NEED FOR SPEED: CARBON

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : EA Black Box , EA UK

Publisher : Electronic Arts

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Racing

Release Date : October 31 , 2006

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor / AMD Athlon 2800+

Memory (RAM) : 512 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 64 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X1600 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 6 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

After rebooting the franchise with Need for Speed Underground, EA has continued to produce some solid street racers under the Need for Speed banner. Last year's Need for Speed Most Wanted, which featured hilariously over-the-top live-action cutscenes and seriously tense police pursuits, proved to be a high watermark for the franchise. Now it's being followed up by Need for Speed Carbon, which downplays the role of the police chases, introduces some simple team-racing mechanics, and occasionally takes the action off the city streets and into the outlying canyons. Driving through Carbon Canyon in route to Palmont City, a flashback of what seems to be a race against Kenji, Angie, and Wolf comes to the player's mind. A police incident at the end of the race forces the player to make a hasty escape from Palmont. In present day, former Police Sergeant now turned bounty hunter Cross in his Chevrolet Corvette chases the player down the canyon leading to his BMW M3 GTR being totaled. Shortly before Cross can arrest the player, Darius and his crew arrive. Darius gives Cross 10,000 dollars, and the player meets up with Nikki, an ex-girlfriend, on bad terms. Darius tells the player with the help of Nikki to clean up his image by beating the rival racing crews to gain territory and to reclaim his reputation as a respected street racer in Palmont.

Owning all three districts, Darius asks the player to meet up with him, where he reveals he was just using the player all along to get more territory. When Darius leaves, the player, on the brink of being arrested by Cross, is saved by Nikki who tells him that she now realizes everything that happened months ago after piecing together her view of the night and the viewpoints of the other racers. Realizing that Darius was ultimately liable for the player's fall that fateful night, the Player attempts to conquer Silverton, and oust Darius and his "Stacked Deck" crew, to clean up the player's reputation once and for all. Winning races against "Stacked Deck", the player gets his chance to meet Darius in the canyon. But he tells the player that he will, again, have to beat the previous three bosses in the canyons to battle him. Beating them, the player ultimately fights Darius and defeats him. Knowing the rules, Darius hands over his Audi Le Mans Quattro to the player and leaves from Palmont but not without warning the player to "enjoy it while it lasts, there's always someone out there who's a little faster than you are, and sooner or later they're gonna catch up......"

The PC version has the potential to look nearly as good as the Xbox 360 version, though the motion blur is a bit more subdued. It takes a pretty high-end PC to get it looking that good, though, and even then the frame rate won't be entirely solid. While the Xbox version has a little less flash, it still looks sharp and runs smoothly. The GameCube version looks almost as good, though the frame rate can be a little inconsistent. The PS2 version, on the other hand, can be pretty ugly. Textures are muddy, there are a lot of jagged edges, and the frame rate is all over the place. Ultimately, Need for Speed Carbon doesn't make the best use of some of the strengths from Need for Speed Most Wanted. Many of the changes made to the Most Wanted formula seem to be for the sake of change, but it all still just comes back to the solid driving action, which Need for Speed Carbon puts to good use.

GAME REVIEW :-

7.5/10

Need For Speed Carbon Trailer :-