After a few downers, last year's Need For Speed: Most Wanted was a welcome comeback game. It had everything you could want in a racing game, except for the PS2 version, which didn't have any online gaming to speak of.
Needless to say, when it came to this year's model, I was really hoping they would fix that, but they haven't. There's still no online capability in the NFS: Carbon for the PS2 (you'll have to go to the 360 or PS3 for that). However, the single player mode can be enjoyable.
The game picks up the story line from last year - your character is the same and now after being away for a while you've come back to scene and long story short, you have to race around. Pretty simple huh. Of course there are new hot babes here for your enjoyment and new bad guys. The game is divided up into different territories and you'll have to build up your reputation in order to take over the territories.
The actual racing part hasn't changed very much. There are plenty of cars to choose from. You'll still have to unlock the cars, however in the challenge mode it is nice enough to tell you what needs to be done in order to get the reward cars and what will be unlocked when.
There is a new gameplay addition, and although it's an interesting idea, it really doesn't add to the enjoyment of the game. You now have a 'crew' who will help you win races. It is very similar to NASCAR Total Team Control from last year. You can have three types of helpers, or "wingmen": there's a blocker, who will accelerate to go in front of drivers that are already in front of you and then block those drivers so you can get ahead.
Although it sounds like a great idea, the crew adds very little to the game and adds a level of annoying. I prefer going it alone in this type of game and instead you'll find a lot of talking with your crew and a festival of cut scenes about everything. The developers of the game went with an idea of a lot of cut scenes and a story for the game. While I appreciate the effort, I have to say it really doesn't do anything for me - I just want to race.
In last year's game, you were on a blacklist and you had to move to the top of that list by defeating the people ahead of you. In order to get to the blacklist race, you had to complete a certain number of events - races, time trials, etc. In Carbon, there is no black list but instead a territory boss that you have to challenge. It seems somewhat easier than last year's game, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
One of the great things about NFS is that you can find plenty of shortcuts during a race. They are always well placed and well hidden. Usually they are gated or barricaded, and it's always fun to plow through those locations and get a little boost in the race.
As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of cars to try out - once you've unlocked them. The physics of the cars are all different - the heavier the car, the harder it is to steer in a hairpin turn. After getting used to a favorite car in the early rounds, when I traded up there was a rather lengthy learning curve for me to re-establish my driving line in races. That does make sense to me and it's nice to see that different cars provide different racing results.
If you like turns and twists, Need For Speed: Carbon is your game. It is amazing how many hairpin turns and horseshoe turns are in these races. You'll definitely have to learn to take those corners the right way in order to play. I have to say that the turns can get annoying - it just seems like the turns are there because the developers wanted to make it that much more difficult to play - it doesn't seem very realistic.
Also, let's hope you like nighttime racing, because it's always dark here in Carbon. The graphics are pretty good for a PS2 although not great if you have been used to the next generation consoles. The visible "air rush" coming from the back of the car as you speed though the night looks more like comic book drawings. The lighting effects - specifically your car's headlights as they cover the road - are very impressive. There are some hiccups in frame rate when a lot of cars are racing on the screen.
The other thing EA has added this year is the "autosculpt" mode where you can really customize your car. It's great to be able to differentiate your car from the rest of the pack - however, it would have been much better if you could bring your car online, like you can on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
The sound is not bad. The soundtrack for the game is heavy hip hop and very repetitive. The audio of your car's engine and sound effects for when you scrape up a wall are decent.
Overall I felt this game was a step backward in the series. Fans of the 2 year old Underground game will love this one, while fans of Most Wanted may want to sit this one out. I prefer Most Wanted to this game, just because it seemed to be more of a challenge and I was more excited to play. This one feels like the other nighttime racing games that we've already played, and although the autosculpt and customization is really a nice touch, that alone is not going to win me over to keep playing this game. The game is definitely worth a rental, but that's about it.
