| After rebooting the franchise with Need for Speed | | | | and scouts. Blockers will run interference for you, |
| Underground, EA has continued to produce some | | | | spinning out opponents at your command. Drafters |
| solid street racers under the Need for Speed banner. | | | | let you slipstream behind them, giving you some |
| Last year's Need for Speed Most Wanted, which | | | | extra speed from the reduced drag, and from there |
| featured hilariously over-the-top live-action cutscenes | | | | you can pull aside and slingshot your way past them. |
| and seriously tense police pursuits, proved to be a | | | | Scouts have a knack for finding the many alternate |
| high watermark for the franchise. Now it's being | | | | routes and shortcuts that can be found in most |
| followed up by Need for Speed Carbon, which | | | | races, and they have short neon tracers that follow |
| downplays the role of the police chases, introduces | | | | them, making it easier for you to take advantage. |
| some simple team-racing mechanics, and occasionally | | | | You'll definitely find yourself in races where your |
| takes the action off the city streets and into the | | | | wingman's influence is the difference between |
| outlying canyons. The new gameplay doesn't always | | | | winning and losing. But often, your wingman's |
| improve the experience, but the racing can still be | | | | presence is either unnecessary or an actual hindrance. |
| quite intense and still has a pronounced sense of | | | | Blockers are only really effective in taking out |
| style. | | | | competitors that are behind you, and even then, |
| Carbon continues the story where Most Wanted left | | | | they're not very reliable. Drafters work as advertised, |
| off. For those just tuning in, Most Wanted ended | | | | but the lengthy straightaway needed to set up a |
| with you recovering your stolen car and bailing out of | | | | proper draft is rare in Palmont City, which limits their |
| the city of Rockport while the overzealous, | | | | usefulness. Scouts are the least useful of the three |
| anti-street-racing Sgt. Cross continued his pursuit. At | | | | because the neon tracers don't seem to get longer |
| the start of Carbon, you're making your way to | | | | as the cars you drive go faster, so eventually, there's |
| Palmont City when Cross, now a bounty hunter, | | | | just not enough time for you to anticipate an |
| catches up with you and totals your car during the | | | | alternate route. If you didn't call on your wingman, |
| chase. Before he can collect his bounty on you, | | | | you might expect him or her to just hang back. But |
| though, your old friend Darius steps in and pays off | | | | we found ourselves getting bumped into and boxed |
| Cross. You are then put to work, taking over the | | | | in by our wingman on several occasions. It's not |
| turf of the other rival street-racing crews in Palmont | | | | ruinous to the experience, but sometimes it makes |
| City. It seems that you've got a history in this town | | | | you wish they would just go away. |
| that predates the events in Most Wanted. And during | | | | Canyon duels are challenging, but their repetitious |
| the course of the game, you'll learn more about that | | | | structure can sometimes make them wearying. |
| fateful night you skipped town. Different characters | | | | The game relies on some pretty tried-and-true types |
| will give their takes on the night you supposedly ran | | | | of races, but it also throws some curves. You'll find |
| off with a big red duffle bag full of cash. And by the | | | | plenty of common stuff, such as lap-based circuit |
| end of the game, you'll not only find out what really | | | | races, point-to-point sprints, and checkpoint races. |
| happened, but you'll have taken over all of the | | | | But there are also some unique races, such as the |
| street-racing territory in Palmont City. | | | | speed-trap race, where your standing is determined |
| Outside of the actual gameplay, one of the more | | | | by your cumulative MPH as you race through a series |
| endearing aspects of Most Wanted was the way it | | | | of speed traps. Most races take place on the city |
| used live actors in CG environments for its story | | | | streets of Palmont, but there are also drift events, |
| sequences. These sequences invariably featured | | | | which can take place either on a closed racecourse |
| plenty of actor/model types, trying a little too hard | | | | or on the winding canyon roads that surround the |
| to talk tough and failing spectacularly at it. The | | | | city. The goal in the drift events is to score points by |
| technique remains the same in Carbon, though there | | | | making clean drifts around corners. The car-handling |
| are more story sequences now and a slightly more | | | | changes completely for the drift events and feels |
| self-aware tone. The heavy use of flashbacks is an | | | | much more slippery than in the rest of the game, |
| interesting idea, but the story ends up being kind of | | | | which recalls the drift events found in Need for |
| muddled. And none of the villains come off as | | | | Speed Underground 2. |
| particularly menacing. Although it's hard to really | | | | You'll also face off with the different crew bosses in |
| qualify any of it as sincerely good, it's just | | | | the canyons, and these events may test your |
| over-the-top enough that folks who enjoy stuff like | | | | patience. Once you've taken enough turf for a crew |
| The Fast and the Furious, ironically or otherwise, | | | | boss to challenge you, you'll first race against him in a |
| should get some enjoyment out of it. | | | | standard city-street event. If you beat him there, |
| Most Wanted had you racing to raise your visibility | | | | you'll advance to one of the game's canyon courses, |
| with the police and take on the most notorious | | | | which are narrow and undulating. Here it's a two-part |
| street racers in Rockport. In Carbon, it's all about turf. | | | | race, where you'll first have to chase the boss |
| Palmont City is divided into four major territories, | | | | through a point-to-point race, and then reverse roles |
| each of which is predominantly controlled by a | | | | for the second part. Your score on the first half is |
| different street-racing crew. Each territory is then | | | | based on how close you stay to your rival; then in |
| further divided into zones, and within each zone, you'll | | | | the second half, your rival tries to outdo you. These |
| find starting points for a variety of different race | | | | events can be quite challenging because the courses |
| events. Winning at least two events in a zone will put | | | | are technically complicated, and the crew bosses |
| it under your control. And once you've taken over all | | | | tend to be better, more aggressive drivers than the |
| the zones in a given territory, you can take on the | | | | average street racers. There are also a number of |
| head of that crew. As you continue to extend your | | | | ways in which you can instantly fail. If, during the |
| reach across Palmont City, rival crews will come back | | | | second race, your opponent manages to get ahead |
| and try to retake territory the same way you took | | | | of you for more than 10 seconds, you automatically |
| it from them, forcing you to accept their challenge if | | | | lose. But on the flipside, if you can get ahead of your |
| you want to maintain control. Having to go back and | | | | opponent for more than 10 seconds in the first race, |
| rerace events that you've already won is kind of a | | | | you automatically win both races. Also, each course is |
| pain, but the open-world structure is nice and gives | | | | absolutely rife with cliffs. This means that if you take |
| you plenty of options to take on races at any given | | | | a corner at the wrong angle or speed, you can launch |
| point. | | | | your car off of a cliff, immediately ending the race. |
| However, you won't be taking on all of these crews | | | | All of these elements can make for a tough but fair |
| by yourself, because Carbon lets you bring along a | | | | race. However, failure takes you back to the first |
| wingman into many of the races. These | | | | half of the canyon duel, even if you failed during the |
| computer-controlled companions break down into | | | | second half. It's kind of a minor point, but it's one |
| three different behavior types--blockers, drafters, | | | | that can turn a canyon duel into a real chore. |