Need for Speed Carbon PC review - Page 1

Developer: EA Canada ESRB: 10 years and older, violence
Release date: November 31st 2006
Difficulty: Medium Learning Curve: About 30 minutes

Test System:
Windows XP Pro SP2, Athlon 64 4000+, Asus A8N SLI Deluxe, 1 GB DDR 500 (Corsair), Gigabyte 6800 Ultra (84.43 driver), Audigy 2 ZS, Altec Lansing 251 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers.

Minimum System Specs
Windows 2000 / XP, CPU 1.7 GHz, 8X DVD ROM, 6 GB Free Hard Drive Space, 512 MB of System RAM and 64 MB of video, RAM Directx 9.0c.

A Carbon Introduction

After the success of Need for Speed Most Wanted, the gaming world was left to anticipate what would be next. The wait lasted a little less than one year and then the word on everyone's lips was Carbon. This installment reduces the role of the fine police department but introduces team management and much needed variation to your typical car racing game.

As usual, the story line continues from the previous game (MW) where you recovered your stolen car and bailed from the city. At the start of Carbon, you're making your way to Palmont City when your old friend Cross, now a bounty hunter, catches up with you and totals your car during the chase. Before he can collect his bounty on you, though, Darius steps in and pays off Cross.

Like MW, Carbon utilizes a series of cut scenes which are full motion video composited into computer graphics are these are used to tell varies parts of the story. Your goal is to take control of all the territories by winning races and of course defeating the bosses.

Essentially there are four major territories which have a variety of zones which tends to change hands quite frequently. In other words, they are waiting for someone like you to give stability to the real estate. Even after you control zones, other rival gangs continue to challenge you for them and you can either accept or reject the challenge. If you reject the challenge you automatically loose control of the zone and you will have to go back and re-race the event.