Hey, Need for Speed is one of my favourite racing game series of all time! Only equaled by Burnout and Midnight Club, I'll divide this review into a few sections:
Graphics
Gameplay
Customization
Sound
Amount of fun

First up is graphics! Please enjoy my review...

Graphics: 9/10

I am really impressed with the graphics in this game, everything looks sharp, and at the same time has great colours. I am only playing it on the PS2 and I'm pretty impressed, it will be even better when i get my Xbox 360 later this year.

The only negative thing about graphics, is that it has borrowed from previous Need for Speed titles and just made everything have better textures and all. I'd give the graphics a 10 if i hadn't played Need for Speed Underground.... Most Wanted etc.

Gameplay: 9/10

I really enjoy the gameplay in Need for Speed Carbon! One of the best things is able to jump to events via the world map, it's always great to have a police chase once in a while too. The object of the game is to claim territory from the other street racing gangs. The city is divided into many sections, once you claim a few, all in the same gangs territory, you will face the leader of that area. I think thats a unique way to set the storyline for a racing game, the real objective carries over from Need for Speed Most Wanted. But i won't give away too much!!

Customization: 8.5/10

My favourite feature of the game is the ability to customize your car, there are a lot of different designs of all different parts to chose from. Along with the good graphics, it's easy to enjoy personalising your car from paint to exhaust tips. I would be more impressed if there were more body kit parts though...

Sound: 8.5/10

The sound is great, the rumble of car engines and nitrous oxide hissing sound nice and sharp, and the voices sound nice and real! I don't take a lot of notice of the music so i can't really comment on that. But at least it's not too repetitive and boring.

Fun to be had: 10/10

Any racing fan will love this! Even people who haven't played other Need for Speed games will like the sleek graphics and fun gameplay. I advise you to buy it or even rent it!!

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Anyway that's my review finished, thanks for reading and please leave a comment. I hope you liked it.
-Rory

In Most Wanted you raced your way to the top of the rankings. Tuning up and taking out rivals in the process, not to mention the lovable police chases. But what now? Well, it isn't exactly clear but you end up in a place called Palmont city, a place where it is always dark and no-one has ever seen a pedestrian.

Like in the start of Most Wanted you get to choose you're first car. However, unlike the last game, this choice dictates how you progress through the game and what you unlock in the progress. The cars available to you are split into 3 different fields; Muscle, tuner and exotic. The muscle cars are great in straight lines while the tuners come up aces in the corners and the exotics, well they're pretty much great at everything. This already sets it apart from NFS:MW in which a Corvette was near identical in performance to a Murci lago and adds a new depth to racing strategies allowing each player to develop their own style of racing.

The map is much larger than it ever was before and each district of the city is distinctly different to the others. For example, Downtown Palmont is full of bright lights, tall buildings and sharp corners, just perfect for your Mitubishi Evo. But Kempton, on the other hand, is a smoggy, industrial environment with miles and miles of straights, idea for a Ford Mustang. This new level of exploration available to you as well as an area of the city that suits whatever car you're driving and this game is already head of its competitors.

It has to be said, the level of customization available to you was pretty limited, but not anymore. Not only is does it now allow you to place more than one vinyl on you're car (one of the negative points of Most Wanted) but a new feature called autosculpt is available to you. Autosculpt lets you tweak almost every physical aspect of you're car, from the grooves on the wheels to the depth of the roof scoop. The level of customization is practically limitless and guaranteed to keep you amused for quite a while.

After a short holiday drift racing has made its return. In this mode you skid round a track racking up points. You get more points for driving quickly and drifting near the barriers, if you link your drifts you can gain a multiplier catapulting you're score into the realm of the unknown. Hit the sides or spin out though, and you're combo is lost. It takes some getting used to and while it may not be a race, it is still my favorite thing in the game.

After a while though all these races become a bit of a bore. It feels like you are just driving round the same tracks again and again. It is unbelievably boring but there is nothing you can to to help it, so you just end up driving round and round and round.

The storyline is terrible. That is all that needs to be said, there are no redeeming factors. EA have obviously tried to add a plot twist at the end but have failed miserably. One of the great things Wanted were the cut-scenes with real people, they really grabbed your attention and were well worth you're time. In Carbon however they are simply a waste of time, they have no positive input to the feel of the game and I even found that after watching a few of them you will want to track down everyone you see on your screen and give them a smack. It is that bad. You have to complete races to win territories to win respect and customisation options and after winning a considerable few territories, you are challenged by the boss.

In the last Need for Speed title there were 15 bosses, from which you unlocked new engine parts, paints and cars. In this there are only 4 bosses. This means that to unlock new shiny things you just win the regular, non-challenging races, detracting from the sense of achievement used to feel when you put a great big turbo on your car on Most Wanted. And as there are only 4 bosses that means there are only 4 boss cars. And to lower the chances of getting one you only get to choose 2 'markers'. Not good.

Police pursuits can no longer activated at your will, a factor that kept me stuck to Most Wanted. And when you do get into a police pursuit you will find that there is no point anyway as all you stand to gain is perhaps a new set of wheels. And by set of wheels I mean an actual set of wheels, not a brand new car. It feels like a waste of you're time.

The 'wingmen'. I'm not sure quite what to think about them at the moment. There are 3 different types of wingmen, the blockers, the scouts and the drafters. They race alongside you in throughout career (although not in free-roam) and do serve a purpose. Blockers ram rivals off course, scouts find shortcuts and drafters race right in front of you to reduce the air resistance on your car. Blockers are no doubt the most effective of the 3 and can be a true blessing when the race is very close. The other two can be discarded. All 3 nevertheless can be very annoying. Numerous times my racing line has been blocked off by a racer present to help me out. I have found myself shouting at the television in annoyance.

Overall, it is a good game, but not as good as Most Wanted. It is a positive addition to there series and, if you willing to overlook the multiple flaws, is well worth your money.