Even though the Need For Speed series has recently fallen behind the Forza Horizon series, it had the power to shake not only the world of racing games but the entire gaming world many years ago. Considered the beginning of the collapse for some and the last good game of the series for others, NFS: Carbon, which is the last good game of the series, we decided to remember the old times and write a nice review!
As you may know, NFS Carbon is the sequel to NFS: Most Wanted. It's a game that many consider to be below Undergraund 2 and Most Wanted. In this review, we're going to look at the reasons for that and find out if it's still playable. I've almost completely finished the game except for some cards (Challenge series and story) and I tried to go into detail.
Let's start with some basic information about the game.
What makes Carbon important?
The 10th game in the Need For Speed series, 2006's NFS: Carbon is the sequel to its big brother, 2005's Most Wanted, both in terms of story and mechanics. Although it generally has the same mechanics and graphics as Most Wanted, many details such as the tuning system, atmosphere, cities, etc. have been adjusted and even removed. The game was released on May 20, 2006 for PlayStation 2 in North America, and in time it was released on Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii, Windows, and finally on November 9, 2006 it was completed and released for PlayStation 3 and Machintosh.
According to some claims, the game was originally planned to be released later. However, the release date was moved earlier because players flooded EA Games with e-mails. We can confirm this claim with some evidence. For example, some cutscenes, sounds etc. were removed from the game but left as files. It also carries files from its older brother Most Wanted.
According to Wikipedia, it sold 3.6 million copies in the US alone, but of course it pales in comparison to Most Wanted's massive 18 million sales. For many people, the ongoing weakening of the NFS series started with Carbon. Of course, 3.6 million for America only. Even with sales in other countries, it probably didn't even reach half of 18 Million.
Let's get started!
Story (Warning! Spoilers)
This is where the story of the game gets a bit complicated. Because the very beginning of the story goes back to before Most Wanted, and some say even to Underground. Some sources say that this extension is only between MW-Carbon, while others think that the Underground series is also connected to this story. I will try to tell you the story without including the Underground series.
First of all, let's write down which game takes place in which city.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted - Rockport City
Need For Speed: Carbon - Palmont City
Let's go back to the very beginning of the story. Even before Most Wanted. The place is Palmont City. We are given a car by Darius and we are going to participate in a race with this car. And in this race, there are big rivals. Kenji, Wolf and Angie. Just as the race is about to end, the cops arrive and electroshock the cars of the other competitors except our car. When the cops suddenly raid the race, our main character thinks of taking the money and running away. At that moment, Nikki has the money bag. Just as she's heading towards her, someone intentionally bumps into her and knocks the bag out of Nikki's hand and replaces it with a different one. In the chaos of the moment, we pick up the wrong bag full of useless papers. The bag full of money is taken by someone else.
When we run away in the chaos of the moment, we become infamous throughout Palmont City as traitors. Where do you think we escaped to?
Rockport City.
I think you already know these parts, we're tearing the place apart and at the end we jump off the bridge and go back to our old city Palmont City.
Carbon starts right here. After jumping off the bridge, it turns out that Sergeant Cross, our main enemy, followed us on the road we took. Just as we reach the city, he catches up with our vehicle and the game gives the player the first control at this point. Escape
In this part, even though we try to escape from Cross with BMW M3 GTR, unfortunately we hit a truck and the car becomes unusable because pipes fall on the car. (It's not a pipe :d)
At this point, just as Cross catches us, our old acquaintance Darius comes, tells Cross to leave and gives us a car.
We grow as we do the races and add new members to our team. After a while Darius calls us and tries to make a deal with Cross and arrest us, but Nikki comes and we get away again. We try to clear our name in the city. Even though Darius gives the bosses more powerful cars, we defeat them.
In the final, our opponent is of course Darius. When we defeat him, he accepts his defeat and decides to leave the city.
I'd like to add a little personal comment. I think the story could have been written better. At the very least, the complete breakdown of the BMW M3 GTR makes it seem like all the work done in Most Wanted was for nothing. Even though you get it by collecting karts, you can only use it in fast races.
Enemies
There are actually 5 bosses in the game. Angie, Kenji, Wolf, Darius and Cross, but since Cross appears in very few places and we don't compete except at the beginning of the game, it's okay if we don't count him.
First, after a bad character like Razor, Darius... I don't know how to describe it, it's a little bit off. But I think the character music was chosen very well. If they stay in my mind, they will stay with their music. Other than that:
Kenji is a Japanese brother. With his Mazda RX-7 and green color tone, he blows the Japanese air well on the streets of Palmont City.
Angine drives a beautiful American car. Designed more in line with the Rock theme, the character may be the closest character type to Most Wanted.
Wolf may be the most shining character in the game with his style. We can say that he has created a completely unique style. He adds a nice atmosphere to the game with his gray Aston Martin, his coat and his "I just do my job" air.
Darius is our main villain. Yes, I can't say that he is as successful as Razor in Most Wanted. But again, an original style was tried to be drawn as a typecasting. He makes the asphalt cry with his Audi Le Mans Quattro car.
Cars
NFS: Carbon, unlike Most Wanted, divides cars into levels and types in this game. There are 4 levels in total: Tier 0 with NPC cars that we can't use except with reward cards or cheats, Tier 1 with entry level cars given to us at the beginning of the game, Tier 2 with more powerful cars that start to open slowly after we get our first region, and Tier 3 with the most powerful cars that open when we reach the last region, but we are only interested in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
My advice, when you start the game, don't go on a spending spree because your money is valuable. Probably the nice car you bought at the beginning of the game will start to struggle you in the 2nd enemy.
You will usually use Tier 2 cars the most in the game. My advice is to get Angie's car because it can be very useful in other maps (except Darius). You can also try to get Kenji's car, at least you will have a Tier 2 car.
Tier 3 cars start to open when we get to Darius. My advice is to buy the first Tier 3 car that opens immediately because you win races very difficult with Tier 2 cars.
Let's come to the other classification system; Tuner, Muscle and Exotic cars.
Tuner cars are usually Japanese cars. They have the best handling and control.
Muscle cars are made up of American cars. They are the cars with the best acceleration.
Exotic consists of cars from European brands. They usually have the highest top speed.
Everything here is up to your taste. I usually used Tuner and Muscle cars, I recommend it.
In addition to what we buy in the store in the game, there are also cars that we buy with reward cards and challenge series. For example, we need to make Challenge cards for the BMW M3 GTR, I did it and bought it, but I was disappointed because the car looks untried compared to the others and it is one of the slowest cars of Tier 3. Let me show you an example,
Look, this is Darius' car. It's got the Audi logo, the Le Mans Quattro lettering, again in a special way.
Let's look at one more example,
This is the fire engine that we can get with the cards. It has a logo and everything.
And this is the BMW M3 GTR. There's no logo or anything else. I guess they didn't even bother to center the text, they just wrote plain BMW M3 GTR and it annoyed me.
AI
I don't think I need to say much about this part. I think it's very good especially for 2006. They have nice details like them trying to block us, following behind us and taking shortcuts.
Even though they have some small mistakes, I can say they are successful.
Of course, there is a part I can't pass without telling. Although I don't remember which race it was, when you destroy the logo of a shop (Donut), the racers get stuck on it and the whole artificial intelligence gets into each other. Try it if you come across funny moments.
Team System
I think the team system breathed new life into the game. It can be a bit more enjoyable, especially next to the "race alone" logic of Most Wanted. There are 3 types.
Blocker blocks the selected opponent and keeps the opponent behind
Hint (forgot the name): Shows you shortcuts on the map. If you are going to buy it, I suggest you buy the SAL character.
You can go behind the one for speed (I forgot the name of this one too) and speed up by taking advantage of the wind.
But the best part of teamwork is that even if you don't win the race, if your team member comes 1st, you are considered to have won the race. Add in the competitiveness of AI and there are moments when it really comes in handy. For example, if your team member is 1st, he can easily complete the race in which you fall behind due to a momentary accident, or he can block other cars while going first, allowing you to pass first. In this part, a little strategy comes into play, which I can say is really enjoyable.
Races
I think it's quite enough. But there is no middle ground in terms of length, some are too long and some are too short.
There is one difference compared to the previous game and that is that the drag race is gone and Canyon and Drift races are coming. But the drift system is different than U2. Canyon is the most difficult and I think the most fun.
Cops
Unfortunately, it has lost its importance compared to the previous game. So in a way the game can be finished very quickly. You don't have much to do except for the races.
Although the system is exactly the same as Most Wanted, there are differences in terms of convenience. To be honest, while Most Wanted made me sweat at the top level cops, I was able to rest in Carbon. Even if your tires are flat, the car can continue to go at a certain speed.
Map and Atmosphere
It's a bit personal, but I might prefer the atmosphere over MW. But it's normal that MW is much more preferable because of its daytime setting, music and map.
The map does not keep the player eager to travel like Most Wanted. In fact, the first button on the career mode menu is not a free map but a map.
Cards and Challenges series
It's not as full of challenges as Most Wanted, but it's more than enough. I've finished the whole series and I've come across some very entertaining races, for example, there's a mission that asks us to escape from the police with a garbage truck, or at the beginning of the game we're running away from Cross's Corvette in a BMW, while in a part of the challenge series we're chasing BMW with Cross's Corvette. It's the other way around. 😃
Cards are pieces that unlock when you do certain tasks. When 4 parts are combined, you unlock 1 main part. Cars like police car, fire truck, Cross's Corvette, BMW M3 GTR are unlocked from this part.
Technical details
The graphics are quite adequate for a game that came out that year. Of course, it's not at a legendary level, but it's not so bad that it blinds you. Although mechanically smooth, I can say that the time slowing physics is a bit broken. Sometimes it can cause enough problems to cause you to lose the race.
Music
Although it feels adequate, I feel that it is very repetitive. The same music in every race gets boring after a while and you open your own playlist from the background.
If you say music selections, it is up to your taste.
To summarize...
Need For Speed: Carbon is a less popular series than Underground and Most Wanted, but I think it should definitely be tried. The reason why a lot of people don't like it is probably because it comes with a different theme after Most Wanted was a great Rock themed game. But it's still a playable game in 2023, whether it's for nostalgia or not.
Our score is...
81/100
Have a good game!
