Need For Speed Carbon takes the best things about Underground and Most Wanted and makes a great racer. True Score: 7.8
Canyon Races are you and an opponent racing down a cannon. Now this game type is two parts. The first part is that you trail the other racer down the canyon and you have to get as close to him as possible without colliding with him or going off the edge, the closer you trail the more points you get. Then in the second half of the race you are the one being trailed and if your opponent scores more points than you, you loose. If you get more points than you win.
Street Wars are like the Nascar of Need For Speed Carbon and they work out pretty well. The race is two laps and it pits you against nineteen other racers in a heated street battle. These are by far the most difficult type of race in the game because the streets are so tight and narrow that they get crowded quite easily, and it is very easy to get into a collision and loose your lead or whatever place you are in.
Another new addition to Need For Speed Carbon is the idea of having a wingman on your side in most of the races. The wingmen can do manythings for you such as draft, collide with other racers, and other stuff of that sort. Hands down the best thing about the wingmen is that if you fall back but your wingman is in first place, you win the race. I was really mad that you do not have a Wingman in Drift and Street as they are the most difficult of the modes and the ones where I needed the most help.
All new game modes aside Need For Speed Carbon plays like every other Need For Speed game and like almost every other racer on the Xbox 360. I must say that I am sick of the Need For Speed games feel like they need a story. They dont! They don't need a crappy story with bad voice overs, they just need good, fun racing gameplay which this game does have.
The game's graphics are not the greatest, they are flashy at times, but at times it really feels like they cut some corners. Every single race in the game takes place at night. Why not throw in some day missions with some awesome lighting effects. It would have been so sweet if there had been a canyon race that took place at daybreak and you are looking out into the horizon as you are racing down the canyon. That would have been sweet!
The game offers a robust multiplayer that can be played online and off. So there is lots of value to this game. I personaly felt that this is the easiest installment in the Need For Speed series in a long time, I mean I cruised right through this game. Its just as addicting as the other games in the series but I felt like this game was finished way too soon, which is kind of disappointing if you ask me, but oh well if you like the game there are so many modes that you will be playing it a long time. Racing fans new and old should definately check this game out.
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Value: 8/10
Tilt: 9/10