CaRRs go fASt!! Full review from a jaded PGR2 fanatic and general time-waster.
Just to preface: I liked Forza and Forza 2. They are well made and cool games, but to be blunt (and why not, no one is reading anyway) PGR4 is just a better game then both. Firstly: it thrills me. Not by knowing the bazillion calculations that are going on the physics engine nor being able to paint my car so it looks like it belonged to Spider-Man.
PGR4 takes it's strength from looking real and feeling real ENOUGH that when you plan a corner just right, the lights of an amazing city flying past you as you slam on the gas just as your beautiful car skims the railings and you fly away past the competition, you feel like a complete badass.
It's not real, Forza is real, but gad-dangit if PGR4 doesn't deliver thrills that only it can do. It rewards not for tuning or flashy take-downs but for controlling your car and planning corners just right. The game is fast, but not silly fast. It's real, but not too real.
Much has been said (and said against) the career mode. It's frustrating at first, but then you think about it and it's quite cool. You race in seasons around the globe to climb the rankings, that's the general idea. You cannot redo races and the car you pick for a set of challenges is the one you are stuck with for those challenges. This just means you look ahead to what you are going to have to do and pick your car accordingly to the types of races, the city it takes place in and the weather you will be having. This add's a level of strategy not usually seen in racers and it would be frustrating if you HAD to win every race, or even come first overall. You don't. because the seasons keep going you can circle the globe as long as you like until you reach first place in the world, and after. It's a cool and refreshing system that I have grown to appreciate greatly.
The Cars Are Wicked Cool. Bikes are ho-hum, not great but can be fun if you put some time into them. There are lots of cars though so don't think you will be wanting for content because of those greedy bikes taking all of the developing time/money.
Not to be just like everyone else, but I think GameSpot needs to get it's eyes checked as this is easily one of the best looking racers out there, rivaling DiRT and surpassing Forza quite easily. There are very little jaggies and the game overall looks a good step up from PGR3 and plays it too.
After all of that it has an arcade mode that is a good chunk of content, a fully furnished online mode (complete with CatAndMouse) and Geometry Wars Waves which offers up a great and unique take on the fantastic Geometry Wars: Evolved.
Lots of cities and courses (a big drawback for PGR3) and tighter driving mechanics make this one of the most underrated and missed opportunities for any 360 owner who is the least bit interested in driving fast and feeling cool. Yes, braking is required often, but it just makes accelerating that much better.
Project Gotham Raceing 4 looks to be the last in the series, a great sucessor to PGR2 and PGR3 as well as a good alternative to nookie should you be needing one.