Need for Speed Carbon Review

Need For Speed Underground was a big hit for the racing video game consumers. It outsold all the other games in 2004. Need for Speed Underground 2 was released after that and that was also a big hit. They switched the type of game play and released Need for Speed Most Wanted, which in my opinion wasn't as good as the other two. In 2006, EA released Need for Speed Carbon which refers to the Carbon Canyon where racers compete for territory in the city below it. Carbon has improved, the graphics are nice and smoother, there's a new Autosculpt Customization option, a new progression system, and you even get a crew.

The graphics have definitely improved. It is a lot smoother and more realistic. When hitting objects while driving, it shows damage to your vehicle. Mostly just cracked glass and scrapes along the side of the car but, that's more than you got out of the previous games. The particle system in this seems to have improved also, somewhat more realistic. Your surrounding has definitely been improved also, you get a better feel of where you are. There's a new special affect added to this game, where when you're driving there are streams traveling off the roof of your car to enhance the visual feel of speed.

The Autocsculpt makes a really nice addition to this game in my opinion. It allows the user to customize body kits, wings, hoods, wheels and much more to any height, width, and depth that you want. This is great for those of you who don't like the default type of body parts the game comes with. If you have this game on Xbox360, you can take your car online and show it off to everyone else.

The progression system is about the same as the previous ones but with some additions. You start off as an nobody and you have 3 cars to choose from, basically from two different categories, the muscle car and import tuner category. Unlike Underground 2, you're able to get another vehicle buy just defeating others, acquiring money, and just purchasing another vehicle. There aren't any slots to unlock, but you do have to unlock more cars to be able to purchase them. The world you're in is divided into territories, which are divided into sections. In order to explore more territories, you must beat all the races in that particular section.

Each territory is controlled by a gang who has a leader who will visit you from time to time. Sometimes, you may get a challenge from another gang from a different territory in which you may accept or reject. In Carbon, they also kept the police feature in the game. If you are spotted doing something illegal by the police, you are then chased and you must evade them, similar to Most Wanted. Lastly, a famous addition to the game is similar to the last race in "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". It's a canyon race in which you have to chase your opponent and stay within a certain distance from them during the whole duration of the race without falling off the canyon. A lot of drifting events also happen on canyons and there's always the possibility of falling off it, which results in a game over.

A completely brand new addition to this game is the 2NewCrew. You are given crew members as you progress in the game in which they may help you during races when you call upon them. They also talk to you during the race and alert you when an opponent is creeping up your side. The only problem is that this doesn't prove that helpful. There are 3 different types of crew members, drafters, scouts, and blockers. Drafters will provide you a line of colors in which you may get behind them and slingshot yourself ahead, but since straight-aways generally don't come that often they prove to be useless.

Scouts will lead you to secret roads so you don't have to discover them yourself and blockers will hit other players when they're trying to pass you. The addition to the game with a crew actually serves as a downfall in your game-play. They generally get in your way, slow you down, or in some cases, ruin your chances of winning. Plus, all their talking during the race is quite annoying, their comments are always the same and they're generally lame.

The car selection in Carbon is a lot larger than any of the previous games. You get to choose from 3 categories, Tuner, Exotic, and Muscle. Generally, in Underground there was mostly just tuner. Each type of car has their distinguishable characteristic that you'll notice immediately when playing the game. Such as, they have classic muscle cars, when driving them, the handling is exceptionally sloppy but you get the nice torque you expect from classic muscle.

In conclusion, Need for Speed Carbon isn't a let down. It has kept up with Need for Speed's reputation and still provides you with the fun features of the other Need for Speeds and more. The playability is quite excellent, it seems every game they try to make the driving more and more realistic. I believe the drifting is far more realistic than the previous games, which makes it harder but more fun. Yes, that means there are no more of entering corners at 130mph and expecting not to crash. Overall, I do recommend this game.