Know your limitations. It's an important lesson that a lot of games fail to learn. Well, not that games can learn anything really, but you get the point. Ambition's a fine thing but it isn't worth a scrap if it's realised poorly - you could call it 'the Haven effect'. Whereas an under-ambitious game that has fun leaping over the low bar it has set for itself can reap a relatively high return on its investment.

Take Ford Racing 2. It's not unfair to say that anticipation surrounding this particular racer wouldn't generate enough hot air to inflate a birthday balloon, let alone launch a mighty zeppelin. It's a racing game. With Fords. Big Whoop! But, hold your horses. Empire has got there before you. Perhaps as a reaction to the lacklustre original Ford Racing on PSone and that crucial lack of zippy subject matter, the makers have concentrated on making this as accessible and as easy on the wallet as possible.

So you get cars, of course, but they're all laid out in handy categories: Movie Stars features the likes of McQueen's '68 Mustage from Bullit; Living Legends has classic Fords from days gone by stored in its garage; Off-Road, Custom, Concept... well, you get the idea. Nothing's hidden away. It's all there saying 'unlock me, grip my wheel'.

Collecting all the cars is the name of the game, and Razorworks has gone for the accessibility vote with eight different variations on the usual standard race and time trial themes to keep interest fresh. Elimination cherry picks the lack two cars to complete each lap of a race, so you must cling to the head of the pack. Duel offers a different challenger for each circuit of a three-lap race. Lose to any of them and lose the whole race. Drafting forces you to try and keep in your opponent's slipstream, while Seconds Out involves driving over hourglass icons to keep you time below an infuriatingly low target. Racing Line penalises you for every second you drift off the optimum routes. And, lastly, Driving Skills is slalom skiing for cars. Miss the tightly positioned gates and scupper your chances of unlocking Jinx's beautiful Thunderbird from Die Another Day.

With an arcade feel, bright, sunlit courses, trackside animations and shiny cars, it's no Gran Turismo. But, while we wait for Kazunori to finish GT4, Ford Racing 2 makes a pretty good case for itself.

Graphics 70%
Solid and easy on the eye.

Sound 50%
Functional rather than ear-stroking.

Gameplay 60%
Variety in modes raises the game a little.

Lifespan 70%
Fun while it lasts and at fifteen quid the pressure's off.

Overall 70%
An easy-going, accessible racer spiced up by challenge variety. File under cheap and cheerful. Result.