first of all sys specs
AMD x2 4400 processor
2gig OCZ RAM
nvidia 7950gx2 quad sli
windows xp sp3
i start by saying that this is one of the most graphically detailed games ive ever seen on pc, the textures, shaders are simply sublime. theres a huge variety of cars (not so much bikes) to choose from, unfortunately if you want to be competative then there are only a few cars worth buying.
the whole game is huge with 100s of miles of road to drive on, but for me the game just lacks something. i can only pin it on the cars handling which at slow speeds are very tricky to drive especially the bikes! im also unsure on the cars physics going over the hilly roads the cars seem to just leave the road even at low speeds and kind of "bang" back onthe road again with no sense of suspension what so ever. even going around corners uphill at low speeds you often find yourself on the otherside of the road or in the bushes, it seems they have tried to include understeer for up hill cornering which is way over exagerated.

i do try and play online with friends but most of the time we can never see each other at all even though we are at the same place which is very frustrating. i wish the police would be more aggressive also, how many people can get away with flying past a cop at 180+??? none, but in this game u can but u cant get away with a small shunt :S
all in all it is a very good game with the pick up and play ability. it just lets itself down with the handling of the cars.

The game is amazing and you can literally drive for hours up mountains in the cities in exotic sports cars. You compete in races for money to buy new cars and houses etc.

Firstly here are my machine specs: AMD Athlon XP2400+, 896MB Ram, ATI Radeon X1650 Pro 256mb.

To get the game running OK on my machine - and by ok I mean 15-20 fps which is not great by any means but is playable (Apart from in cities where it drops at times to under 10 fps). I had to disable Details (Flying bits of paper and stuff which don't really add anything to the experience) and Traffic (which makes the game easier because the police aren't after you all the time!), AND set detail settings to LOW which just seems to change the draw distance - everything still looks amazing though.

I have come to the conclusion that this game is heavily dependent on CPU - a high end CPU is a must. For graphics it is still important but no point having a 8800GTS if you have a celeron or P2.4Ghz for this game. So I will be upgrading my PC in 6 months time to dual core top end with top Graphics card and love this game even more.

I haven't encountered any glitches or crashes in the game but then I am running on the recently released 1.66 patch.

really addivtive. fine with vista i have got a saitek p-480 game pad from amazon and it makes it so much better.

a really good game but so addictive. it has so much driving abbilty. you can just drive anywhere. I found that it was a bit of a cross between the sims and a street racing game. i really love the mix and will never go back to ea games of need for speed

it's pretty and it works, though I found controlling the cars much looser than say Need for Speed. The only problem is there's no real point to it. You drive around, enter races - though there is an annoying system of entry criteria, win money, buy clothes (!?) move house (?!?) and that's sort of it. The best feature is the fact that as the title suggests, you can test drive cars you can't afford.

Some of you may have ready my scathing review of the PS2 version of this game, to those I can say that my opinion of the PC variety of this is infinitely better!

So, what's different from the platforms? As soon as you create your character you have the choice of several avatars, some of them female! Later, as you progress through the game you can change how they look, such as hair and facial features. Clothes can be bought using fashion tokens obtained from hitch-hikers or giving models a lift from the shops. You can also do courier mission against the clock, or transport someone else's car without getting it scratched for large amounts of cash, all of which not available in the PS2.

The number of cars is also greatly increased, with Atari releasing new cars in patches. The most notable additions to the list are Ferarri, Maserati, Audi, TVR and Superbikes like Ducati, Kawasaki and Triumph. Some PS2 cars like the soft-top Murchialago or Zonda are limited to beta testers, sometimes these can be seen on trade for several billions!

Driving is more of a pleasure than the PS2. You have 4 settings for the traction control and each has their own unique feel. Manual gearbox is a welcome option, and for those who take it seriously, an option to have manual clutch and `H-box' gearbox, but for these you really need the Logitech G25 racing wheel.

The game world of Oahu is rendered beautifully; even before turning the HDR effects on you get wonderful reflections on bodywork, excellent lighting effects and so much detail. The interior of the cars is fantastic, making you forgo the practicality of the other views for the visual treat.

Unless you decide to when creating your character you are always online, meaning it's easy to pull up in a car park and find some like-minded drivers and go for a cruise in your million dollar convoys. Single-player races also record times, so you can see how good you are compared to the other players. Atari have released a patch that has removed most of the hacks that had people covering 50 miles in less than 4 seconds with an E-type Jag.

It is a power-hungry little program though. My old Nvidia FX5600 was not up to the challenge and needed replacing. Luckily spending as little as ??60 even for an AGP graphics card will get you very solid FPS, AA and a modest resolution.

For those bored with EA's boy-racer game this is a wonderfully welcome change. Get it and don't look back!