I picked it up the other day (with faceplate)...man I have NEVER seen so much hate for a game (general gaming public). The demo, though fun, was not very impressive...its defintely improved since the demo (graphics, lighting, effects,control (tighter) are better (though frame rate does stutter when it gets real chaotic from time to time). The game is very fun (have not played online yet) and I can see it probably getting old single player wise. I would say to all 360 owners who like racing/racing combat to at LEAST give it a RENT before following the bash of it. There seems to be a significant amount of poeple who are bashing it and do not have the game as played on their profile (either they played the demo or just jumping on the hate bandwagon).