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Need for Speed: Carbon (PC)

By Matthew Steele Winters on Thursday, November 16, 2006 at 8:00 PM EST  

Need for Speed: Carbon
After watching “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”, I felt compelled to play a Need for Speed game, and as if it were destiny, Need for Speed Carbon had just been released. Having played many of the previous incarnations of the series, including Hot Pursuit and Underground, I know my way around a race track. How does Carbon compare? First, let’s discuss the most obvious area for improvement, the graphics.

I have mixed feelings about the graphics. The car models, weather effects and lighting effects are greatly improved, but the backgrounds seem less interesting than before. Driving through the city just didn’t seem as fun. Not to mention that in Carbon you have no reason to, since you can teleport to any race or location instantly. But, when it comes to racing games, I usually could care less about the graphics. It’s gameplay that makes or breaks a racing game.

The controls and driving mechanics were instantly familiar, but not without improvement. Drifting is a much more natural process, giving you much better control over the angle and length of your drift. On the other hand, trying to drift when in a non-drift race is either almost impossible or causes you to slow down significantly. The gameplay, although fun, is still plagued with the same problems. Navigating sharp turns without braking or letting off the gas is just not possible, which becomes even more apparent as you progress through the game. By the end, basically every turn is a 180 degree turn and I felt like all I was doing was braking. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that it takes the entire game to earn a car with a high top speed, which by the time you earn it is practically useless.

New to the game is the crew system. As you progress, you unlock crew members. Not only do these members race with you, but they also unlock different customization options. There are three types of crew members: Scouts, Drafters, and Blockers. Scouts guide you to shortcuts in each track. Drafters allow you to follow them to gain a temporary speed boost while Blockers attack a car in the lead. In theory, this sounds like an interesting addition, but in practice it has many problems. For starters, throughout most of the game, your crew member will have a better car than you do. Therefore, they usually beat you in the race. While you still earn full prize money, it’s not fun to lose to a subordinate. Also, they tend to work against you as much as they work for you. Drafting is incredibly difficult and usually not worth the boost. Also, you end up crashing into your crew member as much as you crash into rival drivers. Good idea, but it needs some work.

Any Need for Speed fan knows that it’s all about the cars. In Carbon there are three car types, each with three upgrade tiers: Exotics, Muscles and Tuners. The type of car you tend to unlock depends on which type you decide to start the game with. Each type drives very differently. Muscles have less handling but better acceleration, Tuners have great handling, but poor acceleration and top speed, and Exotics have average handling and acceleration, but improved top speed. If you don’t like the type you choose in the beginning, you can always change it, or you can customize the parts you buy to better balance your car. I prefer the Tuners, since handling is such an important part of the game, but everyone has their own style. I find all the Need for Speed games to be a catch 22. You need to spend your money to improve your car in order to be fast enough to win races, but then you unlock even better cars which you can’t afford since you’ve spent all your money upgrading your old car. In Carbon, you tend to earn more money than you can use, as long as you don’t decide to buy every car in the shop, so this isn’t as big of a problem.

The story in NFS Carbon is told using full motion video cutscenes where live actors are placed in front of computer generated environments. I really liked these cutscenes, but in general they were few and far between. The story itself begins with a race…big surprise. An ambiguous number of years ago, you participated in a race that was broken up by the cops, in which you were the only racer who escaped. Of course, someone framed you to look like you stole the proceeds from the race. Now you’re back, and it’s up to you, your trusty crew and Scooby Doo to solve the mystery. I won’t ruin anything for you, but the ending is disappointing. Overall, depending on how long you spend finishing every race or unlocking every car, career mode will take you about 8-10 hours to finish.

In terms of replayability, there is a challenge mode which is interesting for a while, but the game is hurt by a faulty online mode. The game puts so much emphasis on customizing your car, but who cares how cool your car looks if no one else ever sees it. Although the overall game interface is greatly improved and navigating is easy and intuitive, more often than not you can’t log into EA’s server, you can join a game, or you get disconnected mid-race. Also, the game tricks you into thinking you can choose the gametype and options, but then it puts you into a room where the leader, chosen at random, gets to control the race options.

If you’re in the mood for a racing game, then NFS Carbon is not a bad choice. It’s fun while it lasts and better than a lot of games out there. Also, at $39.99, the PC version is a better bargain than the console versions. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a deep story, huge replayability or a steady online experience, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

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