this is a very cool game
the devs put in a lot of effort to make the racing genre become interesting by solving a lot of the issues of the genre in this game.
so sad that many people didn't like it, and rightfully so, it had its lows.
the visuals hold up to date.
controls are done really well.
mainstream audience don't like to sit hours grinding currency to get a supercar and will probably loose interest and stop playing the game and lost out on a major experience racing games sell, that is driving a very fast car in the world they built. in order to tackle this issue, the devs gave access to every car right from the beginning. and in order to keep this activity of giving access to every car fun, they opted to make finding the cars a collectathon and they were put in well positioned locations that didnt feel like they were spread randomly across the map. this was a major improvement compared to their previous game burnout paradise which has a screen that showcases all the cars before entering the game so player can choose which car to roam in, which is not all that interesting having to sit through a menu bar selecting cars. but this kinda backfires as many might loose interest after driving and finding the supercars they want to drive and not upgrading and participating in the races.
the lens flar, the way the screensaver camera works, the ui and hud, the transitioning from car to car animations, the introduction of the blacklist cars are amazing and are pure art. especially the blacklist intro sequences which werent contionued in the later games, which is such a shame.
not having body kit modification really damaged the games reputation as it is kinda expected and also something this game needs to keep people interesting in keep changing the cars they play and to keep playing the races for a long time.
its not a complete open world and has block off sections where u cant enter the grass in between the dividers even though its ground level is really good as not every space is fun to drive through and it really helped the developers to create the map in a fun way where no road/space felt like the area was made without much thought to the gameplay and just as a fill in like in future games like nfs heat.
the refill station system is pretty cool as it changes the color of the game, which is something really important cause cars take up a lot of screen realestate in these games and having different colors and with the city reflecting on its back in different shades does create a good change in visuals every once in a while helps in keeping player interest while playing for longer time. and adding not only a visual but a gameplay element of refulling the nitros system everytime the player drives-through the refill station which encourage players to go through them as using nitrous makes a lot of difference in races really helped in pulling me into using it more, it is a wonderful system and its sad that i cant find the same system anywhere in the newer games, i hope they have a color option we can buy which we can equip and driving through a gas station changes the car color in future games.
having an easy to navigate system to races, which is also consistent with the game ui helps in creating a wonderful immersive experience.
some races can be fast travelled and some cannot, as far as i understand at least, if everything can be fast travelled it helps in players finishing the game and spending a lot more time in the game, but not having this also helps in players to get adjusted to the car they just picked up (during the driving on their way to the race).
upgrades r also easy to equip after aquiring as they show up as soon as u win them and just pressing a button can either equip/unequip right on the spot without going through a menu or driving to some house/store. this saves a lot of time but also it kinda reduces the impact of the upgrades achieved as races can be continously won one after the other and then upgrades r just a ui box to skip with a button.
having to take down the blacklist cars in the open city even after defeating them in the race is wonderful, as it adds a bit of difficulty and depth to the game as soon as the boss is done and u have the choice to spend more time against a rival u might have struggled against, and coming across them after a little bit even if u miss them or couldnt take them down is wonderful as it encourages the players to keep engaged and move around the open world with no objectives and chase an amazing looking sports car. getting the car after taking them down is the icing on the top.
even though the stunts/tricks gains some sort of currency points, they are not the reasons players jump or go through stunt routes in this game, but they rather choose those because its extremely fun to pull off with the right amount of difficulty to pull them off, unlike in newer racing games where this rep points are very much needed to continue forward in the game, both story and gameplay/upgrades-wise so the players always keep in mind to go through these stunts not willingly but rather like a chore.