While Gamespot waits for Ubisoft's cheque to clear to finish their review, I thought I'd sing the games praises free of charge.
As background, I was a huge of the game when it was released on the PC back in 2003, I played the piss out it (ask your parents, back then games had piss in them) and downloaded and played hundreds of user made tracks. It was a golden period of racing. Sadly, it never carried over to the consoles. The DS version was pretty damn fun for what it was, I never played the Wii version and I patiently waited for the game to make its way to a proper console. It never hit the PS2, the PS3 but thank whatever gods there are because it's finally made it to the PS4 and the wait was worth it.
If you're curious about the game, try the demo. You'll see what you're getting. You gotta like a company that puts a demo out there. They're not afraid of what they're selling - some other companies should take note.
The thing to remember about this game is that it's time based. You race against the clock. You're not racing other people real time, you're trying to beat a track score. You can play against a ghost car, like the gold medal time or without it. If you frustrate easily, then play something else but if you like a challenge, here it is.
The beauty of this game is that it harkens back to what games are supposed to be about, in my humble opinion - fun and skill based. You race the track, you make a mistake, you don't get that great time but you know what needs to be done. You know where you can take a turn tighter and take a fraction of a second off your time, a fraction that can get you that gold medal. And even when you get that gold medal, you'll think, I could have done this one thing a little better and you'll keep trying until you get it - at least it's that way with me and maybe you too. And for me at least, the game reaches a Zen like experience when you get into your little grove with a track.
The problem with modern racing games is that companies like EA think a racing game should be online, should have stories, that we want realism, well screw that. I want a game that makes me work for that gold medal and doesn't surround itself with useless crap.
There's only two real buttons - gas and brake - you have to respect that. The turbos are built in the tracks. It comes down to have well you can steer, drift and brake. But trust me, you won't use the brake much.
The fact that the game is moderately priced is simply icing on an already delicious cake.
If you're a little pussy who rage quits like nobody's business when things don't go your way, give the game a pass - it'll own you quickly. But if you want a fun game that will challenge your video game skills, get it.