A great atmosphere sits under some bad gameplay choices, that massively hinder this game.

Even then, this game still feels pretty good. The base game is nice for casual players to jump into, without everyone telling them to do this and that to fix things that they don't like. Customization is on point, tuning is a thing, atmosphere is PERFECT, the soundtrack fits well for different moods, etc.

Although customization is murdered in this game and way better in Need For Speed: HEAT, I find the preset bodykits sometimes really good for some cars. Some of the individual parts are awful, but for me, it all depends what mood you're in. I just wish they created more generic parts for all the cars so we wouldn't have empty spaces for parts. I'm pretty sure you cannot customize the F40.

The atmosphere is something else in this game, Heat cannot TOUCH it. An always night city, either post-drizzle or drizzling, with wet cars, minimal traffic because everyone is obviously asleep, and a low amount of cops for nightshift. On GOD man, this game should have got a direct sequel. There are people that still make screenshots in this game to this day, that look so good, there's a few that won competitions against some taken in HEAT and FH5. The lighting is absolutely perfect, even if it's all baked. You'll see reflections on rain puddles across the first bridge, just orange reflecting back, and even though it's night time and there are only street lamps, everything you need to see is lit perfectly. The graphics are something I still cannot get past on playthrough two.

There is an obvious problem with this game I haven't mentioned that everyone that plays it complains about, handling. I am not going to say it's good, it's really stupid, the map doesn't even seem built for it. But, people have come to the rescue with the UNITE mod. You shouldn't have to install mods to make the game good but whatever, if you're here for a modern Need for Speed, it's what you got. Look up a tutorial for UNITE, install Handling Overhaul 2.0, which swaps out your tyres for Grip and Drift tyres (and Gymkhana tyres for those events) and you've basically fixed the issue, just assume Sim-cade handling with Grip and super loose handling with drift (Gymkhana is a straight line grip, sideways loose mix).

The soundtrack is honestly something you'd have to listen to for a bit to like, just look up the soundtrack and see if it sits, I really only like 5-6 songs from it but it's pretty good background during events or cruising otherwise.

This game is always online, but if you don't want the online component, just load in and go to your gameplay settings and select "Play Alone". Mods will not get you banned online, as I have not been banned at all, but mods may break some visual things or some physics for others if they're on a vanilla game, so if you cruise with friends, good idea to get them the mod(s) too.

But in total, this is not a game to skip, being GHOST's first Need for Speed, I think it's important to see what they were going for in the first place to get an idea of where the series WOULD go, if they weren't closed down. But you should definitely also try HEAT, with UNITE as well.

EDIT: For controllers getting a keyboard input issue, go to your profile settings in My Documents and unbind steering/any axis binds for keyboard. This issue should fix like that.