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After rebooting the franchise with Need for Speed Underground, EA has continued to produce some solid street racers under the Need for Speed banner. Last year's Need for Speed Most Wanted, which featured hilariously over-the-top live-action cutscenes and seriously tense police pursuits, proved to be a high watermark for the franchise. Now it's being followed up by Need for Speed Carbon, which downplays the role of the police chases, introduces some simple team-racing mechanics, and occasionally takes the action off the city streets and into the outlying canyons. The new gameplay doesn't always improve the experience, but the racing can still be quite intense and still has a pronounced sense of style. Carbon continues the story where Most Wanted left off. For those just tuning in, Most Wanted ended with you recovering your stolen car and bailing out of the city of Rockport while the overzealous, anti-street-racing Sgt. Cross continued his pursuit. At the start of Carbon, you're making your way to Palmont City when Cross, now a bounty hunter, catches up with you and totals your car during the chase. Before he can collect his bounty on you, though, your old friend Darius steps in and pays off Cross. You are then put to work, taking over the turf of the other rival street-racing crews in Palmont City. It seems that you've got a history in this town that predates the events in Most Wanted. And during the course of the game, you'll learn more about that fateful night you skipped town. Different characters will give their takes on the night you supposedly ran off with a big red duffle bag full of cash. And by the end of the game, you'll not only find out what really happened, but you'll have taken over all of the street-racing territory in Palmont City. Outside of the actual gameplay, one of the more endearing aspects of Most Wanted was the way it used live actors in CG environments for its story sequences. These sequences invariably featured plenty of actor/model types, trying a little too hard to talk tough and failing spectacularly at it. The technique remains the same in Carbon, though there are more story sequences now and a slightly more self-aware tone. The heavy use of flashbacks is an interesting idea, but the story ends up being kind of muddled. And none of the villains come off as particularly menacing. Although it's hard to really qualify any of it as sincerely good, it's just over-the-top enough that folks who enjoy stuff like The Fast and the Furious, ironically or otherwise, should get some enjoyment out of it. Most Wanted had you racing to raise your visibility with the police and take on the most notorious street racers in Rockport. In Carbon, it's all about turf. Palmont City is divided into four major territories, each of which is predominantly controlled by a different street-racing crew. Each territory is then further divided into zones, and within each zone, you'll find starting points for a variety of different race events. Winning at least two events in a zone will put it under your control. And once you've taken over all the zones in a given territory, you can take on the head of that crew. As you continue to extend your reach across Palmont City, rival crews will come back and try to retake territory the same way you took it from them, forcing you to accept their challenge if you want to maintain control. Having to go back and rerace events that you've already won is kind of a pain, but the open-world structure is nRead full review
If you like Need for Speed Underground 2 and 3 you will love NFS Carbon. Controls are very similar with improvements in the graphics and movie like sequences. Screen almost blurs when you are going high speeds to simulate the intense speeds. Lots of more cars from the previous NFSUs including tuners, exotics, and muscle cars. If you love to tweek your car this is sooo much better than the NFSU customization with the new Autosculpting ability that lets you fine tune body kits and parts. One new aspect of the game is that you must control sections of the city in an almost GTA type style like city with rival gangs trying to also trying to take away your turf. Also cops now chase both in and out of races which makes game play even more challenging. Finally, you no longer race alone, but can hire crew members that are either drifters, blockers, or drafters to help you along in those tough races. Drift races are much harder than in the first NFSU and there are no long drag races. If you are debating between the PS2, Xbox 360 and the PC version, go with the PC version with low loadtimes and simple keyboard controls. Collector's Edition includes special DVD extras regarding making of the game and is a must for any NFS collector! Enjoy!Read full review
First of all, I need to say that I own all of the Need for Speed games. It's a passion of mine, so when I read on the Carbon forums that the game would need a stronger video card than the one I had, I was heartbroken. But, I couldn't stay away. I found a useable video card here on eBay, bought it & got the game. I don't regret it at all. The game, though, goes much quicker than the others in the series (you get done faster). The graphics are the best, as usual, but it does have crashing problems similar to Most Wanted. You have a challenge series like MW does, but one of my favorite things to do is go into the quick race & practice drifting & I've gotten pretty good at it. Canyon racing is very tough. You have to stay as close to your opponent when he is leading. The closer you are (without hitting him) the more points you get. However, Canyon Racing is a 2 part thing. After you chase him, he chases you & you have to lose him if you can, or the points you just earned disappear. Canyon drifting is also very tough because the road is so narrow. The cars are really the heart of the game. You can do a couple of things to acquire them: earn them playing the game, or go to the website & buy the cars, which is what I did. Some that they offer online aren't available to earn in the game. Certain cars have certain strengths. The Hemi Cuda and the Dodge Challenger are tough to use in race conditions because they're so torquey. However, they're great on drifts, as you want the back end to step out on you.Read full review
From all NFS games the one that I like most is Porsche. Every next generation was nice in some way, although did not give you all this options which you could find in NFS V. Carbon (either "regular" or Collector's Ed.) is pretty much the same like Underground. I would even say that some races look very similar. The new thing is 3 different car options. It will allow you to find your own way - the choice depends on your driving skills and tuning needs. Few thing that I do NOT like: - "look behind" key is "L" and you can't change it (its helpful to look behind when you are "racing" with cops ;) ) - info about territories is being shown exactly in the middle of the screen, in other words it covers the view - no camera "inside" with view on gauges, steering wheel and so on Except those things I like this game. If you like racing, I suggest to try this one. If you have not had a chance to play NFS, try older versions. I would recommend to start with NFS V (Porsche). Enjoy, and remember - DO NOT TRY ANY TRICKS ON THE ROAD.Read full review
This is another one of those Electronic Arts Need for Speed Releases. This game has nice story, the videos in there are excellent quality. The only thing is that the graphics are not as good as expected. It is actually less graphic then the previous release. The cars in there are nice and hooked up. Races and handling are great. Great Game, Recommended!
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