Need for Speed Carbon

Review - Another carbon copy?

It would be really easy to start this review off with a moan about things like how you can tell it must be Christmas soon because this year's versions of all the EA franchises are hitting the shelves, how Need For Speed (NFS) Carbon is just another annual update to yet another of EA's tried and trusted brands, I could mention how for owners of last year's NFS Most Wanted it's debatable its worth you shelling out again for something essentially pretty similar but to be honest not only is there little point (this game will still sail to the top of the charts even if every review in the world slated it) it would also be really quite unfair on a game that, whisper it, is actually really good fun.

To be fair to EA, the whole NFS series has always been one of it's few properties that despite regular annual releases also seems to manage to re-invent itself often enough to keep people interested. Speaking personally I'd not played a NFS game since before the series went down the whole 'Underground' and 'Most Wanted' route and became the racer of choice for the 'Pimp My Ride' generation of gamers, so coming back to it now it was a pleasant surprise to find such a fun and playable racer underneath all the typical EA gloss.

The basic plot that loosely ties the whole game together centres around your character returning to Palmont City, a place you apparently left a while back under something of a cloud, with a bounty hunter on your trail, an old friend pays him off leaving you in his debt and with little option but to set about trying to win over the city streets and clear your name. Yes it's cliched and yes the game would be just as good without it but hell, it's also kind of fun and gives an added sense of focus to ploughing through the races in order see the story unfold.

Once you've picked what type of car you want to be driving and been introduced to your first crew member (more on them later) the game settles down into the familiar routine of winning races in order to gain territory and take over areas of the map, once you own an area you'll be challenged by the local gang boss to a three part duel, the first part is a straight race around a city circuit, win that and the action relocates to Carbon Canyon and a two legged race down the twisting roads along the canyon edge. Between races you're able to roam around the rest of Palmont City finding and entering races as and when you feel like it, or simply speeding through the streets evading traffic and annoying the local constabulary. However, you're also able to select available races on the games map and jump right to them which does make the free roaming element of NFS Carbon slightly pointless as there really is no reason to drive from race to race other than to annoy the police. The races themselves come in a few familiar flavours, from your standard circuit, sprint and checkpoint races to things like the speedtrap race, where the total speed you travel through the courses speed cameras is added together and driver with the highest wins. There are also Drift races which unlike the rest of the races take place on twisty turny closed circuits away from the city streets and sees your car suddenly handle like something out of Ridge Racer as you try and string as many drifts together as you can to rack up points. Unfortunately these drifting sections feel a little pointless and can be massively frustrating at times, not to mention a little out of context from the rest of the game, but thankfully you can get through a lot of the game without needing to compete in them, although obviously those in search of the 100% completion factor will have to suffer them.

The local police I mentioned earlier add something different to the mix now and then too, race around a particular area of the city too often and you start drawing their attention more and more (leaving the area alone for a while or cleverly repainting your car can ease the pressure if it gets a bit much) and when this happens you may find some unwelcome additions to your races as police cars catch a glimpse of you and decide to join the chase. In many ways these police chases are the highlight of NFS Carbon, there is a real adrenaline kick to be had halfway through an already tough race when you suddenly see police cars pouring out of side streets trying to bring you down, it really adds to the illegal street racing vibe of the game and harks nicely back to earlier NFS games that were built around police chases.

The racing itself is well done, as you would expect from the most recent update to a long running franchise, with cars handling as they should and races well balanced for the most part meaning you never feel like you're coasting but also never like you're unable to win a race given just one more try. The one big new addition to NFS Carbon's racing is the inclusion of crew members. A number of crew members become available to join your team as you progress through the game and you can pick one of them at a time to be your wingman during races. There are three basic types, first up is the blocker who tries his best to block or take out opponents during the race, second is the scout who hunts out the many shortcuts on the courses and lastly the drafters who allow you to slipstream them to gain an extra burst of speed. As good an idea as these sound on paper they never really seem to work, the lack of many decent straights in most of the city mean you never have the time to sit behind drifters enough to build up the speed that would make it worth the effort, once you get a decent car you're often moving too fast to be able to follow the scout once they veer off down a shortcut a few meters ahead of you (and once you know where they are then you don't need to be told every time you race there) and the blockers, while the most useful of the three aren't really that good at their job and have an uncanny knack of getting in your way, a trait most of the crew members seem to share. Losing a race because your own crew member got in your way is the single most frustrating experience in NFS Carbon, and the fact that it happens quite a lot is unfortunate.

Outside of the main career mode there are a number of challenge races to be unlocked and won and there is a split screen mode for two player racing, but that's as far as multiplayer goes, the online option having been omitted from both the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game in favour of the 360.

In-between races you can spend your hard won cash on upgrading and modifying your car. The performance upgrades are fairly standard with new tyres, suspension, engines and nitro's etc. available; it's in the aftermarket section that the fun happens as the game lets you get creative with all manor of bodywork add-ons available, each of which can be auto-sculpted to make your car unique. This section alone can be a great timewaster and will be a boy-racers wet dream as you trawl through all the options tweaking them to make your car look just right.

Graphically the game is lovely for the most part, the cars look as solid as they feel and the city looks good as you speed through it, although look too hard, or drive too slowly, and it does suffer from a lack of detail and that 'flat' feeling scenery that a lot of racing games suffer from. There is also some slowdown to be found at times, especially during police chases, which in this day and age is a little shoddy, it's not like there are ever more than four or five cars on screen at any one time. EA have clearly thrown a lot of money at the cut scenes and in a nice change to most other games at the moment have decided to use real actors again rather than rely on motion captured polygons (am I alone in preferring FMV or even CGI cut scenes over 'in-game' engine ones?) and while the acting and writing wont win any awards it's nice eye candy and in a game targeted at the 'Fast And The Furious' crowd it more than does its job.

Going back to my original point at the start of this review, it would be easy to bash NFS Carbon as being just another update released for the Christmas rush, but to give it it's due it's a more than decent street racer with a few new ideas packaged together and given the usual EA polish. If you've not played a NFS game recently then this is worth a look and if you have and enjoyed it then this isn't going to offer any surprises, but just like a turkey dinner it will probably more than satisfy you.

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