I don't have Xbox Live Gold membership so haven't been online in a while, but although it was a brief time
I've spent online in the past, it was a happy one, such as the time on the original Xbox when I happened across
a bunch of French guys in Paris in a 'Chase the Rabbit' game of
Midtown Madness 3,
where I lost track of them a short while before but eventually caught up with them and just happened to be
crossing a junction where the rabbit-holder was passing at 90-degrees and I caught the rabbit!! Cue a lot of
"Zut alors!" from our friends across the Channel, and sensing that they were about to ditch me from their
game I did the only thing I could to help aid the cause of international relations... I shouted,
"Haw-he-haw-he-hawwwww!" and, unsurprisingly, I was banned from rejoining their game!
A couple of other random points of note. The game includes a Photo mode, allowing you to take a picture
for posterity with a moveable camera and upload to 'PGR on Demand'. In fact, just pausing the game mid-race
to take a look at your surroundings, even from within the car, just goes to show how much detail there is in
the game. Also, the Kudos points system is still here as any follower of the series would expect.
On the downside, though, why does it have to reload in a race when I just want to restart it? It's so annoying as
it takes ages to get going again.
As always, it's best to note that this is not a rally-racing game and in PGR4, like the previous entries
in the series, patience is its own reward and practice really can make perfect, leading to an experience in which
you'll find yourself getting more and more into this release the more you play. At first, I found tracks with
lots of tight corners really did my head in but, like I said, patience...
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