If they used this damage simulation system in an illegal street racing game, I would have been much more interested.
When I heard that Need For Speed were making a new racing game with crash simulating and changing from illegal to legal, I almost broke down and cried. When I managed to get my hands on it and played it, it was as bad as I thought it would be. It is definitely the worst game in the series since the PlayStation 1 game NFS: Porsche Unleashed. I thought Carbon was pretty bad, but Need For Speed Prostreet is a new low for the franchise.
I hate the fact that in career mode, they have chosen your identity for you. You are Ryan Cooper, that's final. Why couldn't they have let you name yourself? The only reason I can find as to why they have given you that name is so that the obnoxious announcer can scream it every other second. After you realise that this is who you are, they throw you straight into the crappiest car and you race a very easy race and win. As you progress, you unlock more and more 'race days' on the career map and unlock more cars when you win and dominate these race days. Once you have completed a certain amount of these race days, you unlock branches of the career tree that lead to the bosses or 'kings' of their certain race type which are grip, speed, drift and drag. When you defeat the bosses, you have a chance to get their car and you are one step closer to facing the showdown king, Ryo. When I was playing, I didn't feel that there was much to race for. Ryan Cooper doesn't have any possessions other than his cars and he doesn't have anyone to support him, who is always there to look out for him, like in all the previous NFS games. There are only two real must have cars - The Pagani Zonda and the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, and that gave me even less motivation to complete the game.
I'm not sure what NFS has to offer on online mode, can anyone tell me? I have not been able to connect to other users over the Internet, are you only allowed to race friends? I have heard, however, that this is a very good game for challenging other racers online.
There is a slight sense of speed, but nothing compared to NFS: Most Wanted or Hot Pursuit 2, which are my favourite two NFS games. Also, the big talk point, the crash simulator, is surprisingly alright - the big difference over Gran Turismo. It is quite realistic in terms of looks, but you do have to really thrash it to get tagged with 'heavy damage' or to wipe yourself out. One thing I do like about the gameplay, though, is the control/handling of the cars. All the cars are unique in the way that they move and when you get a corner just right, it is very satisfying. The new use of the R2 button to accelerate and the L2 to brake works very well and I am used to it now. Despite this though, they have taken away the cops and free roaming that made this series special and one of my favourites.
The graphics of the game are much more polished than the last four Need For Speed games on a PlayStation console. There are no more jagged lines on the tracks or car and the game kind of shows off with the amount of nicely worked people and the reflections that come off of the cars. There are virtually no problems in this department, but there are definitely some other car games coming out that will show up Prostreet.
The sound that the cars give out is okay, but nothing distinguishes it from any other car racing game. The music is really horrible - I don't know anyone who would want the soundtrack to this game on their iPod. I think that EA could have done more to give you complete value for your money - something like a battle mode would have done nicely, rather than just serious racing all the way through. The replay value of this game is not quite bad, considering that there are a decent amount of cars to get and try out online.
Overall, Need For Speed Prostreet was an average game, nothing really special. It does kind of feel like a next gen game, but they could have done this with another high speed pursuit game that everyone enjoys. I think that the only reason people would buy this is because of the name. If this wasn't a Need For Speed game, I would definitely not have bought it and waited for Gran Turismo 5 to come along. Yes, I could have waited that long, as long as I get a proper challenging racing simulator.
Add me as a friend on the PS3 if you liked this review! My PS3 ID is supersonikk, and I will kick your ass =)