Perhaps the most surprising title of the Xbox Launch, PROJECT GOTHAM RACING has turned out to be the Xbox' true answer to Sony's GRAN TURISMO 3. At first glance, PROJECT GOTHAM RACING seems to be a very beautiful racing game with fancy cars and nothing else to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth. After diving into it for a few minutes, it became crystal clear that Bizarre Creations' newest game had the addictiveness of crack, the beauty of ancient Rome and the production values of a top Hollywood summer blockbuster all rolled into one nice package. PROJECT GOTHAM RACING is racing entertainment taken to the next level.

So what makes PROJECT GOTHAM RACING so good? Let's start with the graphics which, powered by Microsoft's monstrous Xbox, ends up giving the gamer the most beautiful looking environments and cars ever to peel out in a racing game, bar none. If it wasn't for the anti-aliasing ("jaggies") problem the crown would still reside with Sony's GRAN TURISMO 3, but the problem does exist in GT3. Bizarre Creations has stepped up and shown the world what they can do in their first attempt on the new Xbox system: high-resolution, jaggies-free, ultra-sharp graphics; cars with true reflections and true real-time damage; environments that accurately recreate real cities like San Francisco, Tokyo, New York and London; and much more. It's simply amazing to just sit back and watch the race and environments.

And while the replays don't come close to matching the technical and masterful direction of GT3, one new aspect really makes PROJECT GOTHAM RACING's replay stand on its own as well: the ability to pause, fast forward, or watch your replay frame-by-frame! Yes, it's simply amazing.

Moving on to the cars, PROJECT GOTHAM may not have the plethora of cars of GT3 (which is still simply amazing), but its stash of cars suffices and is plenty satisfying: From the classic Mini-Cooper (Lupin!), to the Audi TT, to Ferraris and more. And as previously mentioned, gamers had been crying for it for so long, and Bizarre has given it to them: real-time damage to the cars! So the more crashes you get into, the more damage gets displayed. And the amazing part is that it's not just simply "a damage texture map"—we're talking real-time deformation! Your headlights won't work anymore if you nail the front of your car into something too hard, etc. It's quite impressive (and sad) to see what your car looks like after a long, tough race where you crashed one too many times.

Normally, all the above aspects would've been more than enough to convince a hard-core racing fan to buy the game, but those aspects are actually the weakest points of the game. One major innovation, and reason enough for this reviewer to buy it, is the fact that PROJECT GOTHAM RACING allows the gamer to play their own music in the game! Yes, you read that right. With the power of the Xbox hard drive (built in), you can upload all your favorite tunes and create your own custom music lists that will be used throughout the game. You can even intersperse your own tunes with the game's original soundtrack, which adds even more layers.

The game features some strong artists like the Chemical Brothers, and they even have these real radio station DJ's presenting the tunes, which is really cool as well. But at the end of the day, there's nothing like blasting down the hills of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, in my Lancer Evolution, listening to Move's techno tunes from INITIAL D, or Sakamoto Maaya's soft voice, or Hamasaki Ayumi's FLY HIGH. The possibilities are endless, and one can just have endless fun racing around Shibuya, marveling at the Japanese city of Tokyo, while listening to your favorite songs. It's something that's been taken for granted, and one reason why this reviewer grew tired of more recent racing games that had broken tunes (e.g., RIDGE RACER V.)

But the true highlight of PROJECT GOTHAM RACING would have to be the gameplay system. I had always wondered how racing games could truly move to the next level—after all, a standard racing game just has you "race to the finish line" and that's it. Move on to the next race. Sure, the GRAN TURISMO series took it to the next level with parts upgrades and hundreds of cars to unlock. And while that was a major achievement when it was first introduced, the inherent flaw was that there was little reward during the race once you had your perfect car—all you did was earn more money, and/or win the race. Well, PROJECT GOTHAM RACING has come up with the perfect solution: "Kudos."

Kudos are essentially bonus points you earn for pulling off a fancy trick like a powerslide, driving on two wheels, etc. You gain them throughout the races and in various modes of play. What makes it so addicting is that Bizarre Creations has set up a beautiful reward system. The game rewards you for nearly everything in due time. You win new cars, new tracks, new helmets and new gameplay modes. They reward you for how many hours you play. You get rewarded for how many miles you've driven! You get rewarded for earning certain amounts of Kudos points, and much more.

But on top of this, the inherent gameplay modes further enhance this feature. Quick Race Mode is simply the classic "Racing Game" mode, where you have to get first, second, or third place to advance. If you earn at least a Bronze medal in each track on a setting, you unlock access to the next level and set of tracks. This alone is massively addicting, as you can earn Kudos points during these races, earn the medals to move on, and because you're spending time and driving a certain number of miles, you unlock more stuff.

Arcade Race Mode is the total opposite. Placement doesn't matter—it's all about the Kudos. You have to earn X number of Kudos points during a race to move on to the next level. And this is where you really hone your skill for "combos." Essentially it's like a Racing Game version of TONY HAWK. You can Kudos for a fancy move of some sort—a powerslide, hitting a curve and going on two wheels for a bit, catching air (all four tires off the ground), etc.—and if you can perform one move after another within three seconds of each other, the Kudos points keep adding up (which gives you a multiplication factor for "combinations" of tricks like this). The downside is that if you hit any wall, cone or foreign object, you lose all the points you've been continuously racking up. This leads to a great addictive aspect, as you find ways to "powerslide the first turn," then maybe "hit a curb" to get on 2 wheels to keep the combo trick active, then make it to the next curve to powerslide through that, etc.

Then the Kudos Challenge Mode is the highlight of the game: Combining both Kudos Goals, and Placement, and/or Time Goals, etc. it combines all the aspects of the game into one big challenge after challenge.

Words don't do it justice: PROJECT GOTHAM RACING is the most addictive gameplay experience I've had with a racing game in years. The stunning graphics, great cars, real-time damage, ability to play your own songs, and the great gameplay system (Kudos), and tons of secrets encourages the gamer to keep playing and playing, because there are so many objectives. While I still love GRAN TURISMO 3 for its depth of gameplay (car parts to upgrade, hundreds of real cars to buy), PROJECT GOTHAM RACING has truly presented a breakthrough for the racing genre in general. It makes you want to pick up the game and play "just one more time" to unlock a new car, skin or track. And even if you don't finish in the Top 3 at the end of race, you still earn some Kudos points which always gets added to a permanent grand total, as well as adding time and mileage to those internal counters, which will help further unlock other secrets. Hats off to Bizarre Creations; PROJECT GOTHAM RACING is racing at its finest.

Rating: 9.5 / 10.0