Need for Speed: Carbon Reviews

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    Gamer has been removed
    26 2 9
    *Doominator's Triumphant "I'm back" Review*
    Warning: Review is (Somewhat) LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG

    The Need For Speed series has been around for quite some time, changing it's theme from Underground street racing, Police chases, and (more recently) simulation racing.

    Although debatable, 2005's "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" was considered the best in the series, for it's sick graphics (particularly as an xbox 360 launch title) and the return of the police chases, not seen since "Hot Pursuit 2" back in 2002. The question is, does the sequel: Need For Speed: Carbon, still run at the same mileage, or would you rather drive a Pinto in a destruction derby than play it?

    Much like Most Wanted, there isn't much of a deep plot to speak of. The game literally starts right after MW (You know, after you outrun THE ENTIRE POLICE FORCE) with the same chief of police from that game chasing you down. Your sick BMW M3 GTR (again, same car from Most Wanted) gets totaled, and you have to start with a crappy Camaro (or other low level car) and work your way up.

    It's a little deeper than that, allegedly you stole some mad bills, and you aren't "Mr Popular," other crews own the city, and by winning races, you take them out. It's not deep or thought provoking by any means, it's just a reason to drive fast cars. And who can really complain?

    All the race types from Most Wanted are back, including basic circuit races, speedtraps, and checkpoints. Two of the new ones are drift races (that really don't handle that well) and canyon races, where you race the same track twice (and have to tail/outrun the other racer) and have the possibility to fall to your doom if you aren't careful. They all still work just as fine. Luckily, those stupid Drag Races from Most Wanted don't return.

    You also get a "crew" in the game, that allows certain bonuses, such as extra customization parts, more money, or less attention from the police. You can also have a "wingman," who comes into the races with you, and can either look for shortcuts, knock out other racers, or give you a speed boost. It's about a 50/50 ratio to your wingmen being really useful, or just retarded and crashing into everything.

    The AI also cheats, magically appearing behind you after being 10+ seconds ahead, and 9/10 times you will lose if they get ahead of you. When you get to the last 25% of the game, the difficulty just skyrockets... kind of like in Most Wanted.

    The Cop chases in Most Wanted were the highlight of the game, since they were new, and not seen for a while. In Carbon, it doesn't feel the same for some reason. It's identical though, the longer the chase goes for, the harder the cops will try to take you down, using Rhino SUV's, spike strips, and other tactics. The annoying helicopter from Most Wanted doesn't bug you in the game though, and the chases in general feel underutilized.

    The online mode lets you take your career cars online if you choose, and you can play the same events you can in the career with up to 8 players. There's also an XP system that leads to more unlockables with more wins.

    Oh, and there's a challenge mode where you have to win certain races, or hit certain scores. Again, just like Most Wanted.

    That about sums up the game itself. Now for the rest:

    From a production standpoint, Carbon is practically identical to Most Wanted. The visuals are nearly the same, only difference being the races in Carbon take place at night, and Most Wanted to place during the day. Even the music in the cop chases is the EXACT SAME in both games.
    The cars look realistic enough, even if damage modeling is still strangely absent. The music fits the game, even if some of it is strangely censored (Why is the word "weapon" censored in "I came to Make a Bang!"?)

    The achievements for the game are probably the reason people pass this game up. If you have more than 845G, you must be a god. Many of the achievements come from doing things in the career, like knocking out a certain number of police vehicles, or winning defense races. The other chunk comes from leveling up online, and doing other various tasks (such as winning a race in reverse).

    But what about that other 155G? Well, the "Race Week" achievement is strangely unobtainable (but could easily be patched), the "Urban Battle" achievement is just... glitched, one requires you to beat an EA Moderator (At the time of this writing, ONLY ONE MODERATOR is still helping), and the 100G reward cards achievement is unobtainable, unless you beat the moderator. It's important to note that all the achievements in the game are tied to various in game reward cards.

    So to sum it up, Need For Speed Carbon is practically the same as Most Wanted, but lacking most of the finesse that game had. It's glitchy and just simply not as fun. Most people would say that Carbon was the last good NFS game of this generation, after the crapfest that was ProStreet, and I have to agree. The game did feel a bit rushed though, possibly for it to coincide with the launch of the PS3 and Wii in 2006. But if you loved Most Wanted (and aren't afraid of glitchy achievements) it's worth the 10$ or so it costs now. Just don't be expecting to get that same "WOW" factor Most Wanted delivered.
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    CASS190684Hmm I agree with the achievement comment - I just played the demo and had fun with that and I think I'd enjoy the game overall. But then I looked on TA at the cheevos and read your review and the horrible achievements and insanely high TA ratio that Carbon has is exactly why I won't be getting it :( I learnt from F.E.A.R. which has a similar ratio - it's stuck on my GT at a whopping 30G. Why do they make achievements in games like this? It's incredibly off-putting IMO.
    Great review! :)
    Posted by CASS190684 on 16 Aug 11 at 05:42
    IX Knighty87 XIDoes anyone know how to get in touch with a moderator for NFS carbon... many thanks.
    Posted by IX Knighty87 XI on 22 Jan 13 at 20:33
    Dat Boi TreezyThis might help you out - Boosting Gaming Session for Need for Speed: Carbon
    Posted by Dat Boi Treezy on 22 Jan 13 at 23:20
  • CHRI5T0PH5RCHRI5T0PH5R211,131
    22 Apr 2009
    6 13 0
    I should say to begin, this game has many clans set up online and there will always be enough people to play. The game has a storyline very much connected to that of Need For Speed Most Wanted with the nameless main character racing through the city of Palmont City to take over territorries and become the best racer. Battle through many different types of races as seen in Most Wanted to win and battle bosses in the canyon. The battle for the city really does take place in the canyon! The game is fun and is great fun. There are many different vehicles however the graphics does not seem to have improved from Most Wanted but that is not too concerning.
    Multiplayer is the key aspect to this game and with no longer obtainable achievements of which nearly everyone is not pleased about, the game is not as great as it could be. Been set in night time the whole time as the game suggests, it is a new concept in online gameplay in this type of racing game and a ranking system shows just how good each racer really is. The vehicles and race types are the same online and there is always people ready to play. With hard competition online at times, it is not easy to always win, but nevertheless the playing is more important than winning. Because of the achievements been unobtainable, I'll give it 4 stars rather than 5.
    4.0
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