The Game Crazy I work at got in a couple copies of PGR2 early today. And though we' re not technically supposed to sell the game until the 18th, corporate said nothing about setting up an ...ahem... display copy.

So I punched the game into the X-Box expecting to just be *floored* by the visuals. However, I kind of was... and I kind of wasn' t.

What I give PGR2 credit for is being - hands down - the best looking racing game from a technical standpoint. The lighting is excellent. The textures are some of the best I' ve seen. And the car models are as smooth as they come.

But it really just feels like checklist graphics.

Amazing lighting - Check
Brilliant textures - Check
High poly models - Check

Where I think PGR2 came up short is bringing all those qualities together and making them *unique*.

PGR2 is a brilliant looking game, but I watch my replies, I don' t see anything from an artistic standpoint that makes the game stand out. From a technical standpoint, nothing can beat it. But from an artistic design standpoint, PGR2 just seems flat.

But like I said, I just opened the game today, so I only played on four different tracks. Perhaps the graphics take a turn later on and bring out what I loved about the graphics of the first PGR - how unique and distinct the game looked. Perhaps. But my initial impressions of the graphics didn' t drop my tongue like I had hoped.

From a technical standpoint it' s great, but I' m not feeling the artistic design in the game.

The One, The only One
- The Lotus One

P.S. The gameplay is great even at 30 FPS. :D

I' d really like to try out this game, I' ve been in the mood for racing games lately. It' s too bad I don' t have an X-Box currently. I' m curious, how would you rate PGR2' s graphics against Need for Speed: Undergrounds? I played the NFSU demo and was pretty impressed with the graphics.
It sounds like Bizarre Creations has a competitive racing franchise on its hands.

The person who started this post is ignorant, a Sony fanboy, and on top of that works at the gayest videogame store company on the planet. The games does not lack anything in visuals, you have not played the game or you would know otherwise. Do not make comments as retarded as this as they are almost as close to stupid as GameSpy' s " the original Donkey Kong Country sucks."

ImMDanmx,
You' re being a little harsh, don' t you think?

I understand what Lotus might be expressing.
It isn' t that the graphics are in anyway hoe-hum.
It' s mostly the color and ambient lighting in the same way rooms in a house have a feel or mood. Graphically color saturation is low. And the general brightness (or mood) of the enviroments are dim when compared to other racing games.

One other minor (or major) pick. Racing games should never be 30FPS.
The experience is affected sharply.

ORIGINAL: immortaldanmx

The person who started this post is ignorant, a Sony fanboy, and on top of that works at the gayest videogame store company on the planet. The games does not lack anything in visuals, you have not played the game or you would know otherwise. Do not make comments as retarded as this as they are almost as close to stupid as GameSpy' s " the original Donkey Kong Country sucks."

Uh... yeah, you might want to keep those comments to yourself. Lotus is far from a Sony fanboy. He is one of the few openminded level headed gamers I know. He also is one of the few people that can really tell whether a game is good or not. Try not to start flaming already, you just got here.

Don' t shoot the lotusson, he makes some valid points. It' s all about artistic design to me as well, I don' t care how many polys your game uses. Which is why I didn' t find stuff like Gran Turismo 4 or PGR 2 to look " WOW" impressive...

Now Outrun 2 and R: Racing Evolution had artistic visuals that grabbed my attention and they' re probably not doing as much technically as PGR 2 and Gran Turismo 4, but it' s the stylish designs that just make Outrun 2 and R: Racing Evolution more impressive looking to me than PGR 2 and Gran Turismo 4.

Just played the demo!

Frankly I' m gutted, I think it’s awful and I' m really disappointed. I was getting XB Live for this game alone but now I' m having second thoughts.

Firstly the frame rate, now though some peep' s feel this isn' t an issue I' d have to completely disagree. It’s critical to the handling, feel and responsiveness of the car. Every frame of animation provides a bit more information, especially for the expert gamer. This is a major loss and a step backward graphically.

But I can ignore the graphics, what I want is gameplay and this is its greatest failing. If it ain' t broken don' t fix it, unfortunately this wasn' t a saying Bizarre Creations seem to be familiar with. Driving this game is no fun at all. When the car goes into a slide you immediately need to come off the power or the cars have a tendency to go completely out of control. Every corner is like a new adventure making consistency a nightmare. I was one with my car at all times in the original game yet now I don’t understand it? I loved the cone challenges before but this time round I just can’t feel the car! Of course this will make earning kudos a mighty challenge indeed, power sliding is now inconsistent and I feel many fans of the original will be put off by this.

Graphically its not as good as Gran Turismo 4 and given the added power of the XB Microsoft need to use their package better in future.

However I’m sure it’ll be a huge package and hardcore XBox fans will love it.

yeah well racing games aside xbox wise halo 2 half life 2 ninja gaiden and DOOM 3 are the games to buy without renting doom 3 looks damn amazing as do the others.

The Kudos system interferes with my sense of a driving ' sim' .
Makes it more arcade like. (Crazy Taxi comes to mind.)

The handling is also off a bit.
I remember reading that they had improved the physics engine.
But I encountered the same iffy traction mentioned above.
The way traction responds to throttle power is poor.

Anyhoo, there are many reasons for Xbox live.
Mostly sports but there are other very cool features to get.
Soon MS will start offering downloadable ‘Live’ network music.
I’m also curious about their future methods of streaming downloads.
I’m wondering if they are going to use our systems as media servers.

Ha ha! Some of yall cant drive.... The game is about finesse-not gunning the throttle till you cross the finish line like Gran Tourismo.

Although I can see where you are coming from about the visuals lotus, arent you being a lil nitpicky. Your mini check list of graphical credentials is EXACTLY what every game should strive to possess. Why on earth would you fault a game for possessing these qualities? Remember, this game is called Gotham [i.e. city] Racing. The tracks are modeled after real world locales, so to add graphical " frills" would in fact detract from the base concept that they were striving for.

As far as Im concerned, the game looks brilliant [although it is graphically a minor improvement over the first. The car damage is a bit more realistic], plays better [all you 30fps scoffers are full of it.], and online is a friggin blast! All you trash talkers that think you can drive, go online and get served.

My only real complaint is that the game music selection is weak compared to the stellar showing from the first game. But I guess thats where custom sound tracks come in!

P.S. Lotusson, I got you on my friends list, and I NEVER see you online for any game. What gives?

Add me to your list:

HELLBENT LegEnD

P.S. Lotusson, I got you on my friends list, and I NEVER see you online for any game. What gives?

The only Live game I have is Capcom vs SNK 2. I plan on picking up Sega GT Online *whenever* it so happens to come out.

PGR 2 is a good racing game, and has enough of artistic quality to make it even better. But I don' t think the controls or the physics are nearly as good as they could' ve been. Anyone' s who has gotten the chance to maybe bring a fast vehicle around a closed track (feeling like an idiot the whole time), knows that that is NOT how cars operate when going around a turn. The game puts in the automatic " power-slide" feature, and I' m sorry, but that doesn' t happen at 30 m.p.h. during a slight turn.

But let' s look on the bright side, people. PGR 2 IS a good racing game, and probably the best one on the XBox. I still haven' t played anything better than GT 3, and GT 4 will probably again top everything, but why nitpick? Play what you' ve got, and if it' s fun, then WHAT is the problem? :)

I have Capcom vs SNK, and in fact play it quite a bit online [dispite my suckiness]. Once again, I never see you online.

If I play it' s usually either really late or really early. Hardly during mid-day though. Let me know a day in advance the next time you' re playing and we might be able to schedule something.

P.S. I suck at the game too. I haven' t even broken a hundred wins yet.