Need For Speed: Carbon

As somebody who had until recently, let the NFS hype pass them by, I decided that I would finally try the series out with the launch release for the Wii.

Upon starting the game, the very first thing that I noticed were the controls. First impressions were poor. The controls were unbelievably akward, but as time passed, I did find that I did get used to the controls. Whilst they aren't perfect, they certainly aren't bad, and definetley not as bad as many reviews have made them out to be.

As for the racing, well at first, it was good fun. For somebody who's main racing game experience has been from games such as Mario Kart and F-Zero, racing around the city was a novelty, but this novelty soon wore off. What struck me was how quickly the courses became repetitive and uninspired. Most have the same feel to them, and this soon becomes tiresome. What was more worrying, was that in a game called Need For Speed, the racing seemed anything but fast. In fact, it feels rather… more »

As somebody who had until recently, let the NFS hype pass them by, I decided that I would finally try the series out with the launch release for the Wii.

Upon starting the game, the very first thing that I noticed were the controls. First impressions were poor. The controls were unbelievably akward, but as time passed, I did find that I did get used to the controls. Whilst they aren't perfect, they certainly aren't bad, and definetley not as bad as many reviews have made them out to be.

As for the racing, well at first, it was good fun. For somebody who's main racing game experience has been from games such as Mario Kart and F-Zero, racing around the city was a novelty, but this novelty soon wore off. What struck me was how quickly the courses became repetitive and uninspired. Most have the same feel to them, and this soon becomes tiresome. What was more worrying, was that in a game called Need For Speed, the racing seemed anything but fast. In fact, it feels rather pedestrian. Add to this a terrible story, and you have a rather dissapointing game here.

With all the hype surrounding this series, I have completley failed to see what all the fuss is about. It comes across all arrogant, but for no reason, it's not fast, it's not exciting, and the fun is short lived. If you want a good racer, get Excite Trucks instead.

Some people would have been tainted by this game due to the seemingly odd controls that it took during re-development for the Wii. However, I found them a breath of fresh air, and they made me feel as if I were really in the car itself (while having the interior view on, of course!).

The game is identical to the PS2 version in every way other than the slightly better graphics, but don't hold your breath if you're expecting something spectacular, because you're not going to receive it. EA have again focussed more on the cars than anything else, which annoys me because i'd like to see better detailed surroundings as well as cars.

Cut scenes don the same approach as the previous NFS games (with the curved - for PS users - style live-action filming, which was a nice touch), but the story is less full than a Fast and Furious film. EA really needs to kick the story team up their arse to work on a better story other than 'You good driver, you drive, the end'. Rather boring, and… more »

Some people would have been tainted by this game due to the seemingly odd controls that it took during re-development for the Wii. However, I found them a breath of fresh air, and they made me feel as if I were really in the car itself (while having the interior view on, of course!).

The game is identical to the PS2 version in every way other than the slightly better graphics, but don't hold your breath if you're expecting something spectacular, because you're not going to receive it. EA have again focussed more on the cars than anything else, which annoys me because i'd like to see better detailed surroundings as well as cars.

Cut scenes don the same approach as the previous NFS games (with the curved - for PS users - style live-action filming, which was a nice touch), but the story is less full than a Fast and Furious film. EA really needs to kick the story team up their arse to work on a better story other than 'You good driver, you drive, the end'. Rather boring, and is one of those things that makes me put down my remote rather quickly.

Setting aside some of the major cons (under-par graphics for the Wii, and bland storyline), the controls are divine. The tilt and motion sensors in the remote are very sensitive, while not being too reactive to movement, or under reactive. Holding the Wii remote in the side-position is comfortable, but could do with a bit of padding.

Pros:

Excellent controls.

Cons:

Not enough innovation for a port (are there any for ports anyway?!)
Under-par graphics for the Wii.
Storyline WAY too bland.

4/5.