I thought I should post some thoughts since it appears that this year's NFS might be from Criterion Games.
Pros:
-Looks and runs brilliantly on a standard 1st gen i7 920 and a 260 GTX 216 sp.
-Driver animation, rotating steering wheels and active aero modelling! 👍👍
-Lure of the (pretty looking) open world and free roam ability.
-Good car list with a decent attempt to appreciate the cars with the production years, prices, simple performance figures, commentary and named paint choices.
-Singleplayer difficulty is decent the 1st time you play.
Cons:
-Maybe a bit too much focus on Multiplayer and not enough Singleplayer events.
-No native support for Anti-aliasing. (Due to something along the lines of only DX9 support and the advanced lighting engine?)
-Does not seem to run well on dual-core processors when there is a full grid and police in the event.
-'Hidden' launch DLC even in the PC version. (The Dr Pepper cars and the Rebel pack cars are unlocked in a special PC "EA crew" version for certain EA employees.)
-The physics are perhaps a bit too drift friendly and feel identical to Burnout: Paradise. Cars cannot do proper donuts too. The steering feel feels a bit sloppy to me. (Use a keyboard but felt sloppy in the PS3 demo, the original Hot Pursuit and High Stakes felt a bit sloppy too though.)
-The roads generally feel too wide and coupled with the physics can make the game feel a bit too 'simple'.
-Why are there no bonus events where we can drive the (licensed) traffic vehicles like with Most Wanted and Carbon's challenge series? (Or even the codes allowing one to do so like in the older NFSs.)
-Cannot choose if we want to drive with convertible roofs up or down. (Had the choice in High Stakes and Porsche Unleashed.)
-A lack of consistency in car modelling (a recurring theme in my ((many) hour long) posts).
For example:
The offset for the rear wheels of the 8Cs, Reventon, Murcielagos, Maserati GT S and the 911 Turbo are modelled but not for the GranCabrio or the 370Z or the GT3 RS or the 911 Targa or the XKR or the.....
The wheels of the 911 Targa, GT3 RS, Cayman S and Boxster Spyder seem to 'balloon' out too much towards the center (and lack the added rear offset).
The wheels of the Turbo Cabrio are similar to the Panamera's ("Turbo II" design at 19 inch versus 20 inch) yet those on the latter don't quite look right. (Same problem in "The Run" with the 1M coupe and the M3 GTS.)
The wheels of the Carrera GT look too small in diameter and should have different colour center caps on each side. (Shift series got this sort of right.)
The rear wheels of the SuperVeloce seem smaller than the fronts while those of the standard LP640 seem bigger. (They should all be 18 inch.)
And many more!
(I will admit car wheel modelling does seem to be a problem with many games and HP does get some right. The R8s and the non LP560-4 coupe variants' wheels look good for example.)
-Engine sounds are surprisingly 'meh'. Apart from maybe the Boxster Spyder and RX8, engines are too soft in volume and don't sound that good. (Even after the patch which was supposed to resolve the volume issue.)
I was particularly disappointed with the Maseratis, Alfa Romeos, Zondas, V12 Lambos and the Koenigseggs.
-Wonky tiering and performance characteristics
The only cars which shift like they have double-clutch transmissions are the 911 Targa and the Veyrons. No love for the Evo X or Z4 35is among others?
I feel that some cars should be shifted around the tiers. There are also too many in tier 3.
Should cars like the Gallardo Superleggera, 918 Spyder and SL65 Black be shifted to tier 4 since there are 'slower' cars in there like the Continental Supersports and the Ford GT?
Should the Cayman S and Challenger SRT8 be 1 tier better than the Boxster Spyder and Charger SRT8? (The Cayman has better aero and may have the 7-speed PDK but less power to weight and less aggressive suspension. The Challenger has a 6-speed manual compared to the 5-speed auto Charger)
As a whole, should cars be tiered according to, performance on a certain race track, straight line performance or some combination of 1/4 mile trap speed, max lateral G and the like?
The 911 Turbo S Cabrio looks and 'drives' more like a non-S Turbo Cabrio.
(Missing S badge, center-lock wheels...)
How about the M6
convertible compared with the XKR and the GT500?
Some cars adhere to manufacturer speed limiters like the TT RS and the XKR (280 Kmh with optional performance packages) but cars like the Shelby GT500 (249 standard, I believe) and the M6 convertible (250 standard) are derestricted to 298 and 336 (!!) respectively.
Then you have Evo Xs that cannot top 244, STis that easily top 265, Carrera GTs that struggle to reach 330, slightly overpowered/god-like Veyrons......
Since this is an arcade racer, I feel cars should have completely derestricted top speeds like in Most Wanted, Gran Turismo 5 and some others. I understand that the extra 6th/7th gears in most cars are to take advantage of the Nitrous system. Since there is such a system, why not make the cars perform 'optimally' according to their horsepower and gearing without speed limiters and continue using the Nitrous to balance them within their tiers?
Heavy cars = strong
Slow cars = super Nitrous system
Fast and strong = hard to drive or lousy Nitrous
Something along those lines. (Yes, I know Criterion already did something like that.

)
Conclusion:
Frankly, I think I am alone regarding most of the cons. The game is very good and easily the best NFS in a while (Shift 2 did not fix enough problems of the first (it can be modded and somewhat fixed though) and 'The Run' was disappointing and cannot be modded).
I would still give this game around 8.5 out of 10
