I am very into this game while also feeling a bit let down
I think what I really miss is the ability to customize. Yes there are other games out there for that but its always fun to put your own stamp and uniqueness on your ride so it does lack that personal feel when selecting rides. This game tries to be simulation but is held back by a bit too much emphasis toward an arcade feel but the majority does still lean to the sim style. The graphics and details are great and have no complaints about that and even at the extreme speeds you sometimes hit the game keeps up. The soundtrack is ok but most racing games for me I turn off the music because for me the engine noise is the best music to me and the spot on engine sounds geared to each car is right on track, its always sad when a game makes up sounds or use generic engine noise but in this one you really knew that each cars engine noise was a match and that is a huge plus for racing fanatics like me.
Though I am not a heavy online player this game has really pulled me in to the online play. The AI is actually creative and adjusts and does play very well rather than being predictable. Sometimes the swerve or they will hit thier brakes in a panic and the AI cops and racers can be just as tricky as a human opponent which is why I rank this game as actually being hard once you start getting around a level 5 rank. The lack of choosing difficulty levels and just having a generic level is sort of frustrating as some of the races have really gotten difficult to complete. The plus side is that every race you earn bounty and are always working toward ranking up which gets you new cars and weapon levels as well as different wanted levels or promotions if racing as a cop. So it was nice to know you were never wasting time even if you lose the race.
I am a hardcore racing game fanatic and generally buy every racing game and have always bought and still own every need for speed game and as far as where this ranks from one to ten with ten being a sell your right leg for the game I will give it a 9 even at the 60 buck brand new price. I generally will wait for the price to drop to buy a game but if you like to race and love the fun of chasing down cars as a cop I really highly recomend this game and you should get hours upon hours of fun and go race online because that is where the real fun is to be had and even online you still earn your bounty and rank up either as a cop or racer. Look me up and add me online I am speedfreakjj and need some more friends to race if you are up to it.