Amazon.com: Need for Speed Carbon: Xbox: Video Games

17 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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4.1 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will it satisfy your need for speed?, November 21, 2006

By	Jorge Asapche "Turco" (Venezuela) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

I've been a fan of need for speed titles for a long time, in fact I think I have purchased every one of them with the exception of porsche unleashed. I found need for speed carbon to be a great game, especially because of the variety of awesome cars and the adittion of MUSCLE CARS. Under this category you find classics such as the Shelby Mustang GT500 and some new cars like the Dodge Challenger Concept. NFS Carbon looks like a NFS underground 3 with pursuits. Although cops don't play a mayor role, it's still fun to mess around with them once in a while(If you don't look for cops you'll run into them like about 6 or 7 times in the whole career mode, which I think sucks).

One thing I found disappointing was the extremely short career mode. If you are familiar with previous NFS games, you should get around career mode in about 8 hours. I started playing a Saturday morning and on Sunday afternoon I had already completed 100% career. Once career mode is completed, the only thing left to do is complete challenges to unlock aditional cars and parts for your cars. Challenges include completing races under a limit of time or engaging pursuits that last at least the target time provided.

About the races, they're pretty much like Most wanted or Need for Speed Underground, but without traffic and there are no drag races(yes, very dissapointing!). A new feature has been added: Crew members. Although I admit it was a nice idea, the game would probably have been better without them. Many players may find crew members frustrating since they sometimes hit the brakes in front of you and make you crash. Crew members can also win races for you. There are 3 types of crew members: scout, drafter and blocker(you may only choose one of them in a race). Their functions are to find shorcuts for you, set in front of you so you can gain speed by drafting and crash opponent cars respectively. They also have special skills like being able to autosculpt parts for you(customize parts like wheels, spoiles roof scoops...). Members of crew can be hired and fired at any time without any cost, so if you need a skill from a person not in your crew, you can just fire an actual member, hire the person you need and use his skills and then re-hire the other member(pretty dumb actually).

What I think is the best of this game are the cars you can drive. I really enjoyed them. The thing is that you start unlocking them when you've completed around 65% of career mode, so it doesn't leave much of a chance to buy, drive or customize various cars.

The graphics are very similar to Most wanted. In fact, I think traffic cars hace been recycled. Your car and your opponent's cars look very nice.

In conclusion, need for speed carbon is still a great but short game. Maybe not as great as previous titles like most wanted but it's still worth it. Many fans of the series were disappointed with it's length and the often disturbing crew members. On the other hand, players are rewarded with extremely cool cars to race with. Since career mode is extremely short, I recommend you wait for the price to lower a bit before buying it.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Biggest Need for Speed disappointment, November 4, 2006

By	Michael J. Brister "Transform and Roll Out" (Lafayette, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars

I finished the game a mere 8 hours after purchasing it. May be more fun online but the storyline part of the game is way to short. And it seems as the higher you get the worse your car's handling becomes. Blacklist was ten times better and Underground 2 was 5 times better. There are a decent amount of cars and customization but the gameplay is really lost in this one. The idea for Carbon Canyon was good but I find that there are certain aspects of the canyon that are just stupid. If you skip a race and come back to it later they still have the same car and if you are driving a Lamborghini you can not overtake them. And they never crash off the cliff and you cannot make them crash. When playing in co op mode half the time in the upper levels my team-mates cost me races by stopping in front of me or by taking short cuts that get me hit by other cars or the short cut slows me down. The game is only 10% of what it should be.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Xbox Speed, December 18, 2006

By	Michael Kerner "Michael Kerner" (Brooklyn, New York U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

There is so much going on with Microsoft these days. Although so much more emphasis right now is on the Xbox 360, that doesn't mean there are still original Xbox fanatics who are waiting to see what develops for the original system. Racing games have had that understanding as well. With EA's success of the Need For Speed franchise, they've continued to keep the ball rolling for the next great acheivement in being the fastest and the most furious. The previous chapter, Most Wanted really thrived for all gamers, and it delivered so much potent excitement from the thrills of the blacklist 15, to battling yourr way against the police. Now, a new chapter has risen, but can it deliver?

Need For Speed Carbon for the Xbox, is a wild and outrageous race game, where you and your crew have to manuver your way to the top against underground racers, and the opportunity to defeat Darius and his crew of vulgar street racers. You also have a crew of scouts which help you find shortcuts, blockers who are heavy hitters that slam into ooponents, and drafters which help you boost your speed in fast and tough races. The game also features exciting tracks from circuits, the new canyon duels, a game of street chicken, as well as the return of drift races from the Underground 2 era. You also have numerous cars to deal to unlock in the career mode and challenge mode from classic muscle cars like the Dodge Charger concept, tuners like the Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra, and Mclarens, and exoticas like the fierce Porsche Carerra. The graphics for the game really deliver as well as mostly the gameplay from each thrilling track throughout the city.

Nevertheless, like many racing games there are a few disadvantages. One of the main problems with Need For Speed Carbon is the chase against the cops. You have a lot more challenge against them in Most Wanted in the career mode, but some of the excitement still thrives within the challenge mode. The other problem is the manuverability on the muscle cars. They are much more difficult to control, and can be very hard for new gamers to the Need For Speed.

Still, I just wish there could've been more with Need For Speed Carbon for Xbox owners. nevertheless, it is still a thrilling and exciting game for all racing fans alike. I still loved playing this game a whole lot, and it is a whole lot of fun. I definitely recommend this a whole lot for anyone who has the thrills of the chase, and the passion for speed.

Graphics: B

Sound: B 1/2+

Control: B

Fun & Enjoyment: B 1/2-

Overall: B