Its fun for like... The first 3 or 4 hours. But ultimately the open world is more trouble than it's worth- You never get a sense of "mastering" a course and the "TURN HERE" signals are way too slow for 150 mph.
Yeeeeeeah, that's 100% false. Maybe you never get a sense of mastering a route. So keep that blanket of yours to yourself.
You can't master a route that's always changing. For me, half the fun of a racing game is knowing a track backwards anf forwards and being able to exercise your skillz.
Actually you can kind master them. I didn't think so either until I started doing all of the road rules times. You actually learn the names of the main streets so the street signs are actually helpful during a race. I've been playing the game for almost 40 hours now and I'm not bored with it. I'm trying to get the Elite license now. Still haven't played online though. 
Pretty close to my experience - I'm about 40 races out from the Elite license now, great stuff. I have spent a couple of nights online tho. The seamlessness of the experience is pretty damn impressive, even to someone as jaded as me. I tend to get kicked for dropping into games and taking 3-4 records in the first 5 minutes
People just can't handle me!
I hated the demo and thought this game was going to be ass. Instead, it's turned out to be hella impressive. I went back and tried to play a 'regular' BO recently, and it just couldn't hold my interest. It's a shame.
Also, something CRAZY cool for those of us who got the PS3 one - Criterion is prepping an online site where you can upload your PS3 save (just pull it off the console using USB storage, and upload via computer). Once it's uploaded, they show you a map with all your
not-yet-found super jumps, events, drive-thrus, smashes, and billboards so you can track them down and 100% the game.
