Gamescon press demo video @ GameSpot ("HD" versions)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Some of the topics covered:
Accessability - Get into your first race within the first few seconds of turning on the game for the first time, voiced tutorial, rewind, auto-braking, auto-upgrade, auto-tuning)
Separate "certified" leaderboards for players who use no assists (including rewind)
A quick peek at available modifications
Career mode - The Calender and how it selects races based on: available cars, level and preferences determined from prior selections. If you just want to get in and race it will always present you with three viable options. The full event list is still available.
Overall I'm impressed with the amount of thought that went into the structure of the game to allow the user as little or as much depth as they want. You can select from a few broad difficulties or you can tweak each assist individually. You can purchase from a wide selection of performance upgrades or have the game determine which upgrades to purchase based on your available credits. You can tune the car, or have the game automatically set up the car for each race. You can micromanage your event participation or you can allow the game to suggest races you might enjoy.
You can choose any combination of the above so you can get deep into the parts you enjoy and skip the parts you don't. It's more than adding casual-friendly options. They will allow you to customize the game experience to an amazing degree. Even if you play the game in the most shallow way, though, you still have access to all the content in the game.
