Need for Speed Carbon (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Another year, another Need for Speed, and with EA claiming the number one Christmas spot for the past three years there's little doubt that they are confident that this will do the same. The game itself was originally developed in 1994 by Distinctive Software of Canada, which was later acquired by EA. They have certainly embraced the series producing over a dozen versions in little over a decade. What separates this from other racing games is a matter of debate in gaming circles but the question has to be asked; 'will Carbon be EA's fourth number one?'

Gameplay

Unusually, Carbon, or to give it its full title 'Own the City' actually has a plot and, while this is a complete waste of time the developers have seen fit to put it there anyway. It seems that after a rather nasty accident (which had you hospitalized) you've been out of the game and have chosen now to take your rightful place on the roads. This involves you attempting to regain your 'turf' and once you enter an area a number of challenges are laid out before you. After beating the majority of an area's crew you'll be able to challenge their leader. The races themselves range from a simple 'A to B' sprint to a Chase HQ inspired 'Takedown' and everything in-between. The nice thing is that you can select the event you are strongest in and the order you wish to attack them and you're not required to complete all the events in all areas before you can successfully 'own' one.

You also have at your disposal a variety of 'wingmen' who can be called upon when you are losing sight of pole position. Their usefulness varies however and although you can select two, they are not available for all challenges. Our favorite was definitely the 'Brawler' who simply takes out the opposition by ramming them off the track but there are other, more subtle ones, available. A 'Drafter', for example, appears out of nowhere and allows you to ride in their slipstream and thus gain a much-needed boost although others give a less significant or occasionally non-existent helping hand.

Finally there is the multiplayer - it's hard to imagine a racing game with only a single player mode in today's handheld market and fortunately EA agree. Carbon features a four-player multiplayer that runs from only a single copy of the game. This does have its restrictions as you'd expect, but if you want to enjoy the game as it's meant to be there's no need to purchase extra copies. Not initially anyway.

Controls

Actually very tight and responsive although on the first couple of sittings you may be tempted to press 'A' to accelerate rather than the right shoulder button. It becomes a bit more intuitive after a while but given the discomfort you feel in your finger after a few laps you may wish for a more traditional control system. As an extra challenge you'll also discover that the opponent AI is well up to scratch so races are never as easy as you'd imagine. The collision detection is pretty impressive too allowing for some rather hairy near misses.

Graphics

Visually the graphics are the first improvement you'll notice about the game with developer Exient pushing the DS' 3D capabilities far beyond the 'Hard Drivin' style of visuals we saw in Most Wanted. There are some wonderfully designed environments featuring the type of complicated inner city layouts that cause so many headaches for the average driver. Things are slightly different here though, not least because the DS' limitations only allow for a handful of cars on the road at any one time although the vehicles themselves are well designed and rendered. There's also a noticeable compromise with the textures, which have been significantly scaled down in order to keep the frame-rate at a constant and pleasing 60 fps.

Sound

Like the visuals the audio has been cut back to fit on the cart and successfully run alongside the game's visual engine smoothly and although there are a number of musical tracks none of them are particularly memorable. The sound effects are nothing special either and although everything is present and correct you do get the feeling that these were pieces of audio simply lying around as opposed to anything created for this particular title.

Dual screen

Outside the odd menu section and the ability to customize you car's look (thanks to the numerous parts and decal creator) there's little in the way of touch screen use and the lions share of the development has instead been given over to the impressive 3D engine, which in our opinion is no bad thing.

Final comments

After the disaster which was Most Wanted, developers Exient didn't have an awful lot to live up to but fortunately they've more than risen to the challenge with what is arguably one of the better racers on the DS to date. On the minus side much of Carbon is very similar to previous outings so if you do happen to own these then you may question whether this version is actually worth shelling out for. It's still a solid racer though and the masses of features and more importantly races, should have every petrol head sitting up and taking notice. If you do happen to fall into this gaming bracket, do yourself a favor and give it a test-drive today.

Pro: Nice Visuals and Fast, Exciting Gameplay.
Con: Tedious Storyline, No Real Use of the DS' Unique Features.
Final score: 7.9

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