Now in it's fourth incarnation, there's obviously something to the Project Gotham Racing (PGR) franchise to keep them coming back. Indeed, if you've never owned one or any of the previous titles in the series, Project Gotham Racing 4 is the one to pick up.

The game offers a treasure trove of gorgeous cars -- some quaint collectibles, like the Lotus Cortina, most Uber iconic, like the Ferrari Testarossa, and even some motorbikes, like the Suzuki Hayabusa, but all of them supremely lustrous with their new-generation console sheen and none of them ever attaining so much as a scratch much less a dent or catastrophic mangle no matter how hard you pile/drive them into a wall. It's all about good looking rides, you see, and breakneck racing without the actual breaking of necks but lots of fancy-pants showboating instead.

Too, PGR4 boasts solid, causal to seriously-competitive online racing with others in a stupefying number of modes (with that fine Xbox Live technology smartly harmonizing the casual and the serious with simpatico ilk), and a complex, single player career mode if you just love good looking cars made of immortal metal and racing that's best described as realistic whimsy in that it rewards finesse and panache (with "kudos" and "keener points" aplenty) more than best times and besting others like a true simulation might.

If you do own a previous PGR game or two, on the other hand, go ahead and feel ripped off, because it's the same old wonderfulness you already paid top-dollar for, now tweaked technically and supplemented with motorcycles and a bunch of variations on a theme, and those are the only things worth considering if you're thinking about picking up this latest polished same-old for the second or third time.