Brilliantly fast, smooth, and graphically clean racer finally introducing the speed that the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza have recently sucked out of racing games in preference of "real driving simulation." Controls are responsive and the artificial intelligence is spot on, at times too much as the cars will crash into you in order to get you off the track and may even end up smashing your car up which after a few attempts does tend to suck the fun right out of the game.

Having R2 button as acceleration is a brilliant idea, especially in auto gear box mode as it allows the acceleration to be much more controlled, taking corners using the amount of acceleration the player feels comfortable with. The speeds at times are incredible, short windy true to life circuits in a formula 3000 car comes blisteringly to life and the frame rate stays incredibly smooth.

The career mode allows wide scope for different types of racing. Open wheeled events for purists, touring car events… more »

Brilliantly fast, smooth, and graphically clean racer finally introducing the speed that the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza have recently sucked out of racing games in preference of "real driving simulation." Controls are responsive and the artificial intelligence is spot on, at times too much as the cars will crash into you in order to get you off the track and may even end up smashing your car up which after a few attempts does tend to suck the fun right out of the game.

Having R2 button as acceleration is a brilliant idea, especially in auto gear box mode as it allows the acceleration to be much more controlled, taking corners using the amount of acceleration the player feels comfortable with. The speeds at times are incredible, short windy true to life circuits in a formula 3000 car comes blisteringly to life and the frame rate stays incredibly smooth.

The career mode allows wide scope for different types of racing. Open wheeled events for purists, touring car events and for those mad on Japanese performance the pro tuned races really bring the cars to life. The choices of cars for events are very limited. For example the touring cars have the choice between the BMW 320i and the Chevrolet Lacetti. The lack of car options does not really take anything away from the game.

The main reasons for not getting a great score especially in the fun rating is the shear anger and loss of patience that this game creates, the write offs that are out of the players control and restarting the race countless times. This is not helped when your car is randomly placed on the grid which may stick you in last place and you have to overtake all of the cars in front in 3 laps without crashing or making a single mistake. This sometimes makes it all too realistic and completely takes the fun out of what is mostly an enjoyable game with intense action,superb graphics and beautiful cars.