Customer Reviews

Need for Speed Carbon

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Alright, here's the deal. NFS: Carbon isn't the best racing game, and I'm not trying to say it is. But, on its own merits, it's a great game.

Canyon racing is a nice little aspect of the game. I almost wish there were more places that you could go off the edge at. All boss races are decided by a final race on the canyon. It's honestly not all that difficult. As long as you don't royally mess up, chances are you won't lose, but by no means let that detract from the fun factor. Canyon races are all skill. No NOS, no speed breaker (which I've personally only used once, and didn't like), and the control is a little more loose. After beating the boss you get to flip over "cards" and you win bonus prizes. My first boss coughed up his RX-7 to me. Needless to say, I was a happy camper and immediately switched over to it.

Drift events are fun, and frustrating. Basically, you either nail it, or you don't. My only piece of advice is floor it, and don't stop.

Speed trap - Tally the speed that you hit each trap at, and at the end the highest total wins. However, if someone crosses the finish before you, you end up losing points. If *you* want to win, your best bet is to bring a blocker, not a scout. If you want your *team* to win, bring a scout.

Wingmen - Blocker, Scout, Drafter. When you activate a blocker, they attempt to run into the person closest to them and put them into the wall, or just slow them down. You "activate" them to tell them when to go, so if they can't do their job, they're probably too far when you try to use them. Scouts have glowing trails that come off the back of their car to make it easier to tail them. They find shortcuts for you (which is good because many are hard to find yourself) and they almost always sprint ahead of you. (Which is where a scout should be.) Good for helping you win a race as they'll frequently finish before you, good for winning speed traps as well (as previously mentioned). As for drafters, when you activate them they get in front of you and attempt to allow you to stay close to them and draft them, and then when you deactivate them you shoot around the side of them. Honestly, I have no drafter wingman yet, but eventually I plan on it. Downside, wingmen do often get in the way. Especially the dang scout.

I enjoy unlocking single upgrades per race. There are some races that would otherwise be difficult if you didn't get upgrades along the way. And speaking of upgrades; being able to tune your car for acceleration versus top end, under-steer versus over-steer, NOS duration versus volatility... all very cool ideas. (I don't know if other NFS games do this or not.)

Also, speaking of unlocked, I like that there are (outside of career mode) "unlockables". Side challenges that you can do to get extra things in career mode. The first thing I went for was pearlescent paint... and holy cow was that difficult.

Anyhow, very addicting game. Granted, I haven't played it 7 hours a day for 4 days straight and beat it... but unfortunately the game does feel a little quick. Next thing I do after that will be to create a new alias with a different car type. (The car type you select determines the unlocks you get... which is explained to you at the beginning of the game.)

My NFS background: I was never a big fan of NFS. Underground 1 reused tracks too often, and the "short cuts" were a joke... NFS:MW sucked me in. The tracks were decent, the car models well done, good pursuits and a crisp UI - really, the game had a durable feel that made it worth investing time in past beating the storyline. As of today, my Most Wanted bounty slightly exceeds 113 million with 100% game completion.

Fast forward to NFS Carbon and you basically forfeit every decent aspect of Most Wanted. If you heavily enjoyed Underground 2, you should like Carbon, as it will give you a consistent feeling of deja vu.

Music - Horrible. They don't even bother to tell you who made it - mostly because you wouldn't care.

Graphics - I have to agree, it's either equivalent to Most Wanted (they even kept some of the same trucks, modified in minor ways), or slightly below. On the off chance it's equal, the feel is a bit more cartoon-like. I must say, however, the city itself is pretty detailed - though you are driving at night, so that may impact the difference.

"Take it to the Canyon" - Okay, I expected a lot from this hyped up concept... What I found was a narrow road, the loss of both speed breaker AND nitrous, and basically it works in 2 phases, 1) you tailgate him, 2) he tailgates you. Whoever earns more tailgating points wins. Of course, he always does a better job - which one would think gives him a win - yet some how, it doesn't. This is not to say you can not lose, but at the end, I think you will agree, you too, didn't deserve to win.

Short Cuts - Think NFS:Underground 1. "Oh look, a sharp turn I can cut through, weee!" That's about it. Everything you thought they learned from Midnight Club, which they implemented in MW, is now gone. Out of about 15 or so that I've used personally, only one was more complex than cutting through a simple parking lot, or walk way - nothing impressive.

Unlocking - Personally I preferred the MW way: beat a boss, unlock a bunch of stuff. Here, each race unlocks something - paint, wheel covers, tranny, etc. The advantage is that you can choose what to unlock, the disadvantage is more often than not, it's simply a paint color.

Upgrading your car - This has a funny feel to it for me. Cars come in three categories: Tuner, Muscle and Exotic. Each category has three tiers. Each upgrade fits only the specified car type and tier. So if your riding an exotic, and unlock a muscle mod, you get nada for your exotic. This raises a bit of confusion when it comes time to buy a new car, as it's hard to tell what you unlocked the most of (though your choice will probably reflect your opinion of the cars brand, not the options available for the car).

Feel of your ride - Most of the handling seems equivalent to MW standard. Out of about 20 races I lost 2, for one very distinct reason. Picture a tractor trailer with the size and speed of a race car... This is how it will feel when you hit them, or they hit you - mainly, that you go flying. While this isn't a big deal, it does feel like a slap in the face when one of them (and you can have over 7 of them) loses control on a turn and blocks you from turning at all.

Police Pursuits - I've only engaged in two pursuits but I've noticed 2 things: 1) the streets aren't set up to make quick turns to lose cops (most are long curvy roads with few streets intersecting), 2) the police "smell" you - that is, they stop if they can't find you, then head directly for you. As a veteran of MW, commonly getting 3mil or more per pursuit, I'll be sticking with MW for cop chases.

Wingmen/Scouts/etc - This sounds great on paper but executes like flat tire. Wingmen are supposed to hit other cars (I think?) and knock them out for you - they don't do it well, and commonly say "Uh oops, couldn't get that one..." or something similar. Over all, they seem more distracting than helpful, but I may be using them improperly. Scouts on the other hand, help, some what... They pick out short cuts for you (because in the blinding darkness it's hard to spot debris littered parking lot entrances) and highlight them in green on your minimap - they also talk to you, which is helpful. The one confusing part about scouts, though, is they generally finish before you. So if they're so good, why work for you?

Your territory is under attack!! - Prepare for a long race that pays next to nothing. Aside from that, there's little to tell about this. The last one I encountered took me 7 minutes to complete, with 2nd place about a minute behind me and last place closer to 2 minutes. Normal races yield $15,000... Territory wars yield $700... Don't spend it all in one place.

Rubber-band - This is the one (possibly only, *cough*) improvement over MW. Rubber-banding, for those who don't know, is this: When you are far ahead of them, they speed up, don't get into accidents and arrive some where shortly behind you. If you get way behind, they sort of slow down, you try not to hit everything in sight, and probably still don't catch up (depending on why you were so far behind in the first place). The presence of rubber-banding means there is no reason to distract them, just race, they'll catch up anyway. A reviewer on NFS MW had inquired something to the effect of, "why distract them? or hit log trucks? they just catch up anyway!" Apparently his 8 second lead wasn't worth much when they rubber-band over. This, I believe, also plays a role when playing against friends, I believe the cars were scaled to properly direct a similar outcome.

Overall - If you liked Underground 2, buy this, it's Underground 3. If you preferred MW, I'd wait a month for the price to drop another $10.

Personally, I have two theories why this game is the way it is:
1) Rockstar didn't make a Midnight Club sequel. Midnight club rules the road, NFS has the licensed car names, MW is a fusion of both, Carbon is what you get when EA has no one to copy off of.

2) No competition. Outside of Midnight club and NFS, most racing games are for the birds (unless you like the excitement of driving in circles, in which case you own NASCAR). I could only imagine the lack of quality reflects their opinion of your purchasing choices for racing games (by that I mean Carbon or nothing) and their value of us as customers. Honestly, I think they'd have been better off making an expansion for MW, which is what this feels like, but instead, they made it into half it's own game.

Backward evolution at its finest - Enjoy!

Before I get started, I do have to say that I know this game isn't flawless. The cars could be a little easier to attain, the career could be a little more long, the basic races could be a little more challenging, and the car customizations could have a few more options. However, the game overall was a great play. I had so much fun playing the career that I had a hard time ever putting the controller down. I also like the amount of options you have towards what kind of racing you want to do (i.e. career, quick race, etc.). I also thought that the graphics were pretty much amazing for the PS2. I really liked the music and actually have bought two CD's by artists featured on the game. I like the different classes and types of cars. Also, I found the "partner" racing style to be pretty fun (although at times ineffective). Canyon races are always fun, and I play the game all the time even though I've already beaten it. Also, I LIKE THE NIGHT RACING! If there was one thing I hated about Most Wanted, it was that you race in broad freakin daylight. I have to admit, you do have to be a Need for Speed fan to fully enjoy the game. If you don't like racing games, don't play it! But this is seriously a step up for the Need for Speed line.

I love the cars that they have in this version of the game. I thought it was fun to drift and I liked the fact that the people you have to beat are harder than before. I do think that this game is easier than Most Wanted but overall this game was worth every penny spent.

For Sony, they are very close to ending all games for their Playstation 2 system, and place more work on the PS3 system. That note has also been shown with a lot of racing games that have either thrived, or fell flat on their feet. There have been plenty of them from Crash Tag Team Racing, and others lesser-known driven games. That has been at one time the case with Need For Speed. Although the franchise has recently thrived over the past few years with Underground 2, and last years Most Wanted, many gamers have wanted a bit more from their racing haven. Now, another one has risen, probably the last one for the Playstation 2. Can this Need For Speed thrust over new racers?

Need For Speed Carbon for the Playstation 2, tackles out all the hype from the Underground series, witn a bit of elements from Most Wanted. The gameplay is simple, you and your crew have to work your way towards the finish line, inorder to get back what was stolen from your credibility. The gameplay features tracks from sprints and checkpoints (similar to tollbooth tracks from Most Wanted), to the return of drift races from Underground 2. The game also features new tracks such as the infamous canyon duel, where you have to keep your duel meter flowing, and close to your opponent, inorder to take the prize. There are also returning cars from previous games like the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-8, and others. The graphics for the game bring out the nightlife well, but the manuverability on some of the cars could definitely be improved with a bit of tweaking.

All in all, I am mostly satisfied with Need For Speed Carbon, but I was expecting a little more. Still, if you are a fan of the racing game series, you'll definitely love this game a whole lot, and that thrill is still with the need for speed.

Graphics: B+

Sound: B

Control: B 1/2-

Fun & Enjoyment: B

Overall: B 1/2+

I really liked this game. The Auto-sculpt feature is really nice. Over all I like all the Need for Speed games. This one especially caught my attention. From playing Need for Speed "Most wanted" I couldn't wait to see what they would come out with next. For those of you who like the customization portion of this game you will be amazed at how far you can take your creativity. For all us die hard, pedal to the floor racing enthusiast. This is definitly the game for you. Whatever your preference is I hope you enjoy this game.

In this game there you can choose what car class you want to be. I prefer the mussle class because I need my Dodge Charger(The New One). The gameplay was like Most Wanted and Underground 2. The pursuit in this game was good but not as good as the Most Wanted ones. The graphics are about the same as Most Wanted. In this game there is a new gameplay, the cannon racing. I have not got this down but I will get it sometime. Overall it is a good game but I love NFS so I am going to get all of them.

A new NFS game! YAY! A new city to explore! YAY! New cars to unlock and car classes!!! YAY! Canyon racing where you can go off the edge!!! YAY!

Then why do I give this a mediocre rating? I've played NFS games in one fashion or another since the PSX days. Back then, it was Gran Turismo or NFS. I didn't really get into this series until Underground. I enjoyed Underground 2. I had fun with Most Wanted. Carbon's fun but it's just not as fun as Underground 2 or MW. For sure, this game should be rented since it can be beaten in a very short amount of time.

The hype over this game was canyon racing. Sounds great on paper but in reality, you do MORE driving in the city and work your way up to canyon races. The boss 'fights' are in the canyon, yes. There are single sprint races in the canyon every now and then and I think there are a total of (maybe) 5 drift races in the canyon. Just 5. There are far more sprints and speed trap races than drifts and in the end, they are just races. They don't do anything for you except unlock items. Compare that to Underground 2 or Most Wanted, at least you were working for something.

The graphics are the same as MW and Underground 2. They definitely aren't next-gen (I have no idea how this looks on the PS3 or XBox but does it matter?) BUT at least they are consistent. EA created a new physics engines for the cars. That's nice (sarcasm). The driving engine between Underground 2 and Most Wanted was different too. And once again, EA changes things up and it's neither of the previous. Which is a bummer cuz I loved the video game-y control of Underground 2, tho I did get used to MW's driving.

The game map is broken into 4 cities, each with multiple regions. Take a majority of the races in the region, you and your crew own it. Pretty simple. There's a tiny bit of strategy involved cuz you want to unlock the engine upgrades over countless spoilers, wheels, and vinyls, right? Once you take over the regions in a city, it's a boss race (broken into 3 parts). Since there are only 4 cities, you only get 4 bosses. ONLY 4 bosses? Most Wanted had 15! Even Underground2 had more than that, didn't it?

The difficulty level seemed very odd to me. The 1st 3 cities were cake. By the time I got to the main boss's city (Darius, played by Tahmoh Pinkett (who plays Helo in BSG)), things suddenly got harder. No progression in difficulty, it just jumped. As well, the cop chases don't mean much and while Cross is in the game, the story doesn't wrap up!

There IS a story. It talks about why you left the city in Underground2 and why Cross is after you in Most Wanted. Neat, eh? It's all revealed when different crew members join up.

Here's the last tidbit that really bugged me about the game. When you play a racing game, you want the illusion of speed, yes??? If you don't want the feel of 110mph or 150 mph, go play Gran Turismo. The Undergrounds, Most Wanted, even Tokyo Extreme and Midnite Club(s), you get the feel of speed. You feel that 200+mph flying down the highways and whatnot. I NEVER got that sense of speed in the game nor do you ever get to experience it because there are literally no straight roads that the races take place on! (Ok, there's 1 track and it's the last boss race where you hit a highway and cruise for a few short seconds; my Evo and Skyline maxed out at 192mph but that's due to my tuning)

EA needs to come up with a better name for the last 4 NFS games. Find a way to make them all related because honestly, this CARBON game is just another chapter. It acts as a holdover to the next NFS game, I figure. I can recommend Underground2 and MW, but I can't easily recommend this. I suppose there are NO new Midnite Clubs or Tokyo Extremes to compete with and the GT series is for a different type of racer.

Rent it. Or wait till it's in the bargain bin. Or buy it cheap used.

Gameplay: 8.4
Every car handles differently, every course is linked together in one massive world, and the controls will take you back to the days of arcade racers like Daytona USA. (Actual arcade racers - the ones with $5,000 cabinets all arcade owners dreaded purchasing.) The customization features are a little shallow, and the game is a little easy. Okay, a lot easy. But you'll love the ride while it lasts, and you're going to want to play through this racer more than once.

Graphics: 8
The cars look amazing. Every part of them is packed with realistic detail. Even the interiors are noticeably accurate. The cars reflect the city lights quite beautifully, and will do so differently depending on the type of finish that's been applied (chrome, matte, etc.).

Carbon's environments aren't nearly as memorable. The backgrounds aren't that far beyond what was possible with the old Xbox. Also, the cars, as gorgeous as they are, cannot be damaged. They can crash repeatedly, and abolish generic police vehicles. But your vehicles - which are from licensed manufacturers - are as protected as those in Gran Turismo, save for a few scratches every now and then (that magically disappear after every race).

I know that this is what most, not all, automakers want. But if some manufacturers are on board and others are not, maybe it's the supportive companies you should be focusing on - to give the gamer the most intense experience possible.

Sound: 7.9
Hurray for the return of full-motion video! First you get to see the actors, who look toward the camera when talking to the player's character as if you were actually in the story. The actors also appear in polygon form, with extreme realism to boot. Their polygon expressions are a little better than their real expressions, mainly due to the real actors' lack of believability.

The voices - they're better than most, but have a hint of "video game syndrome." It looks like a bunch of actors were hired to be in a video game. It doesn't look or sound like they were hired to be in a professionally written story. Which isn't too surprising. Carbon's characters only have one theme: "take my city and I'll hate you forever" (an exaggerated but truthful interpretation).

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Most Career mode races can be won on the first try. The external challenge mode provides additional races to conquer, but they're not enough to boost this game's difficulty.

Concept: 7.5
It's Need For Speed all over again. I'm not about to be one of those crazy people who say the series needs an overhaul to be great again. It doesn't. I love the direction the developers have taken. That said, it's not an original direction, just one of polish. But this series is meant to be a certain way. To make it original again would likely eliminate all the things we love.

Multiplayer: 8
Four for co-op; eight for multiplayer via Xbox Live. Some of the Career mode races are playable online as well for added challenges.

Overall: 8.2
A throwback to the good old, worry-free days of arcade racing. This is the kind of game you'll play after seeing The Fast and the Furious (or any other street racing flick). You might hate that series - you might think the third Furious is the worst movie ever made. But mark my words, if you're flipping through and it's on TV, you will drop the remote, grab your controller, and play this game.

Need For Speed Carbon picks up where the previous year's entry, the superior Need For Speed: Most Wanted, left off story wise. Now that you've gotten back your ride (only to lose it again), you're in a turf war with the other street racers in town. In terms of new features, Carbon offers canyon races as well as wingman modes. Other than that though, there's nothing new in Carbon whatsoever. If you've played any, and I mean any, Need For Speed or recent street racing game in recent memory, you'll know what to expect with Carbon. The game's deliberately cheesy FMV sequences are here to compel the story again (this time featuring hottie Emanuelle Vaugier), as well as a heaping amount of customization options, but Carbon has it's share of noticable flaws. Most notably is that there is no online capability at all. This in itself is disappointing considering the online play of past Need For Speed games on the PS2 has been surprisingly good. The police chases as well, one of the best features of Most Wanted, feel very lame here as well. Other than all that though, Carbon looks good, plays well, and despite another heaping amount of product placement from EA, is fun for a while. However, if you're expecting a whole new game here, you've come to the wrong place.