First PS3 game I bought, took a chance on it that it would be good since I hadn't played other games. It was worth it!
And I have since played my other game, and have played a good dozen demo's. After seeing some other games, it made me realize just how good this one was. Graphically, it is something to behold, and doesn't suffer the performance issues that it does on the xbox 360 and PC. Nope, it runs a smooth, very smooth, 60 fps.
Graphics are one thing, but this gameplay and experience are amazing. I flipped my car in the game and it was so real I got dizzy and damn near feel out of my chair! That is how immersed you can get in this game. Really easy to pick up the controller and by the time you quit you wonder where your day went!
There are a lot of cars and trucks of all types you can get in this game. And like with Gran Turismo, there are a ton of tweaking options to where you don't understand some of them. But no worry, on basically every part of the game, there is great dialogue that explains tweaks, different vehicles, tracks, and everything else. But what is cool is that you can push a button for the help dialogue so it doesn't keep getting repeated over and over again. The racing is very real, racing physics are as good as a Gran Turismo, but I think the controls are even better with the pressure sensitive L2 button for the gas.
Also, unlike a Gran Turismo, you can go over a cliff and get stuck. You can flip the vehicle, you can ride on two wheels barely maintaining your balance for seconds at a time. You can catch serious air as well. Anything that could happen in real life happens in this game.
Which brings me to the damage. Again unlike a Gran Turismo, if you are a sucky driver you can damage your car gradually, or slam into a tree and total your vehicle ending the race.
It is so real. If you have a light wreck or just graze something, just a small amount of damage or a small piece of the vehicle might fly off. But when you wreck hard, you can lose the entire body of the vehicle!
Basically what I'm saying is that the damage is accurate. If just one front corner of your vehicle bumps into something, then just that part of the vehicle will be damaged.
Also, damaged parts or missing parts due to damage can and will impact performance and aerodynamics.
This is "next gen" in every sense of the word. Every aspect of the game has lots of detail put into it. Again the voices are great. It is mostly Travis Pastrana talking you through things, but in certain rally events and on other features you have another guy that talks as well. This is the guy that talks to you in 2 person (in the same car) races and he gives you the heads up on how sharp the turns are ahead, how long until you get there, ect.
There is lots more I could get into, but if you are even just a casual racing game fan like myself, or a die-hard racing fan, or hell even if you don't like racing games you will love this one.
If this is an "early" next gen game, I can't wait to see what the PS3 brings us in the next couple years!
Yeah, rent it to see if you like it, but I have a feeling you will have a hard time finding things wrong with this game. And you can learn the controls in this game in 2 seconds. Gas, Brake, Reverse!