think the racing genre’s lost sight of itself a little in the past few years. While I’m glad that, now more than ever, we have a wider range of titles available to us from super-sims to car-on-fire nitro-burners, those of us looking for something that needs neither a gear ratio calculator or a fire suit – and who just want some fun, honest racing – have been ill supplied. Thankfully, Project Gotham Racing 4 solves this by offering the best all-around racing experience in recent memory.

A big part of what makes racing so fun in PGR 4 is the course layouts. Apart from the spectacular cityscapes and well-done situational weather (which even takes course elevation into account), the game throws a lot at you: changing track widths, tight city chicanes, and a good amount of variety. The tracks don’t race themselves, though, and PGR 4 has enough sim-racing blood in it to make you change your racing styles on these challenging courses to account for the capabilities of your different cars. Grease monkeys will be disappointed that you can’t upgrade or tinker with your car, but the game was balanced enough that I never thought I was losing races based on anything other than my skill – or lack thereof.

Although the on-track racing is similar to the last PGR in feel, developer Bizarre Creations has smartly restructured its previously dull career mode. Not only is your progress broken into four categories (from Amateur to Master), but you must work your way up the leaderboard based on the points you accrue from events on your race calendar. This leaderboard isn’t static, either, as you’re constantly competing with others on the track also making their way to the top. It’s a small detail, but it helps give the game personality and continually spurs you on, both on the track and off. As much as I was invested in my career, the game’s promise of delivering an emotional component to racing via fans and teams is basically non-existent. Augmenting the leaderboard system is the events calendar. While it’s linear, I like it and the way it’s tied to the PGR shop (see above), and it’s way better than PGR 3’s staid progression system.

I’d love to see a car damage system of some kind implemented, larger field sizes, and an online component that is more than adequate (In contrast, Forza 2’s car auction system is a glimpse into the future), but Project Gotham Racing 4 has blown its own doors off and finally grown from being a bite-sized, almost niche racer into a full-fledged experience that all racing fanatics should enjoy.