In the uncertain world of oceans of racing games, PGR2 is a masterpiece that defines racing.
It doesn't just suck you in by the perfect controls of the racing itself, but by the means of Kudos. I would re-do courses for fastest times and do every challenge just for the heck of it, but as the Kudos kept racking I found myself doing anything I could for those Kudos. Bizarre Creations finds so many things in the gameplay to keep it fresh, and they certainly did. I never felt bored playing this game, but I did feel frustrated by the overwhelming difficulty at times because I apparently would always race with clones of NASCAR champions when I ever decide to take things up a notch. I understand what playing in harder modes are but sometimes it's just ridiculous how the cars just bolt past you because your enemies use the lightning from Zeus as car fuel and you are stuck with crappy diesel.
Even though you can be slow at times, the intensity is a huge factor in racing games, and it is addressed and defined in PGR 2. When I began to play this game and got the exotic rides, every corner auctually made my stomach churn. I get so drawn in to the racing I took a very long turn and spun around, which I actually fell to the floor when that happened. At the time of 2003 till today, I still think the visuals are top-notch and still paint a realistic view of my mind. I havent been to many of those places which I cannot remember (It's been a while) but I would say that I would happily live in places that beautiful. The car models? Danged beautiful if you ask me. They are accurate and the many choices of cars to pick from adds a very satisfying spice to the game that really shouts variety to your ears.
The Showcase Room (I believe that's what it's called) Allows you to look around at the many cars, buy them or test drive them (A few more features I do believe as well) and get a good sense of the beautiful models that Bizarre Creations worked on. And if you get bored, there's a nice arcade to mess around with in there too. I really do love Geometry Wars Evolved... Overall it added to the experience even more and I do hope this feature is not forgotten.
This game would literally be perfect if it had a little bit more to do with car damage and if the difficulty was tuned to a degree. The price of the game is really low, so the price of a Happy Meal could end up being at least a month of happy racing times. Picking up PGR 2 is still a good experience, even for today's standards.