Great racing gameplay that has been absent for years. Takes one back to the good old days of the original and then some!
Multiplayer is the way to go and will keep you entertained for hours. But too much of one thing is slightly dulling after a while unless you have a great group of friends that you can get competitive with.
I haven't had the pleasure of completing singleplayer (my apartment was robbed, I don't have it anymore) but from what i experienced it was engaging. Of course no car racing game is completely innovative, it does repeat alot of challenges but you should know this if you have played racing games before.
However, the best part is the Autolog. Autolog keeps yours and all your friends stats and it shows off everyone in first second and third place among your friends. And once someone beats a record it'll let you know. That will only make you say "WHAT!? oh no, I'm not standing for this" and thus engaging you to replay a level to out-do your buddies.
Me and my brother volleyed back and forth on levels for weeks before we hit a point where it was nearly impossible to beat the current record; all of this in turn made us better drivers and racers in the game.
Maps are very fun and have mirrored tracks for online. The downsides for MP is that you max out at Level 20 for racer and cop and the lack of variety in modes. You have 3. Racing, Cops/Racer, and One on one modes. Also the game could use more DLC's to boost it after playing it so much. And lastly the worst aspect is that for you to play with all your friends there is no way to join a lobby and then take all of you into a online match against other people. One of you will have to join a game, and hope theres empty spots for your friends to take.
But just small hurdles you must over come. All in all, this was a worth while game, pick it up or rent it if you can!