If you enjoyed NFS Most Wanted, then you will enjoy NFS Carbon
While the graphics of Carbon are nicely done and the cars along with Palmont are nicely detailed and all. It feels like you're playing another version in the Underground series but this time you have to worry about cops in free roam and EA returned the nighttime unlike the daytime like Most Wanted was. The cut scenes are more polished for this year's Need for Speed, in Most Wanted the cut scenes seemed to be good but a little blurry. While playing this game you should see the nice lighting effects as you roll under a streetlight seeing the light just illuminate over the car.
Sound: 7.5 out of 10
As you play throughout Carbon you'll notice the usual car sounds such as the engine revving, to the NOS, even the squawking of the tires after you may have experienced a spin out. I feel that's the best part of the sound department of Carbon while the music department of the game is where I think it suffers the most in this game. All the Need for Speed games featured a stellar soundtrack to them while Most Wanted had the best if not the best soundtrack featured in any racing game that I have played in almost seven and a half years ago. The music in this year's game doesn't suit this game whatsover and hopefully in the next Need for Speed game will have a better soundtrack for the fans to listen to.
Control: 8 out of 10
The controls? What can I say about them other than that the controls for this game feel improved for Carbon while at the same time can be frustrating to new players or even season veterans of the Need for Speed franchise. I can say I had a hard time trying to adjust to these controls from playing the previous titles such as Underground 2 or even Most Wanted. Underground 2 seemed to have a better control scheme while EA had tried making each class of car feel almost like the real thing. Some of the muscle cars feel like they don't handle all that well but wait 'til you get them tuned up some then they feel better than they do. The control may not be the best to me but they do fare very decent for this game.
Gameplay: 8.5 out of 10
Like the previous titles you want to become the best street racer out there in the street world. Just like in Most Wanted you'll have to worry about the cops chasing you throughout the game but while you got some challenges that you can do to help hone in your street racing skills to become the best street racer in the game. For example when you start off you wonder what's with the car from Most Wanted in this game but as you can see you'll have someone after you and wondering what is he still doing after you. Even with Cross wanting to take you back to Rockport Department, you may call one of your rival racers will show up and get Cross off of you. Remember in Most Wanted it was all about you trying to get up to the top, this time you have to battle your way through with other "crews" in order to have control over Palmont, but you can't do it all by yourself. You're going to need some help in the form of a crew to help your journey to help get control of the city, and the customization seems to be like that of Underground 2 making it feel more in depth over Most Wanted.
Replay Value: 8.0 out of 10
With most racing games you wonder if this game is worth playing again. If you're like me a raceaholic then you may want to give this game another play through but if you're one of those people that just want to get through the game just once that's alright that's how you are. The challenge series is where the replay value earns more of a place at cause like I said it'll help you out in the racing feel of this game and make you a better racer in the game even if you have started career or not at the moment. If you're familiar with EA's NASCAR games then the whole crew thing should be a snap to you and it may get some getting used to but it's worth the getting used to feel.
Overall: 8.0 out of 10
While Carbon is some improvement if not better than Most Wanted but this game is still a solid racing game overall. I believe that this game is worth trying out at least and if you think that this game isn't better than Most Wanted that's your opinion not mine on the game. One of the problems I seem to have is that the cops are more aggressive in this game compared to Most Wanted and like hemorrhoids at most almost wants to make you pull your hair out while playing the game. If you thought that the cops in Most Wanted were bad these cops are far worse in my opinion even when the Feds come in they are more of a hassle than good in this game.
Rent/Buy: I'd say buy, the game is really cheap on the PS3. Compared to the other new NFS (Pro Street & Undercover) Carbon is a lot better than those titles