I think removing the story and free-roaming environment we saw in the most recent NFSU games has allowed EA time for all the additional stuff. And that's a good thing, because I personally felt that NFSU2's roamable city was undercooked content padding, and its plot threadbare and painfully hip. NFSU Rivals gets back to the basics, but I miss the intuitive performance tuning of NFUS2, the analog stick is disappointingly implemented, and the AI isn't elastic enough. Rivals is better in some ways than previous entries in the franchise, but it's worse in the place that matters the most: the actual race. Like other rubber band racers, it's addictive--up to a point. Then you get stuck on that same race several times, going back and forth with cars whose doors you should have blown off at the starting line, and you wish the race model was a wee bit looser. I'll be sticking with Ridge Racer.
