the PGR games and your reviews are 👍👌

[@itsaustin1410]

I had no idea that Geometry Wars started as a mini game in a racing game of all things, and I’m not sure I would have ever discovered that without this video. Awesome!

[@LuftmanPlay]

Great vid as usual! Could you put Auto Modelista on the backburner for a review?

[@ItzDatGuy21]

Oh man that menu music brings me back sooo many memories as a kid!

[@RandomCarGuy17]

This was a fantastic review ColorShed and I agree with most of your points, especially about the A.I.. The A.I. peeve me so much whenever I play PGR2 myself. However, I find it odd that you had screen issues on PGR2 being played on the X360. Like you, I have been playing PGR2 on my own X360, but I never encountered any of the screen issues aside from frame rate drops. My screen didn't flickr in car selections and I saw no bizarre lines on any race track I drove on.

[@gabfortin1976]

Still waiting for a The Getaway review :( Hard as balls to emulate but it's cheap if you own a legit PS2

[@pbj8744]

Still waiting for a Getaway 3... I can dream.

[@SimpleOldGaming]

The original runs fine for me but black Monday is another story..

[@gluee8674]

he made one i fhink

[@fatfard]

Great review as always!

[@melodicatofficial3065]

Love your work!

[@GeometryWars]

Thanks for the great review.

[@jacobrocks32]

I had it on the original Xbox it’s stable on the original one never really saw any glitches instead this one time I was racing against my cousin and sister I think my cousin crashed into me I went through the barrier and was stuck in one spot it was almost all black except for the car I was using

[@ZombieRofl]

Love IT! Please review the 4rth part

[@hatsuseno]

Another great review, mate. Are you gonna review Manhunt any time? Thanks!

[@Sammmmmmmm617]

Awesome video! Can't wait for Saints Row 2 review!

[@darkidz24]

Forza Horizon 3!! I wanna see your take on their version of Australia

[@russell1617]

4player split screen racing around Sydney, was a blast!!

[@goran3149]

This game is literally my childhood

[@mindkiller76]

Looking forward to PGR 3 and 4 and Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 reviews.

[@stevieboymkii]

Good stuff as always.

[@Mashmarriner69]

Holy shit. I never realized how amazing this game looked.

[@TheJayson8899]

PGR 2 was the Dark Souls of racing in my childhood

[@allefalmeida7235]

Your reviews are amazing, can you review PGR 3 and 4?? I just bought these two games.

[@n4m1k]

Hey man, love your reviews. Can you review some older Splinter Cell games ? Or Fahrenheit, Star Wars KOTOR, the first Fable game, Oblivion, Sid Meier's Pirates, Half Life 2 ?

[@danbaker9492]

I hope you decide to cover metropolis street racer, along with other dreamcast sim racers!

[@t3hgir]

I do remember some quite good online races from PGR2 in the short time I got to play on original Xbox Live.

[@alyssar7477]

Literally one of my absolute favorite games. This is the definition of my childhood. It’s crazy when I talk about the original Xbox nowadays and the fact that I still own it and people are like the Xbox 360? And I’m like no the one before that and they are like huh? There was one before that?

[@lRlSHBLADE]

This channel is so goddamn good

[@RYNNESIS]

I suggest you look into Enthusia Professional Racing on PS2. The Konami Rival to Gran Turismo 4.

[@MadeManG74]

Good heads up for the emulation problems, will make sure to replay this on the original Xbox.

[@RAA12586]

Was just playing pgr2 today for a few hours, always enjoyable to play, currently on the muscle group races.

[@mclarenf1gtrlmedition715]

Nice review

[@DefiantTurtle21]

Love the original! Need to grab the sequels sometime. I'd love to see you play lesser known licensed racing games such as the Italian Job game

[@Des_Zee]

Yes the Italian Job the original PS1 version not the marky Mark remake.

[@StubzTurner]

The Kudos system reminds me of a similar system in another racing game; Street Racing Syndicate. If you've never played it, I do recommend checking it out.

[@lukasgroot]

Great game, it was my first one in the series. It felt, sounded and looked great back in the day. I sunk so many hours in it :) I don't recall any of the bugs being on the OG xbox.

[@J.Wick.]

ahhh...the memories..just hearing the OST brings back some good times. wish this series would come back. This game was a must have for the Early XBOX Live. It was soooo much fun. This is where Cat and Mouse was created. I still hold this game in the highest regards. Maybe my favorite racer of all time. And that's saying alot. I've played most of them over the years.

[@aj_stillcranked]

When you making the saints row 2 review?

[@easiersaid8470]

My birthday is on April 18th, and for my birthday, I would absolutely love a review for Burnout 3: Takedown!! My absolute favorite and childhood game

[@dawnslayer]

I was looking in my original Forza Motorsport game manual and I saw an advert for this game

[@robertpatrey6921]

I love this game soo much have been playing it on the OG Xbox it can be difficult at times lol but it’s still a great game

[@Fortnitegamer06728]

I've always wanted a review of the juice series

[@CaptainPeanut]

GTA CTW and Uncharted Golden Abyss reviews please!

[@toCustom]

Could you review midtown madness 3 for original Xbox please?

[@m0m02k]

I really love your videos but I really wanna know when you’ll review FM3 and FM4

[@taxjax]

He said hes Reviewing FM3 Next

[@audi-71830]

Waiting for the FM3 and FM4 review

[@southpaw117]

I wonder if playing in widescreen has a big effect on stability when emulated. I've put in around 22 hours whilst playing in 4:3 on a CRT and I've had no crashes at all, just the occasional frame rate hitch.

[@gluee8674]

this guy makes good videos

[@81casperflip]

Could you or have you reviewed Sega GT for original xbox. There were a couple of them

[@antoniohdz2]

Definitely one of the most fun racing game i've every Player, the PGR series should be brought back! Great times!

[@klevino1179]

You should review OpenTTD, it's a free game for the pc and mobile with classic graphics however it is very detailed for a game of it's age. It has online multiplayer and offline singleplayer options aswell as a menu of mods that you can add to make your experience more unique.

[@saadhasan2518]

PGR is one of my fav racing game series

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

I haven't noticed graphical glitches on the Xbox 360, my issue is with the sound dropping out at times, when I use Dolby Digital. Probably best for me to get the hd cable with optical out for my og Xbox.

[@rocrom_gaming]

I switched from PlayStation to Xbox because of this game + Halo. I'm sticking to it because there are less racing games on PS systems than Xbox ones imo. Loved the feel of gameplay with this one, the graphics and the fact you can use your personal music as soundtrack. When I went to Sydney 5 years ago, I went to the Rocks and already knew the layout of the streets there thanks to the game. Great review mate, I also found that the game's émulation on Xbox 360 is bad. The OG Xbox is definitely the way to play this game.

[@DoolaDood]

Can you review OutRun2 or OutRun2006 for the OG xbox ?

[@ArtKoval]

I'm surprised there are Porsche cars in this game.

[@elliotpierson8350]

Yeah I thought EA had exclusive rights with them till like 2010 or something?

[@Starfire_Storm]

Well, it was the last PGR game to feature Porsche's, the 3rd and 4th game used RUF's, but you could still find Porsche's in the base FM3 game, and that's a 2009 game.

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@elliotpierson8350 I believe it was until 2016 or something

[@elliotpierson8350]

Do you decide to review a game based on what you feel like playing? Or do you have a patreon for it? I really want you to review Midnight Club 2! There's something about it that's wayyyy different than other arcade street racing games

[@kek4567]

So much audio distortion it hurts

[@Iris_Fennegan]

Will you ever review Grid series?

[@Johnny-lo7xo]

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL IT NEED MORE SUBS REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[@Lagittaja]

If you continue reviewing PGR i.e. PGR3/4, it would be nice if you'd also look at Blur after them.

[@Phenom98]

PGR 2 FINALLY! One of the best games ever! This game alone (and Sega GT 2002 to a less extent) made me a gamer and a car guy back when I was just a kiddo. The graphics were mind-blowing, the track and car selection was something I never saw before until Forza came out. The handling is super fun, and the UI is great-looking with great SFX. Oh, the music library was mind-boggling too! I don't know how many songs it had but it felt like it was huge! I have so many good memories from this game: from racing my favorite cars at the time like the Civic Type R, Porsche Boxster and Nissan 350z to name a few, to just pick a random car on the show room and crashing it at high speed into a wall on the test track with my cousin just to see the damage model (hey, I was 6 at the time don't judge me lol) My dad played the shit outta this game since it came out up until 05-06. I remember he had a written list with the time each single car managed around the Nordschleife. Too bad I never played it Live, but the single player was the benchmarck which I used to measure every game long after it came out. I recently dusted off my old Xbox and popped this game in. It's still as good as I remember. Almost... The biggest problem I have with it is that in the higher diffiulties only 1 or 2 cars are viable and the rest are outclassed and pretty much impossible in platinum. Also, I find it annoying when you reach platinum level goals but you chose gold, so... Too bad! You'll have to choose the right difficulty next time. Still, I consider it a masterpiece after all these years. PGR3 disappointed me with its only high end cars approach, and, while I love PGR4, this one will always be my favorite. (Sorry for my English, Spanish is my first language) Did you guys played Live when it came out? Was it good?

[@Phenom98]

Also, it runs like shit on the 360, don't even bother. Play it on the OG Xbox if you have the chance.

[@ashleygilder3644]

Always loved the pgr games and pgr 4 is still my favourite racing game ever

[@5nbome114]

Favorite racing game of all time

[@charlesleeiii]

Gotta love the returning cars.

[@carburetor77]

This game was my childhood

[@ghostpodgameing]

I remember this and the first Forza game on the Xbox

[@runforestrunfpv4354]

Now you can drive reckless in the Sydney there is basically no traffic.

[@xboxbenny]

This was actually the hardest game I’ve ever beaten. I played it a TON when I was 12 but I could never get all platinum but only because I played online so much. You had to unlock the cars in campaign to use them online until everyone got game sharks and was cheating for the TVR Cerbera Speed 12 so they released it to everyone. There was also a sweet glitch where you could take a paint job from one car and apply it to a different car. There was one paint job that would change colors depending on where the sun hit it and I would use that one on all the cars. I eventually bought the game again when I was 20 and beat the whole thing on platinum after many many hours

[@oldfavorite]

4:31 deja vu I have been in this place before.

[@andrezunido]

I love the PGR games, unlocked everything in this one back in the day. After the halo games, the PGR racers were definitely the ones most played in my xbox (lots of split screen too). There was nothing like it in the competition. The blend of Style, graphics and challenge made it "the racer" for me.

[@andrezunido]

Making it short: thanks for the nostalgia trip!

[@JoshH5635]

This was my first ever video game when I was 7 years old