It doesn't get better then this.
All the things you might see as negative in the game, like you have no rearview ability other then some little arrows at the bottom of the screen and you can't select driver other then in career mode, I see as positive things!
I like not having to pick a rider for my bike because then it's truly me behind the steeringwheel, not some premade rider that's nothing like me, this makes every race more personal and much more fun.
The lack of being able to look behind you gives the game a more realistic feel because these bikes have no rear mirrors and it makes it harder to take out oppocing riders behind you with mines. If there was an ability to look backwards that would have been to easy and killing other riders with mines would've been far to effective.
This game looks great, good weather and weapon effects combined with tons of detail all over the place and supercool futuristic motorcycles speeding around in interactive backgrounds with things to blow up and use as obsticles for other riders.
The controls are as good as I could possible imagine a game like this to have, they respond perfectly in all speeds and powersliding around tight corners is hella fun when you do it faster then the speed of friggin' SOUND!
I myself prefer the grip bikes, VIxen Teams bike in particular because I love having as much grip as possible, but I still enjoy powersliding just as much as anyone else.
The controls work great with full analog support for acceleration, breaking and steering and I personally never use the D-Pad or normal buttons (triangle, square, X or O) for steering.
The weapon control works really well too. You pick up little weapon orbs on the road and the more you have the better weapon you can use, the final one being the totally annihilating Death Strike which kills any rider in one locked-on, impossible to escape, ion-cannon explosion!!!
You need quite a lot of orbs to use it though, so you may only be able to kill a few selected riders every race by using it.
The game doesn't end at just normal supersonic racing with weapon-action and explosions. No sir! There are also tons of different modes you can play, like warmonger, extreme weather, endurance, my favourite the speed limited that disables turboboosts and the boost-strips on the road, focusing the gameplay on normal racing combined with weapon action, and more!
There are more good aspect in this game like additional contracts while racing and not to forgot the multiplayer mode that is just as good as the single player mode and the interaction with other riders. You will get live videofeeds with sound from other riders telling you things depending on what's happening like ridiculing you for not being strong enough to kill them with the current weapon you just attacked them with and so on. The voices are great and fits each rider perfectly.
This is without any doubt the best and most perfectly balanced futuristic racinggame ever made and I recommend it to everyone who claims to enjoy videogames. And nowadays you can get it for a ridiculously low price so there really is no reason for you not to buy it unless you already have it.
I would also like to point out here at the end that games like Wipeout Fusion or Powerdrome doesn't stande a chance and Extreme G 3 doesn't have the bikes or controls to compete with this masterpeice.