Need For Speed: Carbon

EA's urban racer returns for another lap.

G A M E   D E T A I L S
Format Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Multi	Developer EA Canada	Publisher EA	Genre Driving	Players 1-8

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EA's Need For Speed series has offered up some of the best selling games of the last three years. The only way a series can achieve that sort of mainstream penetration is by catering to as broad an audience as possible. That approach is spray-painted all over Need For Speed: Carbon, a game that checks all the right boxes and still manages to feel soulless.

"No matter which style of race you're involved in, the mechanics are solid; cars have a good heft to them."

The goal here is to explore as much of the massive city as possible, all the while racing people for money and other goodies. In Carbon, you'll also be competing with rival road crews for control of territory - a mechanic very similar to how Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas handled its turf wars. You battle (read: race) other gangs until you control the bulk of their area and then you go up against a boss for ultimate domination. You'll also need to defend your turf from time to time.

The best part of the current set-up is how you can flit between races. I quickly became tired of roaming the streets in search of action, so the world map proved invaluable. From here, you can jump straight to events without having to drive all the way to the start line. This does have the side effect of reminding you just how one-tracked the game can get at times. Carbon truly is popcorn gameplay. You could easily find yourself playing for hours, only to wonder what the hell you've been doing all the time.

The racing is kept interesting by the variety of racing styles. The standard point-to-point and circuit races are padded by drift events and canyon duels - the latter being one of the new additions this year. The drift events are tricky at first, but once you're comfortable with the nuanced controls, clearing sections and racking up massive scores becomes much more manageable.

The canyon duels are two-part races between you and an adversary. Your opponent hits the course first and your task is to keep up, your success measured in distance. Once you make it to the bottom, you're magicked to the top to do it again, this time with your foe trailing you. Come out tops after the two legs of the duel and you win. It's a neat twist, but count on the occasional bout of profanity when you're forced off a cliff.

P L E A S E   V I S I T   O U R   S P O N S O R :

"You battle (read: race) other gangs until you control the bulk of their area."

The good part is that no matter which style of race you're involved in, the mechanics are solid. The cars feel have a good heft to them that pulls you into the ride more. This comes in handy when you're screaming through trafficked city streets at night at 230 kph. EA has nailed the sense of speed, even adding speed lines at suitable velocity to emphasise your illicit behaviour.

Speaking of the law, the game incorporates a pursuit system that tasks you with evading the fuzz should they cotton on to your misdeeds. To avoid being busted, you need to shake them, which you can do through skill or set pieces that bring urban landmarks tumbling down on your hapless pursuers. You can also make use of wingmen - teammates who will follow your crude directions. It's an interesting idea, but it seems rather pointless most of the time.

The line-up of cars is not at all voluminous, which is only exacerbated by EA's offering of cars to buy through the Xbox Live Marketplace. Still, there are a fair amount of rides to purchase, and you can fiddle endlessly with them, buying all sorts of mechanical and aesthetic upgrades, which themselves can be further toyed with. I found myself sticking with just a handful of cars and modding them into beasts during my career.

If you need a break from the main mode, there are also various Challenge modes to keep things fresh. These are typically identical to the types of races you'll face during the main mode, and they net you upgrades that aren't available in that quest. These are called challenges for a reason, and they'll pad the playtime by another couple hours.

Ultimately, Need For Speed feels like an empty experience. There's nothing particularly offensive about it, but there's nothing to wow you either. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Checking these boxes is what makes this one of the best-selling series around and it's likely that this one will be no different.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo

T H E   S C O R E S

Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation Overall 8.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0

The Final Word:  Time flew by while I played Carbon and before I knew it I was nearly done with it. It seemed so much bigger than it actually was. The racing is solid, especially the drifting, where you can see yourself improve every time you play. The new canyon duel is an interesting riff on traditional racing, but it's hardly worth buying the game all over again if you've played previous incarnations. Carbon is vapid, but fun. Just know what you're getting into.

Video Coverage (See Latest Videos & Video FAQ Here)
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Description	Dur.	Size	Details
Need for Speed Carbon HD trailer	1:56	56MB	DF, HD, 16:9 1280x720p30 5.0Mbps
Need for Speed Carbon Extended gameplay sequence (normal quality)	1:56	17MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 1.7Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Gameplay footage 1 (standard quality)	1:45	27MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Gameplay footage 2 (standard quality)	1:45	27MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Teaser trailer (high quality)	0:52	12MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Teaser trailer (norm quality)	0:52	9MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 1.7Mbps