Oh wow, another reason for XBox 360

PGR 4! woo hoo, I'll maybe skip PGR3, but that'd mean not adhering to my don't buy the next gen games right away thing.

Fable 2 is an exception to this rule straight off.

But the question is - should I do the joy of PGR 3 prior to PGR 4? but then theres forza 2...?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lrxgfW6CB30

hrrrm, from the following I think bizaarre creations have trumped forza in the scenery stakes - although i think its fair to say that you tube might not do the xbox360 ability to look gorgeous on a HD telly justice.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ExYp5aNkzNo&feature=related

The video does not do the game justice. It looks amazing on HDTV with great attention to detail. The gameplay is great as well :)

Lucky for me it came free with my 360, woot! - Next week when I have some spare time I'll treat myself to CoD:World at War.

I'm also tempted by Red Alert 3, but I'm not too sure after reading some reviews. Has anyone plated RA:3 on the 360? I'm more interested in playing skirmish mode than campaigns.

@Qube, I edited my 1st post prior to seeing your post.... you echo my suspicions.

and theres this:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lkb2ZxaNCww&feature=related

I loved PGR and PGR 2 on the first Xbox. Kind of felt that 3 was a step backwards despite the nice graphics. Half the fun for me was working up to the better performance cars from something like a ford focus and getting a real sense of achievement when you hit a milestone or found an unexpectedly well handling car that was fun to drive despite not being a supercar.

Starting off with the fancy cars is kind of dull, and for me at least the fastest edgiest cars arent always the most fun to drive.

Haven't seen PGR4. I quite liked forza but prefered the arcade feel of PGR with the combo chalenges etc. Unusual for me because I'm typicaly more of a sim person.

@AdrianT thanks for your feedback, I'm still playing PGR2 on my original xbox(s). I took away an xbox which didn't have all my saves on it on a course recently, whiled away a good 2 hours with a friend in the early days of pgr2, as you point out it can be more gratifying racing with not so nutter cars from the kick off - do you want to create a next generation car simulation game with me - target release date TBD. Ho Ho!

I think it's down to what you want and what style you prefer.

Forza 2 is very, very good for a straight laced, "realistic" racing game, if that's what you want, the graphics have been surpassed now of course but it is an older game.

Darkheart

I play PGR4 and find it excellent. The graphics are superb, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a PGR5 anytime soon, PGR4's been out for quite a while now.

PGR4 is a 'freebie' with an x360 bundle at game.

PGR2 was the best.

Yep, there are some good bundles if you hunt around.

Darkheart

I have a confession Santa came early - I now have an XBox 360. PGR4 is stunningly awesome, I haven't played it for long though coz my kids are playing two player on Fable 2 - all on my sweet 42" Phillips HD Telly.

ARGOS have some pretty good deals on offer in the U of K, got PGR4 for 9.99!

Viva Pinatta for a fiver from GAME, Fable 2 is back on again at the mo though.

Just bought mine today, the Forza 2 trailer looks amazing and it got a great rating on GameSpot...

yep, Forza 2 looks pretty good - however you tube simply does not do the graphics justice. As I said though , I am blown away by PGR4:

http://www.my360.com.au/ReviewDetail.aspx?id=620

Another game I bought was Colin MCCrae DIRT (Rallying game), the graphics on that are also awesome. Got Saints Row 1 as well, for all XBox360 Mag only gives it 6/10 - again the graphics make it look like it is taking GTA series (last generation GTA at any rate) another step forward.

Happy Dayz!

the movies are coming:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/06/microsofts-xbox-live-video-hdtv-and-hd-movie-downloads-for-you/

@Blitzplotter :

Forza 2 is good. PGR4 does not handle as well as PGR 3 and...nothing looks a s good as... Race Driver Grid which is better than both in my opinion.

GRID is quite simply the best looking and fastest driving game on 360. The feel of the cars is excellent - try the demo - there's a great structure to it too.

Colin McRae is ok but try the demo first because racing against yorself is never as much fun as racing against lots of other players on line or off line.

Burnout Paradise is an awesome looking race game, but the structure sucks - the handling is typical Burnout and looks are to die for, but simply put - the lack of a proper structure makes it more a playground than a racing game.

IPete2.




IPete2.

GRID looks amazing on my pc but the cars all handle like the tracks are made of ice.

I found all the burnouts the most enjoyable 'vehicle' games since Rush on n64/dreamcast (more creativity in that then even modern racing games, no surprise there though), but I completely agree. I also found the environments with the blur effects on the newer versions a bit ridiculous as you can't tell a wall from thin air half the time if you're playing a map for the first time. Still a great game with friends, and even better when beers are involved, not to mention pretty comical ;)

So is it worth getting the previous Burnout instead?

the cars handle like crap, grids graphics look pretty decent and do catch the adrenaline feel of having a camera in the action.

But the cars don't feel realistic at all and ruin the game completely.

The turn in has way too much snap oversteer too early and doesn't allow for realistic corrections. I found you have to turn traction control off to enable the car to drive in a relatively straight line without it trying to wobble everywhere.

And friction on the tires is terrible compared to real cars, its almost like its on or off and not much in between. The game does look gorgeous, just let down by rubbish controls.

Burnout 4: Revenge (the XBOX 360 version) is awesome, a must purchase in my opinion.

Burnout Paradise is not as good, for the reasons mentioned, but you can still get a lot of fun out of it (if you approach it right - if you try to play it like previous editions then you'll lose interest fast).

Burnout Paradise has motorcycles, more cars and more events with the Downloadable content (yes some DLR turned up!), I rather like the open ended mode of Burnout Paradise it does take some getting used to.

Great things in Burnout Paradise:

The sense of speed in Burnout Paradise IMMENSE (better than any previous burnout game IMHO), snap into the dashboard view and it almost hurts your eyes, and it stays at a smooth 60 FPS the whole time.

City is big and looks great and you can go anywhere conesequntly always a good variety of challenges on offer.

GFX and Sound are great.

Gotta take this opportunity to reprise my little burnout video I made a week or two after buying it.

Grey,

Pop down to your local Game or Electronics Boutique and pick up a second hand copy of Burnout Paradise and Grid.

You can always take them back if you don't like them!

IPete2.