'ProStreet' has flat tire, while 'PGR4' gets a fun tune-up
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By AIMEE GREEN / Lincoln Journal Star
When I think of the “Need for Speed” series, a couple of things come to mind: customization, fun tracks and cops.
The newest, “Need for Speed: ProStreet,” fails on two of those counts.
“ProStreet” really doesn’t even feel like a “Need for Speed” game — it takes the cars off the streets and into legal, closed courses. The little bit of story involves your character, some guy named Ryan Cooper, trying to make his way to the top of the rankings. It really doesn’t matter what the story is, though; it’s weak and uninteresting.
Electronic Arts, for Xbox 360 (also on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PC, Wii, DS, PSP)
Rated: Everyone 10+
Cost: $59.99
Score: 2½ stars
Project Gotham Racing 4
Microsoft, for Xbox 360
Rated: Everyone
Cost: $59.99
Score: 4 stars
Scores out of a possible 5 stars
Back to the racing. It takes place on closed courses out in the middle of the desert. There’s not much to look at, and certainly no buildings, traffic or anything of interest. Basically it’s just the road and some walls — and lots of annoying in-game advertising.
In addition to the boring tracks, the absence of police is a huge step down. Thinking back over my favorites in the “Need for Speed” series, all involved running from the police. That thrill is now gone, and it’s not replaced by anything exciting enough to make it forgivable.
There’s also the issue of the announcer at each of the racetracks. He’s a key part of the game’s presentation, yet he annoyed me so much that I quickly went into options and muted him.
The racing itself isn’t bad, but it feels much slower than in past games, and when you’re not going to get any excitement from your environment, there’d better be a sense of speed.
The game centers around Race Days, which are sets of races in which you win money. They can consist of regular races, time trials, drift challenges and drag racing.
Even drag racing, which I usually like, feels stripped bare of anything fun, though at least it’s quick. There’s no swerving around traffic this time, and each drag attempt is preceded by a tedious tire-heating minigame.
After each race, you must pay for any damage to your car. The damage is actually a highlight, as the cars crunch up impressively during races.
There are some other interesting ideas involving the online component. The autosculpt car customization is as solid and deep as it has been in the series, and the cars themselves look pretty nice. A new feature called blueprints allows you to upload your plans for customization and tuning to a server and share it with whoever wants it.
“ProStreet” isn’t a bad game. Its core gameplay is still decent. It just lacks the personality that resonated from previous open-world and city-streets versions.
It’s good that EA is willing to try new things, but nothing in “ProStreet” gives me the drive to keep playing. Racing fans are better off sticking with “Need for Speed: Most Wanted.”
I had much more fun playing “Project Gotham Racing 4.” While the series has never hooked me like the “Need for Speed” series has, “PGR4” is a fun little racer that Xbox 360 owners definitely should consider.
“PGR4” takes place in city streets, where I like it, so the tracks are sandwiched by tall buildings and other scenery. The environments and the cars themselves look nice, and the addition of a dynamic weather system really adds to the excitement. The weather changes how you race as well as the look of the track, which is just cool.
The “PGR” series has always depended on Kudos, which act as both a scorekeeper and the game’s currency. You earn Kudos by performing skilled moves during races, such as powersliding, getting air or gaining a place (the first time only).
At the end of each race, you get bonus Kudos for the place in which you finished. Your earned Kudos are added to a total that then can be used to buy more vehicles and tracks or other goodies such as cheats. It’s a great way to encourage driving with style.
One of the big changes in “PGR4” is the addition of motorcycles. Once you get used to how they control, motorcycles can be fun, but they do seem to make it too easy to win. They take corners much more easily than cars (naturally), and unless you really smack into a wall, it’s hard to get knocked off. Once you’ve taken the lead on a bike, it’s easy to keep it. I quickly returned to cars because it felt like I wasn’t being challenged enough.
“PGR4” has a career mode, though it doesn’t have a story or anything. Essentially, you start at the bottom of the rankings and must work your way to the top by winning tournaments. Your rank goes up with the Kudos you earn. Strangely, if you fail an event, you can’t replay it. The game saves automatically and moves you to the next race, so if you want to try again, you have to pause and restart while still in the race. This seems unnecessary.
If you don’t care about ranks, you can play the arcade mode, which lets you run through individual tracks for Kudos and medals.
Online play is strong, as it has always been, with both individual and team racing available, along with a variety of race types. The PGR On Demand feature lets you take pictures and video clips of your races and upload them for others to view.
“PGR4” isn’t a lot different from the previous version, despite the addition of weather and motorcycles. But it still remains one of the more entertaining and solid racing games on the Xbox 360 and is worth a test drive.
Reach Aimee Green at 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.
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