User Reviews (11 - 21 of 46)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

The formula is getting a bit tired

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've been a huge fan of the series ever since NFS3 and despite being a racing sim fan, I've always enjoyed NFS's arcade-like gaming for when you don't want to take things too seriously.

However, for the past few years the people at EA have started to put less and less effort to their game development. NFSU2 wasn't as fun as NFSU, and NFSMW wasn't as fun as NFSU2 and this installment is worse than all the previous ones.

But where to begin? For starters, each and every race feels exactly the same as the last one. The fact that you're always in urban scenery (at least in NFSMW you had some rural areas) means that you feel like you're racing through the same place over and over again. The tracks aren't particularly challenging either and you can pretty much beat the game without much effort.

Long gone are the days where you raced through snowy mountains (with severe grip loss), deserts or other sceneries with each race feeling completely different and each with its own challenge.

But I guess that what is really frustrating is just how lazy the NFS crew has become. It's like they've taken the NFSU scenery, modified it, added the cops from NFSMW (BTW, an ordinary police car keeping the pace of a Mclaren SLR isn't unrealistic, it's absurd). The story is as lame as it can be and they seem to think that unrealistically high reflecting cars are enough for people to say "awesome graphics", although it's hard to say that with such deficient human modeling.

Added to that is the fact that most of the bugs found on NFSMW (users of a MS FF wheel might agree) are still there! I find that insulting to say the least.

If you have the money you might as well buy it. I guess at least it's better than solitaire but don't expect much. Funny, it seems that the franchise's popularity is inversely proportional to its quality.

Computer Speed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Racing games haven't always shown their real potential these past few years on the computer. Although there are some that have actually delivered, others have just bit the dust. That hasn't been the case with Need For Speed within the past few years. The last one, Need For Speed Most Wanted was one of the most entertaining and thrilling racers that really not just delivered with the thrills of the chase against the police, it shined brightly against the speed demons of the blacklist. Now, the game has a new light ahead of them. Can Need For Speed definitely shine the way it did before on the computer?

Need For Speed Carbon for the P.C. is a wild and outrageous game that brings out the madness of the speed to a new phase. The game tackles on after you evade the police from Rockport City, as you are brought in to tackle the thrills of crew racing, aginst Darius and his mob. In the game, you have three different racers to tackle, tuners like the Mazda RX-8, exoticas like the Lambourghini Mercialgo, and the classic-styled Muscle cars of the 60's and 70's like the Dodge Charger concept. The game also brings back the thrills of the chase, as you face-off in races like the fierce sprints, speedtraps where you have to clock in at the fastest speed, the return of the drift tracks which were highlighted last time in Need For Speed Underground 2, and the new canyon duel races, where you tackle a foe in a speed game of chicken. The graphics are beautiful and shine brightly in the game. Yet, although the game drives in the thrills of the night racing, there are a few disadvantages to the game. One of the biggest problems, is that you don't have as much of the pursuit against the police, as you thrived in Need For Speed Most Wanted. The other dissapointment is that the control on the muscle cars are much more difficult to maintain in the race as the other kinds, which makes you lose control at times in the thrill of the race.

Despite a couple of flaws, Need For Speed Carbon is a delightful game for anybody who is a die hard fan of the franchise, and delivers in the chase for newcomers nicely. I loved playing this game on the computer, and you'll love the wild action of this game too.

Graphics: B+

Sound: B

Control: B 1/2-

Fun & Enjoyment: B

Overall: B 1/2+

All downhill since NFS:UG2

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: November 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I agree with the review "The worst NFS game... 2.5 stars overall" and if you own NFS:UG2, IMHO, you own the best there is in this series. Save your cash ... and if you don't own NFS:UG2 and since it's no longer sold in retail for the PC, check the z-shops for it used or new -- you'll save a lot plus get a really well designed / immersive game.

Horrible Trend In PC Games

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In their never ending quest to capitalize on consumers, EA and other game companies are developing games on multiple platforms at the same time to maximize profits. Because of this increase workload only one game system will benefit while all others will lose in overall quality. This game was written first for the xbox 360 which has the best graphics and stability of all other systems even though the pc is much more powerful. So the graphics aren't as good on the pc even at maximum settings. Furthermore, unless you have a Shader Model (SM) 3 compliant card you won't get motion blur. Obviously the developers found themselves too lazy to program for SM 2 even though the engine is base on a modified Most Wanted engine which had full SM 2 support and ran fine. But no, since the xbox 360 was already SM 3 why invest the extra work into adding SM 2 support. Also, if that wasn't bad enough the game runs horribly on SM 3 compliant cards. So people who can enable motion blur had to reduce settings because the game didn't run very smoothly. Way to go EA! Check out gamespot review of the new 8800 GTX (the first and only DirectX 10 card) which can barely run this game. Meanwhile, I have an x850 XT and I can play this game on FULL settings at 1600x1200 4AA 16AF without a single hitch in frame rate BUT I can't use motion blur.

Also, this game will crash randomly and especially at the worst times, usually after a long pursuit or when looking through cars at the lot. It is very unstable over the internet as well. This is obviously a half-baked port from the xbox 360. Another example of a hack job port is Splinter Cell Double Agent with almost the exact same problems.

The game is probably one of the shortest NFS game as well. It'll take you no more than 5 hours to beat this game. The city that you play under seems like a small suburb rather than a large sprawling city that you played in from the previous two NFS series. Races consists of sprints, 2 lap circuits, time trials, and drifting. Sometimes after beating a race you'll have to replay the exact same race because some bozo decides to move into your territory. This is nothing more than a terrible way to try and extend the longevity of the game further. After beating this game there's really no point in continuing playing it since the rewards for beating previous races are only $500. Hardly, enough to pay for anything.

The game includes wingmen which makes the game 10x easier than it should be. Once you get Nikki as a wingman you'll fly through the races with ease since her car apparently defies all physics and goes mach 10. Just get behind her and use nitrous boost liberally. The only real challenge comes from the canyon races. Actually, they're more frustrating than challenging since if you lose you'll have to replay both races. Be aware that the physics and driving mechanics are a little different on the Canyon races. The drifting races are improved over NFSU2 and are actually much more fun but they are way too easy. Once you get the hang of it don't be surprised if you regularly score over 200 thousand while your opponents barely get up to 100. And they got rid of drag races which I didn't really care for anyways so it's no big deal to me.

There are several cop chases during the races but you can probably avoid the cops altogether throughout the entire game and they aren't an integral part of the game as in Most Wanted. The dialog and music in the car chases are recycled from Most Wanted to cut back on expenses and to rip off consumers some more. The only thing good about the cops is that they are much more challenging to lose, but once you figured out how to beat them it's really not that difficult. Just use the pursuit breakers and time breakers and know when to stop and reverse if you've knocked out everyone behind you. The cop chases are probably the best part about this game and the only reason to continue playing it after you've beat the career mode since online play is relatively unstable and cash rewards are so low they're useless. If it wasn't for the cops this game would probably be the worst NFS game in the series. My advice is to save your money and buy GTR 2 or Flat Out 2; both of which are much more fun and stable. It seems EA treats its fan as nothing more than a bunch of gullible nitwits who'll continue to shell out money for its product just because of the NFS logo no matter how crappy this game really is compared to the previous ones. Also, they don't even bother supporting this game anymore since no more patches are released even though the game continues to crash. Fan of NFS and racing in general need to give EA the finger so they won't release crappy games like this anymore. EA should have spent another year developing this game but they were too busy rushing for the holidays which is why you get this short, buggy, uninspired, unstable, unoptimized, graphically challenged, boring game.

Should be Need For Speed "Helium" because its light & inert

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let's get right to the pros and cons.

Cons:
1.) It's always night in the game: Allegedly, God reposessed the sunlight from Electronic Arts after Need For Speed: Most Wanted because EA couldn't afford to pay the new steeper royalties for daylight so God sold them the rights to nighttime at a cheaper rate. I kid because I miss the beauty of the sunlit Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The sun would momentarily over-brighten the entire screen as you emerged from a tunnel to simulate how your eyes would take a moment to adjust to the sun. That was cool because it was realistic.

2.) Drifting Returns - Drifting is a ridiculous pastime which des not deserve the title of racing or sport. I thought that after Need for Speed: Most Wanted, that it was gone for good.

3.) Canyon Races - These are also ridiculous races invented to differentiate this game from all the other Need for Speed games. There are 2 ways to win. 1st way: Knock-out your opponent in the 1st round by overtaking your opponent for more than 10 seconds. 2nd way: You enter round 2 where with your opponent chasing you over the same canyon. The closer they follow the faster your lose your points earned from the 1st round. If you still have points by the end of round 2 you win. If your car crashes throgh weak barriers it can go flying off the canyon-trail and into the abysmal darkness below. This make the game boring and tedious especially if your car crashes through a barrier on the second round and you have to start over from round 1.

4.) Repetitive Race-Events - Yes, canyon-races, I'm looking at you. Also rival gangs challenge you to race-events you've already won to reclaim their turf. This can be a little annoying when you are trying to control the entire map and can cause you to lose a territory of the map if you forfeit too many race-events in that territory.

5.) Unrealistic Wingman Concept: You can have one computer controller wingman in ordinary-races (not boss-races) whose purpose is to scout for shortcuts, block other racers or give you a boost. This is not only unrealistic but they are not very uselful to you either because they are driving too slowly or just not programmed well enough to be very useful.

6.) Lack of Environmental Variety: Need For Speed most wanted had stadiums, golf courses, better coastal-towns, etc.

7.) No nitrous in Canyon Races: Each canyon race disallows nitrous. Why? This is so unrealistic and uncool.

Pros:

1.) Optional Rival Street Challenges: Street challenges are cool because a racer will pull up to your car while you are driving and challenge you to reach a checkpoint 1st. You must follow your GPS to arrive 1st and win. This was far more realistic than silly canyon races. These are optional so you can ignore challenges if you want.

2.) Better in-game (realtime) facial animation. The opponents express emotions realistically whenever you collide with a wall, overtake them, close in on them, fall behind, etc...

3.) Better drifting for people like myself who loathe drift racing since it is a stupid sport.

4.) Greater Customization: Now you can tune your customiztions to the dimensions and style you want by using the tuning controls to strech them to more pleasing dimensions.

5.) Great graphics.

Overall - They should have created a game like "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" but with night levels and drag-racing.They should also include "chicken" challenges where you speed towards one another "chicken-style" and see who flinches first. That would have been the best racing game ever. Instead we have to settle for Carbon.

The worst ever!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game and couldn't stand it from the start! Even with 1GB RAM and a way better Athlon than the minimum required the stories and presentations just won't work properly! It really gets to my nerves. Another low point is the handling of the cars... NFSMW is a lot better than this.

Nothing New

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have played (or tried at least) all NFS games since the first edition. Of course, back then in the 90-s it was a big hit, everybody loved it. But gradually as the computer graphics became more and more sophisticated and game play more diverse and intensive, there came along the trade offs, namely easiness of use versus complicated controls, storyline versus straight forward gaming, soundtracks were added, and so forth.
In my personal opinion, the best NFS game was the Hot Pursuit 2 where you could simply enjoy your game - you could listen to a small lecture on what car you are driving, where it was built, its technical specs, and so on, then the were very interesting tracks and a very nice scenery, and of course you did not have to worry about tuning it to improve performance.

Now then, to be honest, NFS Carbon is not the game I was anticipating. Basically nothing has changed since Most Wanted edition except the game developers took away those long highways and got rid of my favorite golf course. Few small and unimportant features were added. Here I want to focus on the negative side of Carbon edition (and the last four previous editions). First of all, the is no information at all on what car you are driving (except for the make and the model) otherwise you are clueless, and to make things even more confusing they introduced these three bar lines which are supposed to indicate how fast the car is able to go, acceleration, and handling; the further to the right end of the bar, the better. So, whenever you install an "upgrade" like tires or turbo, the only thing that happens is the bar line shifts to the right, supposedly improving one of those three components. But again, no technical data presented, no actual pictures of the engine or anything of that sort. So, by the middle of the game you have a car that is stuffed with various custom parts and with unknown features like: engine volume, horsepower, torque, 0-60 time and so on. In other words there is nothing in this game that can thrill anyone who is somewhat interested in actual racing or car engineering. Another drawback is that you get to drive Mazda RX8 and Koenigsegg on the same tiny streets! The game is also very small and gets boring really fast once you beat it a few times.
So, Carbon offers nothing new and practically is even worse than previous editions, which is not surprising. And until EA rethinks its game development priorities and introduces more technical and vigorous games, the ratings of its products would continue to fall.

It's O.K.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not as much running from the popo like NFSMW. The drifting is pretty fun. The game looks more like a port from a console than a game designed for PC. Have a beefy gaming pc, or turn the eye-candy off to get playable framerates.

Good NFS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game was satisfying for me. While the story lacks, that's no problem because you buy this game to race, not to be immersed in a storyline.

There are some good varied race types, and the police chases make things interesting sometimes if you're looking for a change of pace. However, when you're challenged by another crew for your territory, it's more of a nuisance. There are some good cars in here, enough to satisfy me, but the fact that you can't edit some of the cars (Carerra GT, Audi Quattro, etc) is annoying.

The "Challenge Series" adds quite a bit of replay value, as does the 3 paths in career mode (based on the type of car class you choose). Online play is a gimmick for me - the cars are shaky and it's just not all that fun.

Overall, I bought this game to race on my computer, and it does that pretty well.

Better Then I thought....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Its one of the better need for speed games that ive played...very customizable cars and lots of tracks to play... The online is okay but probably could have been put togethor a little better. Not a game to use only for online play... single player is what is focused on, but overall 5/5

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions