Even better than the first.
PGR2 keeps with the Kudos system that's in the first PGR, but it is pulled off way better in this one. What I really liked about this game was that I was able to finish it without playing the same races over and over again in order to upgrade. All you have to do is complete the race well enough to win the lowest of medals, and you can move on. If you want to race again to try to win a more illustrious medal, or to gain enough kudos to buy another car, you can. But if you just want to race all of the races and you're satisfied with a less elite standing, you can do that.
The graphics are really good. There is a huge variety of cars throughout the game, and they look great. The environments also look sharp.
The sounds are good. The cars sound good, and the in game radio features radio stations and D.J.'s that are true to the city you are racing in at the time. I live in one of the cities featured, and I was suprised to turn on the game and hear actual D.J.'s that are still on the air here. Very cool. Unfortunately, the music in the game was kind of bleh, in my opinion anyway. Lots of europop and technopop, and there was one song in particular that featured an Asian woman just screaming with a voice that reminded me of fingernails on a chalkboard. Some of the music was all right though, but I liked the music in PGR1 better.
The gameplay was good overall. As I mentioned above, the setup of the game was great. The actual racing physics were good overall, but there were a couple things I didn't like. As with the 1st PGR, once you reach the very high end cars, they're almost too fast to control. Barely touch the accelerator, and the tires spin. And the A.I. cars ride like they're on rails. You can ram the rear fender head on at full speed, and they won't spin out, YOU will. Yet if you get in their way, they'll tap you and you'll spin out into the guard rail. After some practice, however, you can find ways to use these effects to your advantage.
Overall, this is a solid racing game for someone who is looking to just pick up & play without all of the other stuff that goes along with many of the other racing games.