For all the detail that the vehicles exhibit, it's conspicuously absent from the tracks. The result is that most of them look positively bland. You've seen much more impressive and creative backgrounds in any number of Playstation and N64 racing games. In fact, at times the overall look is reminiscent of something you'd expect to see on the PSX or N64. If it weren't for the great looking vehicles, you'd be hard pressed to believe that this game was running on the Dreamcast.
Environmental effects are a mixed bag.
Your vehicle will pick up dirt over the course of the race, which is very cool and adds to the realism. However, dirt kicked up by your wheels, water, and tire tracks don't look the least bit convincing. Rain and snow effects are nothing we haven't seen done much better elsewhere, but the lightning you'll see when driving during a thunderstorm looks awesome. There's nothing remarkable about Hardcore Heat's audio package. The sound quality is loud, clear and fairly dynamic.