After
going through a bit of a reinvention with the two NFS Underground titles (which
brought the franchise into the world of import-tuners), the Need for Speed
series took a side road with last year’s Most Wanted, taking you on a tour of
the Northwest, having you race through forested areas as you escaped the cops.
Whereas the pursuit was a heavy element in last year’s game, it also introduced
a story-driven main quest.
Need
for Speed Carbon is the latest offering from EA’s long-running Need for Speed
franchise. While the game returns the series to the urban landscapes of
Underground, it retains the story-driven feel of Most Wanted, giving you
characters to interact with and take down as you vie for territory throughout
the city. The game offers up the arcade-style racing and sense of speed that the
series has been known for over the years, while offering up some cool
customization options and more features to boot.
Need
for Speed Carbon’s plot begins with a series of flashbacks leading up to the
present where you are being chased down by a bounty hunter. Apparently, not a
lot of people in the street racing circuit trust you anymore and claim that you
were responsible for ratting out your opponents to the cops and then running off
with a vast sum of money. However, having been framed, you return to town to
build up your reputation and gain back your local respect.
You
regain your rep one territory of the city at a time. Each section of the city is
run by one street gang, which is in turn presided over by one boss character,
who for the record, hates your guts. Once you stir up the pot enough by winning
races and taking over their sections you’ll eventually have to take on the boss
themselves, allowing you to take over their entire territory.
The
game features a bevy of licensed vehicles from real-world car manufacturers, and
they separate into three very distinct classes: Tuners, Exotics, and Muscle.
Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, like Tuners have great handling but
low top speed, Exotics are very fast but accelerate slowly, and Muscle cars can
tear out of the gate like a bat out of hell but handle very poorly. You can also
modify your car in a variety of different ways, enhancing performance as well as
giving your car a unique aesthetic.
There
are a lot of races to partake in, but they mainly fall into four separate
categories: Circuit, Speedtrap, Sprint, Checkpoint, and Drift. Circuit races are
regular lapped races where the goal is to finish first, Speedtrap has you racing
through checkpoints at top-speeds in order to win, Sprint is a standard point A
to point B race, Checkpoint has you racing through checkpoints on the map before
time runs out, and the Drift competition has you scoring points by driving
around corners and racking up combos (more on that one later).
Boss
battles occur each time that you put the final squeeze on another gang’s
territory. Once you get their attention, they’ll take you on one-to-one in a
series of races. The first race is usually a go around of the territory in
contention, but the second race takes it to the Canyon, a windy mountain road
that is pretty touchy to navigate. The first section of the Canyon boss race has
you following your opponent as close as you can, racking up points. The second
section has you in the lead, trying to increase the space between you and your
opponent while the points that you accumulated in the first run are taken away.
Thusly, whoever can follow their opponent closest is the victor.
One of
the new additions is the use of a crew in Carbon. You can hire cronies to work
for you and be your wingmen in races. They’re more useful in some ways more than
others, but they mainly perform three basic goals: Blocking, Scouting, and
Drafting. Blockers are the biggest asset, as they can take out opponents,
knocking them out of the running or solidifying your lead. Scouts are also
somewhat useful if you’ve never been racing on a particular section, as they’ll
go through and show you the shortcuts in a particular race and guide you through
them if you happen to have the lead. However, they’re usefulness is negated once
you’ve played the game long enough, as picking out shortcuts will become second
nature, even on new tracks. Lastly, drafters are fairly unnecessary for a few
reasons. First off, you’ll never find a straightaway long enough to take
advantage of their speed boost, and secondly, once you get into the second tier
cars, you’ll pretty much be able to go as fast as you’ll need to smoke the
competition and still maintain control of your car. Each individual crew member
also brings along added bonuses in your individual racing and career, like cash
bonuses or added nitro.
The
Drift mode is another new element in Carbon, and it’s kind of a hit and miss
addition. The game applies it’s arcadey feel from it’s racing to drifting in
this mode, which has you going down a series of twists and turns and racking
combos for keeping it up without hitting a wall. This mode can be fun, but it’s
a terribly inaccurate representation. I know, it’s not about that, the NFS
series isn’t a driving simulator, it’s a racing game. But when it’s possible to
go through an entire drift racing course without hitting the brakes once, you
know something’s just not right.
Graphically, Carbon is a step up from last year’s Most Wanted, shucking the
somewhat drab and muddy Northwestern look for a brighter, urban environment. The
game uses motion blur effects to accentuate the game’s sense of speed which look
pretty impressive on the PS2. The car models are also pretty detailed, and your
customizations, no matter how small, will show up in the race.
The
sound is pretty good, with some decent acting on the voice front and good music.
The soundtrack is a bit more “laid-back” than other EA games, and not quite so
“in-your-face” as games like Burnout.
Need
for Speed Carbon is another solid entry in the NFS franchise, not really a
complete reinvention of the series, but rather an improvement with added
features.
|
Review Scoring Details for Need for Speed Carbon |
Gameplay: 8.0
NFS Carbon adds a
bunch of great new features and some pretty cool gameplay elements, some of
which work better than others.
Graphics: 8.5
NFS Carbon is an
improvement over last year’s Most Wanted visually, foregoing the somewhat drab
forested areas for bright neon-lit city landscapes. The car models look great,
and the visual effects do a great job of capturing a sense of real speed.
Sound: 8.5
The voice acting
is pretty decent, and the soundtrack keeps the pace of the game going without
getting in the way.
Difficulty:
Medium/Hard
Multiplayer: 7.0
The game features
two-player races, but sadly, still no online play.
Concept: 8.0
The game’s story
is interesting at times, and is told through the same kind of stylized FMV
cutscenes as were in Most Wanted.
Overall: 8.0
NFS Carbon is a
solid entry in the long-running series and worth a look if you enjoyed the
direction the series took for the Underground games.
