All I Can Say is, Great!
First I will talk about the Own The City Mode which is what makes the game great. You start off by choosing a vehicle genre such as Tuner, Exotic, or Muscle. After that you watch the first cut scene which offers background info for the story line. During the game you are playing the part of a driver whos brother was killed in a car crash a while back. The only problem is that you have recently discovered that the car crash was a deliberate murder and throughout the game you win races, collect info, and advance your car's features. All of these things lead to findind the killer.
Now lets get to the gameplay. You drive around the streets looking for opponents. You have a few view options while driving. Anyways, after the first cut scene, you get some driving tips. You learn about your mid-race abilities and also get your first crew member. Your crew is your teammates who ride with you during some races depending on the race status. Each crew member has a special capability which you can manually activate in times of need. There are the drafters which give you a draft to follow and that gives you a sudden spritz of speed. There are the brawlers which set barricades and attack other cars in the race. At there point of distress, you have the oppurtuniy to capitilize and take the lead. There are also assassins who go ahead of the pack and lay down spike strips to pierce the wheels of opponents. Dont be so happy because your wheels can be pierced as well. Some crew members can have to specialties but the second one isnt mid-race. They can be fixers which allow the prize money for races to increase.
There are varied race types consisting of sprints, lap knockouts, escapes, crew takedowns, and deliveries. Sprints are the one lap regular races, sprint to the finish line. Lap knockouts are races which are made up of a few laps. In these races, your crew is left out and you are disabled from using their abilities. After each lap, one competitor is eliminated and the last driver standing is the winner. Escapes are the next type of race. In these races you dont have a crew either. Your goal is to escape from enemy territory within a certain time limit. The enemy drivers pursue you in a chase and attack you, trying to stop you from escaping. Then we have the crew takedowns. These races are basically, destroy, destroy, destroy. You have a preset limit of cars you need to destroy. You drive around trying to smash opponents and with each hit, the cars will lose health and stamina.
Finally, there are the deliveries. These races are fun in my opinion. You have crew members in these races. You and your crew need to race to a certain position before enemies do. The first person there delivers the package successfully and is declared the winner!
Next we have the money. After winning races teh prize money varies depending on the skill level of each race, if you have a fixer, or if you place number one, two or three. Once you start winning important races such as boss challenges, you unlock car parts like motor enhancements, nitrous upgrades, paint job switches, decal placement abilities, window tints, handles skill incresements, and much more. Also, you can buy whole new cars that start with better stats so pimping them out will lead you into building the ultimate car and discovering the killer. In conclusion. Need For Speed Own The City is an awesome game that allows 100% customization and i highly reccomend it!