Some of you may remember that I wrote up a rather lengthy review of the Full Auto demo when it was released on the Xbox Live marketplace.

Anyhow, I decided to bite the $60 bullet today, seeing as how there are about -5 games on the Xbox 360's near future release list. That, and the fact that I had a blast with the demo.

All I can say is the developers really make this game crazy. I thought there was a lot of particle effects in the demo -- christ almighty, in the full version there's just shit all over the place, running over each other. It's like a fucking free for all (this is good, for the record).

The frame rate still dips -- it came into a near slo-mo at one point. This may have been deliberate, but the camera didn't pan like it usually does during slow frame shots. That aside, the graphics look fantastic.

Controls are rather unsatisfying -- it feels like the car is on ice. While this is all well and good (and the car is responsive), it does not feel like you are controlling a 2000 pound '67 Chevy knock off. The sense of inertia and weight simply isn't there. The physics engine is rather robust, but it just feels slightly off. This might be only in the C class vehicles (almost done with C class), so I'll have to get back on that.

Also, what the fuck is with the custom soundtracks? It only lasts the duration of the race, then switches back to the crap generic rock that ships on the disc. Seriously, what the hell? I don't know if this is a glitch or if it's just an oversight, but damn is it annoying. I was blowing shit up at high speeds to Nirvana's "School," only to have the song cut in half and promptly replaced by some total ass guitar and drums. Gah. Thumbs down on that.

The sense of speed is a bit lacking in comparison to Burnout's; again, I think this is due to the physics feeling "off." Granted, I'm not expecting spot-on, real-life physics -- it just feels like that, within the crazy ass game world, the physics don't fit correctly. They're just too damn loose. Good thing for unwreck.

Haven't played on Xbox Live yet (today was release day), but I suppose I will eventually. It looks rather cool.

One thing I actually really like is the destructible environs which yield new paths/shortcuts after each successive lap. For example, the first time you pass a building it may be standing, but on the second lap you can go through the gap where it was, shaving 3 seconds off your time.

I'd give it a rating of around 7.5 - 8 so far. I can see this getting really, really, really, really (see the emphasis?) repetetive after awhile. Hell, I only played half an hour and I was kind of inclined to go do something else.