I actually picked it up BECAUSE of the TV spot.
Graphically, it does a lot of things right (lighting, high res textures where it counts, and detailed models). Combined with the physics, it's a very realistic looking game.
The sounds are poor, and the music is average. There is no custom soundtrack option, and that is extremely dissappointing.
Controls are decent at best. You do lose a lot of speed when drifting, so it's far better to brake properly when turning, but on the other hand, you can drift when you have turbo because you use it to pull out of the turn at decent speeds. I found that the control wasn't as sensitive as it should be...as it only reacts after you press 20 degrees to the right or left. So it's hard to put in smooth steering inputs.
Tracks are a mixed bag. They have a good mix of turns, hills, dips, and chicanes. They are also populated with tire walls, pylons, chain fences, and wood fences. They are all movable, and so a tire wall is fully interactive. Crash into it, and tires spill all over the place, sometimes polluting the track (which complicates later laps). It looks great, and IMO it's an awesome unique feature of this racer. The problem with the tracks lies in the fact that there aren't many of them. There are 4 different scenarios, and I'm guessing each one has around 3 or 4 tracks based on them (think Ridge Racer, alternate paths created from the same city).
The biggest flaw I see is that they have a great physics engine, but the tracks don't really put it to use. I wish the tracks were far more hazardous, containing more jumps, dips, and obstructions (that you could use to push opponents into).
I also wish that it was a lot more like Destruction Derby, where you can knock cars out of commission. I can accept the fact that the developers wanted to do something else...but they didn't do much other than create a nice looking game with interesting physics and mediocre controls. There is a good amount of difficulty, which is great. But there is nothing making me want to play a track again for the 5th time, as it's not that exciting.