After giving it more of a chance, the game is definitely an improvement over the titles from the last decade or so. It still doesn't live up to the likes of NFS MW, Carbon or the Hot Pursuits from the 2000s, but it definitely gives me that feel.

Once I started unlocking tuning for my cars, I was actually impressed with how much there is. Sure, you can't custom tune each aspect of the car like in Forza, but there is still a lot you can do. It feels like they took the tuning systems from Carbon and MW and completely improved it across the board - I am quite impressed.

Couple more features that I love is the lack of AI catch-up. It seemed like the previous games, no matter how much faster your car was, the AI would always keep up with you. This was especially prevalent in Carbon and MW. But in this game, I've found myself getting miles ahead or lapping opponents when my car is at a higher tune. The other feature that I quite enjoy is the proper Turbo sounds. Forza does almost everything better than this game except for the Turbo sounds. I'm not sure what it is, but in Forza you get great Supercharger sounds, but the Turbo sounds are almost nonexistent. This game has fantastic turbo sounds, and they don't sound nearly as cheesy as you think they would.

I've always welcomed the arcade feel of the game, but I feel like it was so close to an actual serious game that I would love to fall in love with. The story is very interesting, but the arcade feel just ruins any immersion into the actual story for me. They really could have done away with most of the race markers and just used flares as markers instead to make it feel more realistic. And get rid of the long jumps.

TLDR: This game is very impressive compared to other NFS titles over the past decade, but it still falls short of the all-time greats that were released in the early 2000s.

After giving it more of a chance, the game is definitely an improvement over the titles from the last decade or so. It still doesn't live up to the likes of NFS MW, Carbon or the Hot Pursuits from the 2000s, but it definitely gives me that feel. Once I started unlocking tuning for my cars, I was actually impressed with how much there is. Sure, you can't custom tune each aspect of the car like in Forza, but there is still a lot you can do. It feels like they took the tuning systems from Carbon and MW and completely improved it across the board - I am quite impressed. Couple more features that I love is the lack of AI catch-up. It seemed like the previous games, no matter how much faster your car was, the AI would always keep up with you. This was especially prevalent in Carbon and MW. But in this game, I've found myself getting miles ahead or lapping opponents when my car is at a higher tune. The other feature that I quite enjoy is the proper Turbo sounds. Forza does almost everything better than this game except for the Turbo sounds. I'm not sure what it is, but in Forza you get great Supercharger sounds, but the Turbo sounds are almost nonexistent. This game has fantastic turbo sounds, and they don't sound nearly as cheesy as you think they would. I've always welcomed the arcade feel of the game, but I feel like it was so close to an actual serious game that I would love to fall in love with. The story is very interesting, but the arcade feel just ruins any immersion into the actual story for me. They really could have done away with most of the race markers and just used flares as markers instead to make it feel more realistic. And get rid of the long jumps. TLDR: This game is very impressive compared to other NFS titles over the past decade, but it still falls short of the all-time greats that were released in the early 2000s.