For the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Racers, Designers, Artists, Photographers. This is your game.
This game is so massive, I don't know where to begin.
Race Courses and Vehicles:
Where to start? This game is beautiful. Every track is stunning from the breath-taking backgrounds to the flowers laying in the strands of grass. The Automobiles are precise and depicted realistically. Choosing your favorite car and racing through your favorite track, is euphoric. There are many courses - Including Circuits, Point to Point, and Drag-ways. The game has over 450 Automobiles from Cobalt's to Lamborghini's. Sport car, Muscle Car, Exotic car, Tuner, Classic, Whatever you like; This game has it.
Difficulties and Assists:
Difficulty's are depicted by Assists, as well as increasing the AI slightly. You can choose to turn off your Traction Control, Stability Control, Anti-Lock Brakes, and Driving line, for complete control - or you can turn them all on for, quite literally, the easiest racing game you've ever played. I personally choose to only use ABS when I play and switch all the other assists off, but really; It's whatever works for you.
Sounds:
The sounds from the vehicles are about as good as you're going to get. The VR6 Motor from the Corrado sounds great. You have to remember that almost everything changes the sound of your vehicle. Cams, Pulleys, Pistons and the more obvious, Exhausts, Intakes, Turbos and Super-Chargers, so the sound from the cars in-game may differ from the sound of the car in your garage. Although, I've only noticed the Exhausts, Intakes, Turbos and Super-Chargers to change the sound in game. You will here the blow-offs from the Turbos and the whistle/Whine of the Super-Chargers, depending on which you choose to install in your car. The sound from the tracks are awesome. You can hear your tires squawking against the pavement if you take a corner to sharply or you just decide to floor the gas pedal. When you enter the grass, dirt or sand you can hear your tires gliding over them. Any guide-line, any bump; You'll hear and feel the car going over every terrain.
Controls:
Fantastic. Pressure sensitive gas, pressure sensitive brakes, pressure sensitive steering, and a manual with clutch? How long have we been waiting for that? Yes, it has a manual with clutch option, and it's very well controlled. The turn 10 team did a great job with the controls on this game.
Designing:
This is a huge part of the game. Nobody wants to race the same car, right? That would just be boring. We all want our car to be unique, this is where it happens. The Visual upgrades to your vehicle, not only sometimes add a performance upgrade, they also add a unique feature to your personal vehicle. You can choose from Front and Rear Bumpers, to Side-Skirts, Rear Spoilers (Wings), and Wheels. There are many different wheels from companies around the world, such as BBS, O.Z. Racing, and more! Not only can you choose to uniquely modify the shape of your Auto; You can paint it virtually any color you'd like (Except Flat and Satin Paint). All the different choices of colors you can paint your vehicle on this game will leave your vehicle colorless for hours. You can choose from Gloss, Metallic, Pearl Accent and Chameleon. You can even choose to create your own unique color! It doesn't stop there! After you're finished painting your car, you are now ready to apply vinyls to it if you choose! You can apply something like 4,000 layers in all. You start with basic shapes, letters, or numbers, and create from there. I've seen people put Silver Surfer on there vehicles! While I'm not even close to that level of designing, I'm still happy to uniquely "two tone", or add beginner type shapes/ designs to it. Be creative! That's the key!
Upgrading and Tuning:
This game features a system of upgrading and tuning your vehicle that would have your mechanic spinning in his seat! Intakes, Exhausts, Porting and Polishing, Turbos, Super-Charges, Full Motor swaps, Full Drive- Terrain swaps, a technicians wonderland! Everything you want to do to your vehicle without the hours of labor committed to doing it! Lower your car, Lighten it, Stiffen you frame - you name it - you can probably do it. After you've done every upgrade to your vehicle you want, it's time to fine tune it. Change the gear ratio's through every gear. take some pressure out of your tires on a hot day. Loosen or tighten your suspension depending on the track. Where does it stop? You truly have to experience this feature, to truly grasp how awesome it is. Everything you do to your vehicle is depicted on the track.
Sound-Track:
I'm only creating this sub-section because, Lance Hayes, you did a fantastic job. I'm not talking about the music while you're racing down the course, no. I'm talking about the music that inspires your creativity while designing your vehicle! I'm talking about the music that relaxes you as you're upgrading your vehicle! He did an amazing job composing the Menu Music on this game!
Overall this game is great! I don't even know if I covered everything I wanted to. This game's possibilities seem almost endless, and hard to cover. While writing this review I found myself bouncing around from subject to subject. I tried to neaten it up the best I could, I hope you guys enjoy. Thanks for reading!