Somehow a game with so many problem can be so fun.
The game is simple, follow the checkpoints and go through the gates; you can either out-race your opponents or destroy them (which is next to impossible). The courses may after a (short) while begin to look the same, which is explainable because the different race tracks are somewhat like set paths through a few different stages. Though to say that the paths are set would be a lie, it is very easy to go off the track and end up racing on a different course, which because of the checkpoint system requires you to go through each gate in order, which makes this extremely annoying if you're trying to win a race.
While in play the game feels weird. The "race crafts" (or what ever they are called) in the game seem extremely small, kind of like toys in a sandbox. Not saying that the courses are sandboxes, though there is a sense of freedom while racing but that only occurs when you intentionally go off course and try and crash the ship or see just how far you can go.
The customization in the game is limited, there are four vehicle class: Phoenix (the average), Mercury (the well-handling), Aurora (the fast but weak), and Titan (the big). There are many different possible customized ships, but you probably won't make many different crafts because the majority of pieces are just plain nasty. To get the parts is even more of an annoyance, you have to complete individual achievements (which the don't record your progress towards) or win tournaments from which you earn either a part (which can affect you're performance, or not), an emblem set, or a paint set. You have no choice on which things you get, which would be nice (like a money system so you can buy the parts you want). The race options also feel limited; there are many races but you can't change the number of opponents (on or off are you choices), the number of laps, or even the weapons you can get (the different types of race dictate this).
I would recommend this game, but it isn't worth the $30 it costs, so my suggestion is wait until the price drops a bit before you buy it (though Wipeout HD will probably be out by then and you would probably prefer to buy that.)