Fulfills little of its potential, but can still be enjoyable for the right kind of player.
Graphics - 4/10 - The game simply doesn't look good. There's not much to say about it. It'd be one thing if this was released back in 2005-2006 while next-gen gaming was still new(in which case they'd be forgiveable, but not good), but this is 2009 and the graphics simply fall well short of what we expect from games these days. The framerate is solid 30fps, which is acceptable, but not up to par with some of the more quality racing games out there. That said, graphics are not something that the hardcore simracing crowd are typically most interested in.
Sounds - 8/10 - This is something that SimBin have done right. Its a noisy game, and the cars snarl and backfire like you'd expect them to. Which is what we'd expect from a developer that obviously has many of these sounds recorded from previous games.
Physics - 8.5/10 - This is obviously what the target audience wants to hear about, and you'll be glad to know that they are quite good. You simply wont find a similar level of realism on any other console game. The cars have weight to them, you feel connected to the road, and each car feels uniquely different. But I would still have to say that while they are better than other console racers, they still fall short of some of the better PC sims, even ones like GTR2 by the same developer. Locking the brakes is strangely difficult in many cars, and there's a strange lack of lift-oversteer, even when you're trying to induce it.
Cars/Tracks - 5/10 - Both are quite limited. There's a good variety of cars, from Mini's, to touring cars, to GT cars, to open-wheelers, but the actual quantity is lacking(only 47 different cars). The tracks are the most disappointing, though, with only 13 available out of the box(Imola and 2 alternate configurations of Road America available as DLC). The tracks themselves are quite good, especially ones like Macau and Brno. The track surfaces are probably one of the highlights of the game, with every little bump being felt and having less grip outside of the racing line.
Presentation - 2/10 - Dismal. They just completely ignored this aspect. And while its not the most important thing to the target audience, a little sprucing up and intuitiveness would have gone a long way into making the game 'look' like it was a quality title. Unfortunately, the menus are bland, and exiting out of most things(races, menu options) automatically brings you back to the title screen, which gets annoying at times when you just want to go back one screen(like to a car/track select screen).
Online - 7/10 - Now that the patch has been released, multiplayer has become functional again, and this is where I'd suggest you spend your time in the game. Its still quite un-user-friendly, but once you're racing, you tend to forget and can enjoy the pure racing experience. One of the best aspects is that while everyone is waiting to race, you are put on-track in a sort of practice session, where you are free to tune, lap, and practice race with others. Qualifying is optional, but is a nice addition. The cars you can use are primarily dictated by which ones you've unlocked in Career, with the exception of a few like the WTCC cars.
Single-player - 5/10 - There are two main modes, career and championship. Career sends you through various racing cars and classes(unlocking them along the way), while the difficulty ramps up significantly in the later portions. Championship mode will have you in the same car, running through a calendar of races throughout most of the circuits in the game. In Career, you can change options race-to-race, while in Championship, the options you pick at the start will stay with you throughout. The AI is a bit quirky, though. They have strange braking habits, and can often be frustratingly difficult to beat one race, and then super-easy to beat the next. Either way, its not much fun racing against them as they do not respect your position on the track and are likely to pretend you aren't even there.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from lots of bugs and glitches(even after patch), with the most significant being a common bug that will erase your Career accomplishments. This is a huge drawback, as your ability to enjoy different types of cars online can be ruined by having your Career erased.
Another annoying niggle is that rain doesn't seem to affect your grip level. If it does, its by an almost unnoticeable amount. Basically, they might as well have not even taken the effort to put it into the game. Very disappointing for those who like the challenge of grip-limited wet conditions.
Essentially, this is a fairly lousy attempt to bring hardcore sim racing to the console-platform. It feels rushed, it disappoints on many different levels, and for certain people who experience the major bugs, the game can become downright unplayable. Even for those big racing game fans out there, I have to recommend renting, or just plain skipping this altogether. Us hardcore simracing fans will just have to continue to wait for a quality title on a console.