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Need For Speed? Two steps backward

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 23
Date: November 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I finished the game a mere 8 hours after purchasing it. May be more fun online but the storyline part of the game is way to short. And it seems as the higher you get the worse your car's handling becomes. Blacklist was ten times better and Underground 2 was 5 times better. There are a decent amount of cars and customization but the gameplay is really lost in this one. The idea for Carbon Canyon was good but I find that there are certain aspects of the canyon that are just stupid. If you skip a race and come back to it later they still have the same car and if you are driving a Lamborghini you can not overtake them. And they never crash off the cliff and you cannot make them crash. When playing in co op mode half the time in the upper levels my team-mates cost me races by stopping in front of me or by taking short cuts that get me hit by other cars or the short cut slows me down. The game is only 10% of what it should be.

Career too short, Handling too sloppy, Rental at best!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: November 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I simply wish to echo the previous users post. The career mode is far too short. NFSMW took quite a bit to complete, but this one has you going "what just happened"?

I too, must complain about the absurd handling in this game. The best example of this that I have seen so far is in the challenge series. Complete the first series in Bronze and Silver and you will be left with a Gold version. This involves using a Corvette Z06 with handling that is outrageous enough to justify a lawsuit by GM.

I also, must echo the crew problems. These guys get in the way more than help you from my experience. If you don't listen and actually buy the game,try to lead and hope they stay away from you.

Visually the game is no better than NFSMW and the gameplay is significantly worse. Some game makers take the time to actually drive and test these cars to ensure accuracy in their performance ability and physics. These guys scooted Hot Wheels accross the floor and observed handling using this method.

All in all, my expectations were high and the game turned out to be lame.

Its Need For Speed. Remember this. Its never gonna be GT or Forza!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Gameplay: 8.4
Every car handles differently, every course is linked together in one massive world, and the controls will take you back to the days of arcade racers like Daytona USA. (Actual arcade racers - the ones with $5,000 cabinets all arcade owners dreaded purchasing.) The customization features are a little shallow, and the game is a little easy. Okay, a lot easy. But you'll love the ride while it lasts, and you're going to want to play through this racer more than once.

Graphics: 8
The cars look amazing. Every part of them is packed with realistic detail. Even the interiors are noticeably accurate. The cars reflect the city lights quite beautifully, and will do so differently depending on the type of finish that's been applied (chrome, matte, etc.).

Carbon's environments aren't nearly as memorable. The backgrounds aren't that far beyond what was possible with the old Xbox. Also, the cars, as gorgeous as they are, cannot be damaged. They can crash repeatedly, and abolish generic police vehicles. But your vehicles - which are from licensed manufacturers - are as protected as those in Gran Turismo, save for a few scratches every now and then (that magically disappear after every race).

I know that this is what most, not all, automakers want. But if some manufacturers are on board and others are not, maybe it's the supportive companies you should be focusing on - to give the gamer the most intense experience possible.

Sound: 7.9
Hurray for the return of full-motion video! First you get to see the actors, who look toward the camera when talking to the player's character as if you were actually in the story. The actors also appear in polygon form, with extreme realism to boot. Their polygon expressions are a little better than their real expressions, mainly due to the real actors' lack of believability.

The voices - they're better than most, but have a hint of "video game syndrome." It looks like a bunch of actors were hired to be in a video game. It doesn't look or sound like they were hired to be in a professionally written story. Which isn't too surprising. Carbon's characters only have one theme: "take my city and I'll hate you forever" (an exaggerated but truthful interpretation).

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Most Career mode races can be won on the first try. The external challenge mode provides additional races to conquer, but they're not enough to boost this game's difficulty.

Concept: 7.5
It's Need For Speed all over again. I'm not about to be one of those crazy people who say the series needs an overhaul to be great again. It doesn't. I love the direction the developers have taken. That said, it's not an original direction, just one of polish. But this series is meant to be a certain way. To make it original again would likely eliminate all the things we love.

Multiplayer: 8
Four for co-op; eight for multiplayer via Xbox Live. Some of the Career mode races are playable online as well for added challenges.

Overall: 8.2
A throwback to the good old, worry-free days of arcade racing. This is the kind of game you'll play after seeing The Fast and the Furious (or any other street racing flick). You might hate that series - you might think the third Furious is the worst movie ever made. But mark my words, if you're flipping through and it's on TV, you will drop the remote, grab your 360 controller, and play this game.

This Need for speed title let me down

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: November 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I loved the past couple Need for speed titles, I bought this one the day it retailed just because the previous games were impressive. I started playing this game and it made me regret buying it. [...]. to start off with, the crew is an alright idea, except on the race wars races when there are 4 other crews with 4 other people and you are by yourself. Next, The was the races are set up, You can control a crew and then when you win a race after you have an area controlled an attacking crew will attack you, its an alright idea but close to the game when you control almost the entire map it gets annoying to have an attacking crew come in. As for the cars, lots of muscle cars, the cars are a definate plus, but all of the good cars that I was used to from the previous Need for speed games, (Toyota Supra, Mitsibishi Evolution, to name a few) these cars are unlocked at the end of the game when you cant even use them because all of these space ship looking cars the extremely fast cars are all that you are racing. so the cars have some negative and positive elements. The worst part of the game, the canyon races, not sure if this game was modeled around the recent Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift, but drifting down down in a canyon where you can fall off the edge, why would you put something like that in a game? I can only hope the people that design the next Need For Speed game read this and know that carbon sucks... Take the SUV's from Underground 2 and add a few more besides the escalade and navigator and put more cars in and work in a story something like most wanted, but leave the canyon racing falling off the edge crap out.

Very Fun and Exciting

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I for one absolutly enjoyed the canyon races. The fact that you can actually fall off the clif forces you to concentrate and not use the guard rails as a bumper. It was a nice touch of realism. The graphics look top notch as far as the cars go and thats mainly what you look at. The environments arnt exactly 360 capable but they arnt ugly, and when your going 120 who cares?

The game is super fun, the real time video acting is a definate plus, i thought it was a great story.

Fun but nothing new

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Pros:
Awesome graphics (at least for next gen systems)
Long tracks to drive through
tons of events to play through
controls very well
Great car modifications and details for the 'underground' fans
Online play works pretty decent

cons:
You have to pay to unlock additional cars
Lame cutscenes
Nothing too different from other games in the frachise

Fast & Furious 360

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

While so many people are more interested in the newer systems that are sold out, Playstation 3, and the Nintendo Wii, there is still a lot of action for Xbox 360 gamers, and holiday shoppers. That has also been said well with the Need For Speed franchise too. Since. they've started to thrive going back to the Underground series, many gamers have always wanted more. Last year, the Most Wanted edition of Need For Speed took gamers by surprise, by delivering the thrills of the race, with the pursuits of cops by the chase. Now, a new chapter has risen for Xbox 360 owners, but can it definitely deliver like before?

Need For Speed Carbon for the Xbox 360, tackles the fast and the furious as you battle your way to tackle your way through street racers and crew gang members, inorder to conquer the city with your crew. In the game you have many great and gripping tracks too from classics like the circuits, sprints, and the return of the drift race tracks from the Underground 2 era. You can also unlock great cars like the Didge Viper, exoticas like the McLaren, and muscles cars that have classic style and classic appeal. The graphics for the game have really shined and are truly polished with each control of the car. The control also brings ut the best with each car, and each bit of the chase. Sadly, though there are a couple of disadvantages to the game. One of them is the thrill of the chase against the police. It was more challenging back in Most Wanted, and there was more to challenge your cars with. Another disadvantage is that if you've played earlier versions of Need For Speed, you might have a too easy time beating the underground racers Darius and his crew.

All in all, I was mostly satisfied with Need For Speed Carbon, but I was just expecting a bit more excitement with each thrilling race. Nevertheless, I really recommend this as a must buy for Xbox 360 owners of all kinds, especially if you don't want to get yourself swept in the dust.

Graphics: B+

Sound: B

Control: B 1/2+

Fun & Enjoyment: B-

Overall: B

Arcade racing at it's best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: January 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I first experienced this game by trying the demo. After that I was sold. The NFS games have had their ups and downs over the years. The racing storyline seems to change on a yearly basis keeping the concept fresh. With Carbon you are a brash racer who is coming back to his old haunts. Now it's up to you to race others in non stop action. I was in awe playing this game realizing how wonderful the graphics were. They really bring the environments alive as you are able to see how long they spent creating these wonderful environments. The excitement that comes from this game is when you begin to realize that your in a nonstop world with the ability to find races anywhere in the city. There are numerous territories that are controlled by different racers and it's up to you to challenge those racers for the territory. Being succesful takes many steps as you have to compete in several races before you can challenge the leader of each racing group. That is where you get to have a pulse pounding race in the canyons. Avoiding hair raising turns that can have you swerving off a cliff. In this game you will experience the tried and true formula of the pursuit where the police will be on your tail and you can gain a wanted status. What's new to this game is the teammate formula where you are able to use the team mate to take out an opponent. The system works well for the most part and adds a great new addition into the NFS series. I would have to say overall this has been one of my favorite NFS games. If you enjoy great arcade racing give Carbon a try. You won't regret it.

Fun racing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing this game since I got it for Christmas. Normally, I'm more of a fan of shooting games but I really like this one. The graphics are very nice and the game is simply enjoyable. It is fun playing with a buddy on split screen but I do not have X-Box Live and therefore can't comment on the online aspect. I really enjoy the amount of customizing you can do to the cars, which includes nitrous, blowers, turbos, paint, graphics, suspension, etc, etc. One word of advice, when you start out in Career Mode go with something other than the Camaro because I was only able to win a limited number of races with it. It just handles too slopy. I went back to the Maza RX8 and have had much success with it. I'll go back to the muscle cars later because I'm a big fan of them.

Great Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game right here i thought was going to nice like the first NFS games. As you start the game it has pretty nice graphics but not as great as the other xbox360 games have. The story of the game is pretty corny and the acting in the short movies during career mode is just sad but i knew it was a NFS game so i didn't take those 2 things seriously. The only reason i gave this game 4 stars because the gameplay is extremely fun, this time the cop pursuit is way different you have to outchase them after the race is done which is to either speed out or hide in a garage or in dark corners. Theres tons of cars that you get to hook up with new paints and rims and trust me the selections are huge! Also you can get new engines,suspensions,Tires etc. Theres no end to hooking your car up in this game.Theres tons of types of race like Drift,Race Wars,Sprint,Checkpoint etc. What i am trying to say is this isn't one of those racing games that gets boring after 20 minutes because you will always something new to do due to all the things you unlock after every race. I almost forgot the best part of this new game , During a race you can have a partner who is either a scout,blocker,and another type i forgot sorry about that but the jobs these guys do is a blocker during the race will intentionally crash into cars ahead or behind you to gve you a huge lead. A scout goes around the map and finds shortcuts for you so you can use them and the last one that i forgot the name sorry again
=( is when you stay behind them you get extra boost on your nitro speed its awesome. Oh and the last thing is when your going really fast and need to make a turn but you think you have no control well guess what !? you got slow motion now you can actually use slow motion and make U-turns instead of hitting walls which will slow you down and might make you give up your lead. I highly recommend this game for the fun and Adrenaline rush. If you take stories of the game seriously don't get this you'll be dissapointed.

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