Didn't know whether to but it but very glad I bought it in the end.
I was hesitant about getting this after reading some reviews but to be honest, after giving it a good hour you start to find yourself getting deeper into it.
The graphics and detail are what you expect, not too overboard and flash but enough to make you admire them in parts. The detail to cars and bikes are superb even down to the coils in the suspension of the cars.
The island is huge as you may have already heard and what gets me is while you're driving there are no loading times!
There's just too many little things to mention that make you admire the game even more (but no pedestrians?).
To sum it up... If you like driving games and are willing to get past your first five wins or so to get a couple of cars I personally think you'll start loving it.