Carbon brings back the fast paced racing from Most Wanted with a few minor improvements, but there’s also a lot missing.
You start out as a street racer coming back to his hometown after losing his reputation and territory, but instead of going to war over the land throughout the city, you race for it. The whole plot is just silly as it revolves around this strange idea. The storyline throws a few twists at you through awkward-looking cut-scenes, which may give you a few surprises, but the plot disrupts you from the real action./ Carbon certainly delivers on its main aspect: the racing. The excellent speed effects return in Carbon, partnered with physics that find the happy medium between realism and arcade racing. The AI no longer mysteriously catches up to you after taking a hefty lead which avoids much frustration, but now opponent drivers rarely put up a fight. However, the crew leaders put up much more of a challenge, due to their frequent use of the many shortcuts scattered around all of the well-designed tracks.
This time around, there is a vast number of shortcuts in every city track. There are many tracks to choose from as well, but few are truly unique. So halfway through the game, you’re going to get tired of all the similar tracks. All the races are performed during the night, which adds to the repetition. There are no beautiful daytime maps that injected much flavor into Most Wanted that can be found in Carbon.
Another feature that’s missing is the long police chases. Sure, there are still cops that you can have hot on your tail, but there’s no reason to keep the pursuit going anymore. Since you no longer have to gain bounty, the cops are just a disruption during the main career. There are police challenges to complete in the Challenge Series and the Reward Cards, but completing them will only get you maybe a new spoiler or roof scoop. If you’re only in for the thrill of the chase, it’s not as intense because you don’t really have a certain goal./ The excellent Drag mode from the past three Need for Speed games has now vanished as well. Back in its place is a totally revamped Drift mode, but you’ll still be wondering why Carbon can’t just have both. Nevertheless, Drift mode is among the best additions to Carbon. The weird physics that make the car feel like it’s sliding on ice may take a while to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, sliding around the corners is a blast. Drifting on the canyon is particularly exciting as you’ll be veering around turns with flimsy side rails, inches away from death./ After beating a Crew leader in a city race, you then hit the canyon roads again in a different kind of race. In this canyon duel, you must stay as close behind your opponent during the first run to the finish line; then you must try to keep as far ahead of the following driver as possible. Whoever does the best job, wins the race, and gets the territory at stake. The race is exciting when it’s evenly matched, but usually you’ll have the upper hand. Since passing the other car for ten seconds on your first run gets you an automatic win, most of the five boss races will end quickly. / You can coast down the canyon in normal races against three rivals as well. These aren’t as unique, but they still offer the excitement of being on the edge. Another improvement is the increase of opponents and rides. Now you’ll usually take part in six-or eight-person races and even be up against eleven competitors in the “Race Wars”. There are also plenty of good-looking cars to satisfy everyone’s taste. If you like exotics, tuners, or muscle cars, there is a great amount of options.
The other new features, however, don’t improve upon the game. The addition of crew members sounds interesting, but during game-play, your teammates are completely useless. There are drafters who get in front of you to boost your speed, scouts who locate shortcuts, and blockers who ram other drivers. The crew members end up hurting more than helping because they constantly get in your way. Shortcuts aren’t hard to find, so scouts aren’t needed and since you’ll usually be ahead of the pack, blockers won’t help either. After drafting a teammate, you will probably find yourself having too much speed for a corner, or just crashing straight into your crew member./ Certain crew members are also needed for specific “Auto-sculpts” which allows you to customize the little details of your vehicle. However, the changes are barely noticeable and you may just ignore the tool, because there are already an amazing amount of ways to make your car look unique. Many new visual upgrades are available to apply to your vehicle. Now you are able to put many vinyls on a car and even change the color of every aspect of each vinyl. No matter how you modify your car, you know it will look excellent, due to superb graphics.
While Carbon looks quite similar to Most Wanted, the visuals certainly hold up to today’s standards. The car models are smooth and even reflect the light around them. The detailed and mostly destructible environments never fail to impress either. You will see anything from small phone booths being destroyed to whole constructions sites being turned into rubbish. However, if you’ve experienced the amazing lighting in Most Wanted, it’s hard to be amazed by Carbon’s dark environments.
Fans of Most Wanted will also be bummed about Carbon’s soundtrack featuring a forgettable mix of standard hip-hop and rap, plus a strange Japanese track. Your crew members occasionally tell you useless information during the races, which gets old very quick thanks to the limited phrases. The sound effects do vary dramatically between different cars and you always get to hear a satisfying smash when colliding with an object.
Too much is thrown out from Most Wanted to warrant a definite buy from anyone interested, but Need for Speed fans will enjoy some of the interesting features. If you’re a racing fan that’s intrigued by the dangers of the canyon or by the arcade-like drifting, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.