Project Gotham Racing 4 - Xbox 360

As with the last two games you get Kudos points for performing various 'cool' moves (drifting, handbraketurns, etc) as well as points for maintaining the racing line and speed through the bends, these points are then used to buy extra cars, bikes & race tracks.

The biggest change is weather effects, not only do you get rain and fog, but you also get snow, which is a first for a racing game that doesn't have Rallying in the title!! and boy does it effect your handling, racing a 60's F1 car round the Nürburgring covered in snow is a real challenge, you have to be much more careful with the brakes and throttle, something you don't normally have to worry about in an arcade racing game.

The racing is split into Arcade events & Career mode.

Arcade races can either be done on a bike or car of a specific class & will be of one of the many racing modes, Eliminator, Street Race, Timed, Hot Lap, Kudos to name a few.

Career mode is based around a racing calender with various championships appearing on the current day and depending on your ranking different difficulty levels are available. When you enter a race championship you only have one chance to select your vehicle, so a compromise is always made, which can really hurt you chances of winning if you get it wrong!!.

The handling has been improved, the cars give a good feeling of weight and grip levels without crucifying you too much if your a little ham fisted with the controls, and compared to some of the other arcade racers out there this is a real welcome change.

As with all second generation 360 games the graphics have improved with nice use of lighting & reflections, the frame rate is still high with no slowdown giving you a real feeling of driving fast, especially when in bumper cam view.

On-line racing is good, lobbys are quick to connect and as long as everyone has a reasonable connection no lag is noticed, you still get the same problems with idiots slamming you into the walls but there's nothing you can do about that!!

Overall this is an excellent game, well worth buying.

8/10