o_87 Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 from CVG; 11:17 We love a challenge here at CVG Towers, and when Microsoft UK puffed out its chest and challenged us to take to the wheel of Project Gotham Racing 2's finalised network element, we verily jumped at the opportunity. When we visited developer Bizarre Creations' studio in the north of England a couple of months back, we were bowled over specifically by the astonishing online functionality included in the game. For the first time, Microsoft's bold vision for Xbox Live had a game to live up to the hype, offering a sense of immersion, community, depth, polish and fun that is only possible on the big black box - an online killer app. make no mistake. But - and there was a but - with the code we were able to play, we came away slightly disappointed by a rather twitchy gameplay experience. Racing was mostly smooth, but opponent's cars were prone to suddenly jumping to random points on the track, and there was some disappointing pop-up in evidence. With deadline approaching with alarming alacrity, could Bizarre iron out these key problems in time? The simple answer is a glorious, resounding "Yes!" We spent an hour racing against battle-hardened Microsoft employees yesterday in the finalised network build and can happily report that everything is now running perfectly. No lag, no pop-up, just a racing experience every bit as fluid and compelling as you could have hoped for. The Liverpool lads have done a fantastic job is smoothing out the flaws and tweaking everything to perfection, making Project Gotham Racing 2 an absolutely essential title if you own Xbox Live. And while the brilliant, comprehensive single-player game requires no introduction, if you're a racing fan and haven't got into Live yet, do it During our session with Microsoft, we sped around the remarkably accurate streets of Edinburgh and Moscow. After a dodgy start, Team CVG rose to the challenge and crushed the threat of Microsoft's cocky UK PR department. Indeed, if you check out the stunning footage below, you'll here one senior member of the PR team, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gloat about his prowess stating that this was the final race and the winner takes all. Before being thrashed then demanding a rematch. We love Xbox Live, oh yes. The footage below shows the edited highlights of our intense hour-long struggle, testing out various cars in Edinburgh and Moscow. It also provides hard proof that the game runs perfectly online and all the problems associated with the preview build have been addressed. If you want a clear picture of why you need to get online with Gotham, don't miss this movie. And be sure to check back next week as Bizarre MD Martin Chudley speaks to us exclusively about his amazing Xbox racer. ****ing sweet! This game is on my MUST BUY list now :D note: I have not downloaded the movie yet, because of restrictions at school, but I think you have to register :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted October 24, 2003 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2003 dude, this was on my must buy list as soon as i played pgr like a year ago :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.KICK Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Yup, i'm trading in some games for this :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dick Montage Subscriber² Posted October 24, 2003 Subscriber² Share Posted October 24, 2003 I'm gonna have to sell more organs to get all the games I want! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad_Enuff Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Shame it's going to be 30fps. :angry: :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted October 24, 2003 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2003 whats wrong with 30fps? :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDreamX Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 30 fps?!!! Racing games on the Dreamcast ran better than that. Shame indeed. Anyway, it's just racing online. The original PGR was nothing special. I bought it when Xbox first came out and played it maybe 4 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted October 24, 2003 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2003 racing games on the dreamcast no doubt didn't have the graphics that this game will though, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted October 24, 2003 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2003 nothing special? it was like the best looking racing game out at that time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus ^i^ Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Project Gotham was great :) Even my gf who usually hate games got addicted to it... she's kicking my butt when it comes to kudos challenges. She's almost finished the whole game ;) The sequel looks good too... first time I've seen a game where u can race in Stockholm... will be interesting to see if I can recognise the streets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devBrian Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 racing games on the dreamcast no doubt didn't have the graphics that this game will though, no? IIRC, Dreamcast's graphics were insane... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.KICK Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Shame it's going to be 30fps. :angry: :( it runs smooth at 30fps, i would rather have fsaa/good graphics and 30fps over a jaggy 60fps any day , saying its at 30fps does not make it a stupid game, learn your facts first :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad_Enuff Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 saying its at 30fps does not make it a stupid game, learn your facts first :yes: Didn't say it did! Hold your horses before posting flames! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizbit Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 i wonder if M$ will ever release this in PC format cos it would rock. I could buy an xbox to play it but thats a bit excessive. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptain chump Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 *still waiting for GTA3 for sexbox :D* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiGhTfast Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 30 fps?!!! Racing games on the Dreamcast ran better than that. Shame indeed.Anyway, it's just racing online. The original PGR was nothing special. I bought it when Xbox first came out and played it maybe 4 times. Well you missed out PGR and Rallisport are probably the best car racing titles ever imho... motogp2 owns motorbikes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 I looked @ PGR a few times, I've never played it, is it worth getting? - Cheaply that is, isn't it just a re-incarnation of MSR on DC? ... i did like that! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jelly2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 PGR was an awesome game, it had me addicted for ages. I can't wait for the new one. I'm especially excited about the Live! features. Its definatley No1 on my "must have" list. Shame it's going to be 30fps. :angry: :( I hate it when people have to jump in and make a stupid little criticism like that. Here is a awesome game and your complaining about such a small issue? Would you rather less graphical detail and stupider AI so you can have 60fps? I'll bet if they did that then you would complain about the graphics and stupid AI. Your eyes only process something like 10fps anyway, so whats the problem? I admit you can see the difference between 30 and 60fps when they are put side by side. A smooth 30fps is very playable, and the difference between 30 & 60fps is so small that I'd gladly sacrifice those extra frames for better graphics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troop101 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 It may be 30 FPS, but from the demo, the game actually plays very well and you don't even notice it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~clean Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Id say if it was over 30 wack some more deatils running on there to make it look better, hell anything over 60 is a waste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 30fps is a pain in some racers (in APEX/Racing Evoluzione it was horrible) but if the controls/ai is sampled at 60Hz it plays just as well as a 60fps racer does. Midtown Madness 3 is a good example of this - it's running at 30fps, but the controls/physics etc don't suffer. Hell, some people thought it was running at 60 fps when they got the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o_87 Posted November 4, 2003 Author Share Posted November 4, 2003 I always thought it was running at 60fps :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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