Need for Speed Carbon - Gamers’ Review
Need for Speed Carbon introduces some new team racing techniques and occasionally takes the action off the street.  The new title under the Need for Speed banner is not a breath taking innovation, but it can definitely hold its own.Â
The story takes place after Most Wanted, where you return to Palmont City. The city is divided into four major territories, each of which is controlled by a different street-racing crew. Each territory is then further divided into zones, and within each zone, you’ll find starting points for a variety of different race events. Winning at least two events in a zone will put it under your control. And once you’ve taken over all the zones in a given territory, you can take on the head of that crew. As you continue to win races and territories across Palmont City, rival crews will come back and try to retake territory the same way you took it from them, forcing you to accept their challenge if you want to maintain control. At this point, having to race again for territories you control can be a pain, especially since you must also concentrate on obtaining new territories.
But the game introduces team racing so you won’t be taking on
all of these crews by yourself. These AI companions break down into three types–blockers, drafters, and scouts. Blockers will run interference for you by hitting opponents. Drafters let you slipstream behind them, giving you some extra speed from the reduced drag, and from there you can pull aside and slingshot your way past them. Scouts look for the many alternate routes and shortcuts that can be found in most races, and they have short neon lines that follow them, making it easier for you to follow. Although they can be useful, your team, at times can seem not reliable. Blockers are only really effective in taking out competitors that are behind you, and even then, don’t do a good job. More often than not, they are announcing that they can’t help. There were even some instances, where one of the crewmembers, would win the race. Â
Beside all of the new stuff you’ll see some familiar races, such as lap-based circuit races, point-to-point sprints, and checkpoint races.  Most races take place on the city streets of Palmont, but there are also drift events, which can take place either on a closed racecourse or on the winding canyon roads that surround the city. The goal in the drift events is to score points by making clean drifts around corners.
There’s a great selection of licensed real-world cars that you can purchase throughout the course of the game, which are sorted into three different groups–tuners, muscles, and exotics. And you’ll find that each group handles differently. In the tuner group, you’ll find a lot of souped-up Japanese sports coups, like the Nissan Skyline, Subaru Impreza WRX, and Toyota Supra. And the strength of these cars tends to be an ability to slide around corners. Muscle cars are all Detroit steel, including new stuff like the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Challenger Concept. They also include early 1970s classics, like a Chevy Camaro SS and a Plymouth Barracuda. The exotics group is probably the most varied, with high-end offerings from Mercedes, Porsche, Alfa Romero, Lamborghini, and more.
Once you obtain the cars, there are all kinds of upgrades that you have to pay for, and can apply to them. There are tiered performance upgrades, as well as a rainbow of paint colors, dozens of vinyl stickers, aftermarket rims, spoilers, and body kits. One thing I really got into was customizing your crews’ cars. You can establish a team logo for your crew, and can customize it so that all of the cars on your crew look the same. You can even all sport the logo somewhere on the vehicle. It all gives it some weight, when racing together.
All in all, it is a solid chapter in the Need for Speed series, just not a mind-blowing one.
Final say…1 1/2 thumbs out of 2.
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