[Inquisitor]

Anyone else get this?

[Deepblue]

I played around with the demo, and while the concept is really incredible, the execution is so-so.

I really liked hitting the GPS and zooming out over the entire island in real-time though. That was pretty damn sweet.

[Inquisitor]

The execution is better with the released game. I was unconvinced until I read some first hand experiences. The cars are varied, with good controls, an its olin execution is ctually of fun if you can find people you can stand to explore and race with. It's also got a mini-NFSMW cop chase thing going on in it, which makes things more interesting.

It's beautiful too, and from what I cna tell, pretty faithful to the geography of Oahu. I'll post some of my thoughts from the other forum after dinner, but they got of things right in this one.

[Inquisitor]

I am enjoying this more than PGR3, some of the races are real challenges, and the "Tour of the Island" is defintely not for the weak. 118 miles, little under 1 hour of drive time, and I was fighting for position the entire way. I think I need an Enzo to win that one, although, my Jag took second...

My observations so far:

- The sense of speed is really nice, especially in a race like "Tour" where you can open up on long straightaways and hit 210+ MPH.

- When the servers are online, its actually kinda cool to hear other drivers.

- Exploration past finding the shops (which did feel like a chore) is actually pretty neat, The island seems to be to scale (at least, if t says something is 12 miles away, it will take you 10-15 minutes to get there at highway speeds).

- The model challenges are kinda pointless, new clothes don't excite me so much.

- The tuning is MUCH less involved, you buy whole packages instead of individual parts, this obviously makes it more accessible for casual players, but a little less interesting for gear heads. I am somewhere in between.

- The bikes are too forgiving, I would have preferred a little more Moto GP style control. As such, they are my vehicle of choice for exploration because I can drive them at high speeds without generating 3 badges of ire from the constabulary.

- Sometimes, the lack of a damage model for the player cars jars me out of an otherwise extremely immersive experience. While I can't "ride the wall" so effectively ala GT4, it doesn't incent me to avoid minor scrapes, and if I hit a tree head on at 200 miles per hour, SOMETHING should happen.

- I love the persistent "actions have consequences" with the cops, ALMOST makes me wish they would do a bit of Need For Speed Hot Pursuit and tag me for other traffic violations (blasting past the cop at 140 should at least make his lights bubble on).

- The sense of speed and scale of the game seem to work against itself sometimes, scenery popping in in the distance at high speeds, the Xbox can't QUITE keep up with the demands.

- I like the house system, but wish there was a way to sort cars between houses (unless I missed something?).

- The online auction seems interesting, just not sure why you would buy online instead of in a shop, and no cars have been available when I looked anyway.

Some things remind me of Oblivion in this game, the graphics are excellent, the world is large, and the driving is pretty tight IMHO. I am glad I took the plunge despite the original slightly negative impression I got. A little bit of MMO, a little bit RPG, of exploration and some good racing. I like it.

Discussion on Avault.
http://forums.avault.com/showthread.php?t=20560