The top racing game for the Xbox
The game pits you in a series of races in a multitude of vehicle categories. You start the game with a small collection of every day ho hum cars that will get you around the track adequately - at best. But that is all you need, because your competition is scalable. (And the nice thing is, the harder the competition, the better your reward if you pull off the win). You will soon realize that driving with style, as well as speed, is its own reward as you slowly earn your "Kudos". Kudos are your style points, your cache of reward tokens, you payday. By earning kudos - either by completing scenerios and driving with style - you can increase your level, get more tokens, and unlock more cars in each series. There are usually one or two cars that clearly outshine the rest of the cars in that particular series, so it sometimes is worth waiting until you get more tokens before buying a particular car in a series.
The graphics in the game are stunning. City sidewalks, night time landscapes, and the twisting roads of on-road racing are superb to watch. The cars themselves are incredibly detailed, and many times you can even see your custom-made license plate. There is never a hitch or a blip when the graphics are burning away, and the game easily keeps up with the tremendously high speeds that can be acheived in some of the "supreme" car class models (such as the Ferrari 250GT).
The game has an extensive soundtrack that is constantly changing songs during each of the race. I have played the game for quite some time, and I still think that I have not heard the same song more than twice. The engine roars, the skidding brakes, and the misfiring engines when you nearly stall out are all painstakingly recreated as though you were driving the cars yourself.
Overall, this is a great game - probably the best driving game out there for the Xbox. Considering it was published over two years ago, you should be able to secure yourself a used copy for a fraction of the original cost - which makes it a great bargain and well worth anything you may spend on it. Even at full price, this game shines like no other.