turn off the VO!!!
OK, so let me start this on the positive. The racing is amazing! It's what you'd expect from codemasters. Think Dirt 2, with a bit more finesse. It's tight and responsive handling is top tier all the way. The vehicle setup per race is a perfect addition. The graphics are gorgeous. The sfx are again outstanding. Basically all the backend components are amazing. But here is where I turn to the negative. The number one flaw, and one which nearly destroys all the great things about this game is the horrendous voice talent. Isn't this #3 in the series? Do we really need to know how to drive a car in the game at this point? Do we need to be talked to like we're 10 year olds? "Hey Amigo, you should post that super cool race to youtube!" or whatever he says needs to go away. At least give the option to turn it off. These actors are terrible. They are vomit inducing. And all you can do is turn their volume down to 50%!!!! Really?! There isn't an option to turn them off? No option to skip their ramblings? Come on now. Bad design. Terrible actually.
Number two on my list goes down like this. So I know they have some slick menus in this game. But after each race do we need to see the same builds? The same loooooooong, over the top animations? If we're already on a course, why does it need to back out of the experience, to the buildout of the menu, to another loading screen just to race on the same track?!?! Did codemasters refer to any sort of user experience beta testing? The UI is horrible! I would opt for a basic menu with text only over this.
It's over the top nature is too much for my stomach and grates on my nerves. The racing is awesome, but like so many games in this genre, it's totally ruined by horrible interface interaction and the worst acting imaginable. I'm returning it just because of this. Yep. Trust me, you'll want to do the same after about 6 hours into it...
