Never judge a game by YOUR SYSTEM!

Perhaps you have read a few less than approving reviews about this game. I suggest you look at the operating systems these reviewers are using. You will never see the beauty of this game on an AMD K-2 machine. I also notice some bad reviews but the reviewer won't tell you what type of system he has. I had a Pentium 333Mhz P-II and the frame rates and resolution were at best marginal. Once I got my 500 Mhz P-III all that changed. The difference is like night and day. Wherein before pedestrian clothing was a single, solid color, now there is shading, giving depth. I can see the pedestrians faces. Even hub caps are amazingly detailed and all vehicles including my own look fantastic. I watch the sheen on vehicles change shape as they turn, and look at breath taking sunsets while sitting on a lot. I am so caught up in the scenery; an occasional airline passing by, the muffled rain pattering on the roof of my car as I look over my dashboard at the passing vehicles and people. So many details! When you finally decide to drive you need a Logitech Wingman Formula Force steering wheel. I tell you this in all honesty; when I am slamming on the brake going downhill during a race I have an unmistakable feeling of movement; that I am actually SKIDDING toward a crash. It was a really freaky feeling when I used this steering wheel for the first time. The joystick I owned is nothing like it. NOTHING LIKE IT.
Guess some reviewers don't realize you can adjust the control sensitivity to your taste. You can tweak it to perfection if you're patient, able to do skidding 180 degree turns for a fast direction switch on a narrow street. Cops take damage and can be disabled, for those of us with a criminal streak. Leading them through on comming traffic will do the trick.
Sound is so good I leave the game on sometimes at bed time so the rain and gentle thunder sound effects, along with the "SSSSHHHISSSHHH" of wet passing tires, puts me to sleep! Inside the car I can pull up the dash and interior, look left, right, rear and ahead all at the touch of a button on my steering wheel. This may sound corny, but this is not just a game. A person or child can actually learn to drive with this simulation. My steering wheel even has gas and brake foot pedals. The cops won't chase you unless you break the speed limit and the whole city has working traffic signals and readable highway signs as well as pavement markings. I can really appreciate what Microsoft has done here, as I work for the Department of Transportation in Florida. I also applaud them for side stepping the violence in gaming issue when it comes to killing pedestrians. I've had this game over a year and I am still impressed, although my system has only 8 meg of video ram. I am only able to use the 800x600 resolution setting, although I could boost it to 1024x768, then the frame rate begins to suffer. Again, its MY SYSTEM, not the game. These days there are 700 or 800 Mhz systems that should really be able to see this game as it should be seen and played. This game is a classic, hands down, if you have the right system.