Pretty much, yeah. Did you ever play the open world NFS games? As it's basically like that. Or GTA if you can't get out of your car. An open world you can cruise around, find stuff, easter eggs, collectibles or things like speed cameras to try and go the fastest through or drift zone challenges to score the most points on a section of road etc. Though to progress the story you need to do actual races but, like NFS or GTA, you need to go to the place on the map to start them. The world is multiplayer too so you'll find other people driving around or you can set up convoys to cruise around with or take photos.