Need for Speed: Carbon
Recently I visited EA and checked out the latest build of Need for Speed: Carbon. From what I played, the game is going along swimmingly. First off, it looks gorgeous in HD. The cars are shiny, the pavement is cracked and rough, and the fog looks almost volumetric, although I doubt it is. The first level I played felt less like Need for Speed and more like Initial D. It took place on a winding mountain road at night, presumably somewhere in Japan. I drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo in a race against another tuned up import. While the handling has been improved over Most Wanted, it still feels a little like you juiced up an AMC Pacer; it still doesn't feel like you're actually driving a car. This is the one problem I've had with the latest NFS offerings. When you play Project Gotham, the tires grip, they feel like they are actually spinning at top speed over pavement. When I whipped around in Carbon, it still felt like the car was floating. Sure, the background was passing by at the same speed the car was going, but It felt like they just never caught on. What, have they spent all their time ogling Emmanuelle Vaugier and slapping pretty stickers on car models to pay attention to the tires? Bah, they'll probably make it better. The other levels I played felt alot like the first NFS Underground. The tracks were well thought out, gorgeous, and alive. I avoided traffic by inches, toppled various environmental hazards into my opposition (including an exploding gas station), all driving by the light of my high beams. The new HUD is clean and product placement free, the sound is superb, and most importantly, my hour with Carbon was the most fun I've had with a Need for Speed game since the first Underground. We'll see how it turns out in the following months.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 15, 2006 at 1:50 PM.