It's a love hate thing...
I immediately uninstalled it and tried to claim a refund from the shop at which I bought it. I also sent emails of discussed to both the retailer for their 'non-returns' policy and THQ for such a bizarre driving game. For some bizarre reason (maybe due to 'Games For Windows' splattered all over the case), I started to look into using an Zbox controller on my PC, afterall, it's the best controller I have held next to the classic N64 one. So I then thought, ok - I'll give this 'arcade' game a go with the controller and see..... WOW - I'm glad I did...
OK - yes the physics and driving skill level are very arcade style, and it's difficult to master a perfect drift with a 1 inch thumbstick compared to a real wheel, but in general, this is a well structured game that got my attention for a while. The first big downside was soon to follow though, I couldn't get this game to go online for at least 10 days after '2nd' install. I created a free silver account at games for windows and entered my windows live ID etc into the game login, all went ok until it tried to download an update, at which point I was informed I had no internet connection.
Several emails where then sent to both Microsoft Support and THQ, neither have still yet to reply. So I then started doing my own research via Google, to find the 1.1 patch for Games For Windows hidden deep within the official US site (but nothing on UK site). Downloaded and installed this patch, ensured firewall still set to allow for J2 and yipee, online we were...
Now this is where the real fun begun, I read on several forums while doing my update issue research, that nobody really played online and it was very empty, but I found that during peak times at least, there was half a dozen or so playing (yeah, I know), but you soon become familiar with these as you tended to race each other quite a lot. With the lack of 'clients' aside, the online career mode is top marks, I found the offline version too easy to make money and progress, while racing against other 'humans' rather than predictable bots being 'more risque' and much harder to make money (unless you Hamington). The ability to play and talk with Xbox users too was cool to experience for the 1st time, although it appeared it was mainly PC people online when I played.
If you a serious driving freak, then you could be disappointed with Juiced 2, but if you always look upon this game as pure arcade and 'a bit of fun', then you'll get on with it. The online section isn't a good as the 1st game, but is well worth a visit.
6/10 - Not serious but entertaining..