Need for Speed: Carbon

Before Rockport, before Razor, and before Cross, the protagonist of Need for Speed: Most Wanted resided in the distant Palmont City. In NFS Carbon, he returns to Palmont to finish what he started. But things are different when he returns, and his mysterious past comes back to haunt him...

The city has been turned into a battleground, with various crews battling for turf. The smaller groups come and go, but three major groups, each with their own car class, control the racing scene. After totalling your precious BMW (as seen in Most Wanted), you meet a few old friends. As usual, a cute chick is your little helper, but others want to get you, especially the bosses of those three major crews. And after a little incident involving the cops, you don't have many friends left.

The Need for Speed series has been racing strong since it's first appearance on the 3DO and early PCs in the 90s. The game has taken many twists, with a nice variety of racing from a pursuit focus to a racing focus to a car customization focus. The series has come a long way since that original 32-bit debut, but it has always been sort of a hit and miss deal. Wost Wanted was a huge success, and, thankfully, Carbon is one small step forward for a game, one huge leap for gaming-kind.

Carbon introduces several features and concepts. One change is the segregation of car classes. Vehicles are separated into three classes: Tuners, Muscles, and Exotics. Each car class has it's own unique stats, with weaknesses and strengths. Tuners are the masters of the turns, with handling beyond all others. But tuners also have a weakness: Speed. They aren't very fast, so the handling has to make up for it. Muscles rule the acceleration domain. They have higher acceleration than any other class. But they lose it around the curves, so they have to get back up to speed quickly. Finally, Exotics are speed machines, faster than Muscles and Tuners. Unfortunately, exotics don't accelerate very fast, but their top speed makes up for it. Each class is good for different types of races. Tuners are good for those tight, downtown circuits. Muscles are good for fairly straight races. Exotics are good for long races with wider turns.

This game is downright beautiful. Attention to detail has prevailed (as in many other great games) and resulted in stunning visuals. Everything from neon streetlights and flying stop signs to body kits and colorful vinyls is flawlessly crafted. Plus, Need for Speed fans love shiny things, and man, does Carbon have shiny things!

But don't get all phunkadelic and think this is one of those games where is looks gr8 and plays like my dead goldfish. Controls haven't changed a lot since Most Wanted, with the simple 'R to go, L to brake' concept still in place. Once again, nitrous is used with B and the subtle yet useful 'Speedbreaker' feature has been set to X. Also, the map and message features along with the 'enter' button have been slapped on the D-Pad, and the camera is still controlled with those little bumper buttons (plus the right analog stick of course).The only real difference is the addition of the 'Activate Crew Member' button assigned to Y. What's a crew member? You have a lot to learn, my friend.

The biggest addition to NFS Carbon is the team element. You can hire up to three people to join your crew at any given time, plus fire and hire others at will. Each crew member has two traits: it's class and it's specialization. The class is what the crew member actually does during the race. You can have only one crew member in every race (despite the fact that other crews may have four or five). There are three classes. First is the Blocker, who, at your will (remember that nice little 'Activate Crew Member' button?), will ram into other cars to knock them out of the way or simply stop them in their tracks. The Drafter will get in front of you so you can ride the draft and slingshot to the front of the pack. Finally, the Scout works throughout the entire race to find the best route through the race course, providing an easy-to-follow trail. There are also three specializations. Specializations are what the crew member does behind the scenes. There are the Mechanics, which fix up your ride and improve it's stats, Fabricators, who unlock new parts for your car, and Fixers, who can help unlock new cars and get a cash bonus from each race. Your team members improve as you progress through the story, but they aren't exactly the smartest bunch of kids. Not that the opponent AI is good enough to make you need the wingmen...

Typical in Need for Speed is the variety of cars and customization options. Carbon takes that extra step, tossing in a nice new tool to help get the car you dream of. Many brands of cars are included, from Mazdas to Dodges to Mercedes. There haven't been many additions to the car library over the years- until now. Before, it was a lot of coupe and sports cars, but now, a new type of car has been added- classic muscles. From favorites like the Ford Mustang to less popular (yet better) cars like the Plymouth Cuda, several classics have been thrown in, adding a new, fun way of racing. The customization hasn't changed much, with Body Kits, Hoods, Roof Scoops, Spoilers, and Rims, yet the interface is a little nicer and user-friendly. But remember that tool i mentioned before? That is called Autosculpt. Autosculpt is a new, revolutionary way to trick out your ride. It gives multiple 'zones' that are a measure of a scoop or intake. For example, one Autosculpt setup features a large intake down the hood. Zone One changes the depth of that intake, Zone Two controls the width, and Zone Three stretches it out. This tool, in perfect combination with aftermarket parts, can create a car fit for a god!

Of course, the XBox Live play is pretty standard online racing, with many trakcs and race types. Scoreboards and ranks create a nice online environment, and a new 'Photo Mode' (somewhat ripped of Test Drive: Unlimited) can take photos of your cars in action and painlessly upload them to the master server at NeedforSpeed.com. Overall, the online is a great reason to buy Carbon.

As in every game, there are flaws. Staying true to the Need for Speed franchise, cheesy storylines are present and accounted for. The cinematics look good, but, despite my detailed descriptions, the career mode is a bit- puffed up, if you will. Also, fans of Most Wanted will be dismayed by the lack of pursuit action. Pursuits play no part in the story of the game. As a matter of fact, you could go through the whole game without one pursuit!

I give Need for Speed: Carbon a 9.5 out of 10.