Good for free...but not on clearance.
However beautiful the graphics may look, the game is plagued with many problems. For starters, some of the vehicles can handle horribly when it comes to turning. You'll tilt the stick just a little and the vehicle turns a little bit, but if you tilt it just a tad more, your vehicle turns too much and you lose control. The terrain will also sometimes play tricks with you. I cannot stress how many times my semi has blown up because a pebble was on the road.
The AI will also frustrate you beyond belief. I have had many instances where my semi explodes after I ram into a guy on a motorcycle. Therefore you would think that if you were driving a motorcycle, the semi would blow up after it hits you, right? Wrong. It seems no matter what you do, the AI wins.
Also, the AI sneaks up behind you like Michael Jackson sneaks up on a ten-year-old in a kiddie pool. You could be miles ahead of your competition but they always find a way to super boost or teleport right behind you just as you are about to finish in first place. You will also try to side swipe or fishtail an AI but they will remain as stiff as ever and you will be the one swerving out of control. It also doesn't help that if your vehicle rolls over, it takes at least seven seconds for your car to recover (without refilling your boost) but if you explode, you get at least three. It really makes a difference.
Throughout most of the bad stuff still lies an o.k. experience (although the single player is not really something to get excited about). If you got it for free, then good. It will hold you off until you can shell out the dough to buy yourself a decent game. If you bought it (even in a clearance section for $9.99), then you should have just bought a better racing game for the PS2. By the way, i marked the game on hard, but really it varies. It can be easy to begin with but it loses its easiness quickly and can start to become tedious and unfair.