Game review: Project Gotham Racing 4

(Microsoft)

The new Project Gotham Racing title is always big news and PGR4 is no exception, not least because it has broken with tradition and thrown high-performance bikes into the driving mix.

The cities and tracks are as glossy as ever and the weather conditions have been painstakingly recreated in their elemental glory. Spare a thought for the game’s designers – they have spent the past two years taking tens of thousands of photos to get each patch of tarmac spot on, making the game as accurate as possible.

The updated Kudos points system gives drivers the chance to gain high scores by pulling off slick stunts. The developers have also realised that not everyone wants to play in quite the same way, hence the myriad modes. There’s also the opportunity to get really geeky by using the photo mode to capture images of your race glories. An impressive fourth outing for this iconic series.

Format: Xbox 360

Publisher: Microsoft

Price: £44.99