Yes, it's still very much a arcade racer, but first impressions is that it's awesome. What's awesome about it is more of the open world racing, seeing all my friends racing around in their personalized cars, even my good friend, Myrig, from across the pond who drives like he's on a sight seeing tour, and in the wrong lane! lol. the Forza series don't have AI, they have Avatars, so how your friends drive is also displayed on your game, even if their not there.
The night and rain cycles are pretty awesome too, you can see the rain clouds moving in. What's fun about this is seeing your friends always on, and beating their times in your races.
and by the way, all my friends on my list... first 4 races beat everyone of your times, sometimes by a second or two... better step it up heroes.
ah, and I want to do Ashley, the mechanic... I call dibs.