Definately an improvement, but as noted in other threads the gameplay doesn't appeal to me (and seems to lack the hardcore skill/learning curve/rewarding experience) BUT it will entice casuals, as usual (both 360 versions have sold in excess of 1M copies) so this one will actually we WORTHY of such sales.

Edit: Might as well say more... I like the soft particle smoke. Kudos EA, outstanding job. Notice it doesn't immediately dissapate like a like of games. THIS is how you do particles. The car detail is excellent. Models are not as complex as PGR, but they are very high + outstanding texturing, reflections, and very good HDR implimentation. I love the chrome. Realtime procedural damage looks very good as well, maybe more realistic than Burnout in some crashes (give or take). Good soft shadows (VSM?) and nice road textures, very good road textures actually. A bit of pop in in geometry and distant textures, and the world is pretty bare. But the tradeoff is a great sense of speed. AI seems weak and with the fairly narrow roads there isn't much tactic in the racing. Cars seem to be arcady-floaty so they hit big air on hills and in bumping without any real consequence -- definately some "auto leveling" going on. Good to keep the action going, but going off the road or cliff isn't quite as perilous as it should be.

Graphically this is very good. Nice quite as refined as PGR (which is also very, very fast when you are good) and lacks the sheer amount of detail and diversity. But the assets in NFS are all really high quality and have great detail. The game has a very "solid" look and the technologies used for lighting and shadowing are all really good. Framerate seems super solid and the damage is AAA quality. And the smoke is super sexy -- doing a donut you actually run back into your smoke and it flows around your car. The speed + draw distance really accent the pretty graphics.

NFS fans are getting a treat.