An awesome game, with very few flaws available to write a good review! Yet I'll make an attempt, so here goes...

Graphics [9]:
Very smooth with incredibly good reflections. Each and every car looks very much like it's real life counterparts, with very few errors. The sparks are also amazingly well done: it looks great smashing into a lamppost and watching the sparks fly! Also, the camera does not get much better than this: with effects ranging from motion blur, to the camera shaking, to the shudder as you miss a turn at 200+ mph (360+ kph) really shows how fast you're moving. One of the nitpicks I do have though, is coming out of a race/ the garage, the graphics take a second to load completely, and you get a glimpse of everything at a REALLY low resolution, and loooks unbelievably pixelated... Fortunately it lasts upwards of 1 second, so it's nothing, really. And of course, it's always fun knocking a guy off a off his bike by smashing into it with an SUV... Or flying into a gas tank going, again, 200+ mph... Or...

Gameplay [7]:
It's a racing game. It's a street racing game. Wow. Albeit, it is one of the best racing games I have ever played! It has a great layout for the cities, with shortcuts a plenty. Speaking of plenty, there are a lot of tracks, spread out over 3 sprawling cities: combine that with the 60+ vehicles on offer and the 12 or so game modes, and you have yourself a lot of combinations! For anyone who's interested, if you add in the 8 player online support, that's 460,000 odd combinations- then there's the fact that you can make your own tracks, and customise your vehicle, and...
There are also power-ups that certain vehicles can use, from a burst of incredibly slo-mo where your vehicle handles like a greasy piece of meat on ice, a roar of the engine where opponents and "civilians" become desperate to stick to the walls, and the fun battering-ram style power-up, which allows you to be that bit more destructive on the road!
Oh and by the way, the race editor rocks too: you can place up to 30 checkpoints on any of the 3 cities (provided you put them on the road), and then save the track, and play it on any of the game modes! And then, when you're done, you can take it online for people to gape in awe/ laugh at mockingly... And then there's the modding side: this is where the game really shines. There are so many customisation options, where you can change everything from bumpers and spoilers, to neon and license plates, to decals and the all important rims! Unfortunately the exotics or bikes aren't customisable except for the rims, and in the bikes' case, the trim. There are also a small number of under-the-hood customisation, but nothing really to write home about. Oh, and the career mode is good too, which makes finding collectibles fun!

Sound [9.5]:
The sound is a huge high point to this game. All the engine roars sound incredible, if not necessarily authentic, but where the sound really shines is with the music. There are more than 100 music tracks, with all different styles, from hip-hop, to techno, and rock, all the tracks give the game an authentic, urban feel. The only downpoint is the fact that they are all non-explicit versions! Artists range from The Game, Nine Inch Nails, Fabolous, Unwritten Law (no, I've never heard of them either!), many of which contribute to creating the game's atmosphere.

Lifespan [9]:
With the massive customisation options, the many tracks, vehicles, and career races, the extremely comprehensive online play, and the collectibles and unlockables, the game will keep most gamers happy for months. The career mode itself takes up to about 20- 30 hours, depending on your skill in this genre.

Overall [8.5]:
Clearly a wonderful game, which beats Need for Speed: Underground 2, the game that took the original Midnight Club's idea into new territory, into kingdom come. Completely different game to Burnout 3, Gran Turismo 4, and V8 Supercars 2... Funny that!