Need for Speed Carbon

"I am typically not one for racing games, but this one is different."

I've never really liked driving games all that much; the only other two "realistic" racing games (I.E. not like Mario Kart) I own are Project Gotham Racing 2 and Burnout 3. But this game was compelling enough for me to purchase it, for one main reason: I needed one awesome racing game for the Wii! I wanted to take full advantage of the Wiimote from the start, so I figured I needed a shooting game, a racing game, a minigame game, and of course, Zelda. This game looked the best out of Excite Truck and GT Pro, so I got it. However, this game would prove to be much more than just a cool driving game.

Initial reaction

At first, I hated this game. I stunk at it, I couldn't win any race, and I was driving into the wall over half the time. So I put it away and played Zelda. About a week later after I beat Zelda, I picked this game up, and Bam! Something clicked, and I was whizzing through the game! However, I partly brought the frustration of learning the game upon myself. I am a hardcore muscle car fan. I love good old American muscle. I own a Pontiac Firebird, and I like to drag race. Because of this, I chose to use muscle cars in the game! Once I got the hang of it, I was all right. But muscle cars have the worst handling in this game, so it's definitely the hardest to pick up. So, if you're one who gets easily frustrated learning new things, I'd try a few races with some Tuners.

The Controls

Obviously, the whole point of getting this game on the Wii is for the controls, and here's my take on them. In the beginning, I used control scheme one, where you hold the Wiimote on its side, and use the 2 and 1 buttons to accelerate and brake. This required a huge learning curve for me, and got me frustrated with it. However, I did get used to it, and I could win most races fairly easily. I used this scheme because it felt the coolest, and I thought it seemed like the most realistic use for the Wiimote. However, once I got past that, I decided to use control scheme two. It's WAY better. It's so much easier. You twist the nunchuk left and right to steer, and use the Wiimote as an accelerator pedal. From a 45° angle, the car is stopped, but tilting the Wiimote down to horizontal accelerates, and pulling it up to vertical brakes. This is FAR easier than using 2 and 1 for gas and brake. The drifting levels are virtually impossible with control scheme one. There are five control schemes in all. Three is like two, the major difference being that you start from vertical, and tilt the Wiimote down to horizontal to accelerate, and use Z to brake. Four and five are pretty much the same as two and three respectively, only you use the analog stick on the nunchuk to steer. In my opinion, these are the worst, because the whole point of getting the game on the Wii is for the controls, and that's not much different from any other racing game. However, if you absolutely can not pick up the other controls, these would suit you fine, so they're all right as a back up I guess.

Graphics

There's not really much to say in this area, besides what's probably obvious. You're going to get better graphics on the Xbox 360. However, with that being said, the graphics in this game are not bad in anyway. The lighting is very well done. The car models are pretty solid, the only thing I think it could use it a little edge smoothing (I think it's called anti-aliasing), but hey, it works. I've played it on both the Wii and PS2, and they look near identical.

Cars

Okay, here's my favorite part - the cars! One thing I LOVE about this game is that it gives you the option of whether you want Tuners, Muscles, or Exotics to play through the career with. I always hated having to play through with the Evos and Eclipses before I got to the muscle cars. This game let me have my favorite cars right out of the gate – that's a huge plus for me. And on top of that, I got to play through the entire game with my favorite cars. That part alone is pretty much enough to make this my favorite racing game. I loved the cars in this game. I am not a fan of Tuners or Exotics, but I'm sure if you're into either one you'll experience the same ecstasy that I did when I beat the first boss and got the fantastic Charger! One car I absolutely love is the Challenger concept. Something about driving a car that looks bad (In a good way) and isn't even out yet just is awesome to me.

Autosculpt

The autosculpt is awesome - that's all I gotta say. There's such a wide variety of things you can do, not only can you choose your upgrade, but you can customize it too! I don't like body kits, but there were one or two that I thought looked good on some of the cars (For me, that's saying a ton). But I gotta tell you, putting a big, fat, glistening blower stickin' right out of the middle of my Charger's hood was nothing but pure euphoria.

Drawbacks

While the cars definitely make the game for me, the reason I don't give it a 10 is because of the cars, or rather, what cars weren't in. The cars in were awesome, but I think there could have been some more. I'll give some examples, but there's one thing I gotta say, that almost made me give it an 8 instead of a 9... The Camaro Concept is NOT in the game! Now, call me crazy, but I figured since it's on the official site, and I never saw anything otherwise, I figured the car would be in the game. When I bought the game, I did so for three reasons:
1. I wanted an awesome driving game for the Wii
2. Camaro concept
3. Challenger concept
Now as you might be able to guess, I was a little upset when I found out the Camaro Concept is only available as an Xbox 360 download, or on some collector's editions. Remember how much I loved the Challenger? I was anticipating this car twice as much. Well, as upset as I am about that, most people probably won't care at all. So moving on, I did feel that the game could have had a few more cars. For instance, there was both an old Charger and a new Charger, which I thought was really cool. I think it would have been good if they did the same thing with the Challenger. And they almost did it with the Camaro, but no! They took it away! *ahem* sorry. But of course the car I would have wanted most would be a Trans Am. However, almost no racing games have that, so I've gotten used to the fact that my favorite car is hardly in any games at all. If this game had a Trans Am, it would have gotten a 10. If you're a muscle car fan, you might be disappointed that your favorite car is not in the game, but chances are you'll be having too much fun with the cars that are in to even notice!

Conclusion

This is definitely a must have game for the Wii. I loved the game, definitely my favorite racing game. I know I made a really long drawback section, but that's just my muscle car fanatic coming out, and my disappointment in the lack of the Camaro concept. So, if you're looking for an excellent racing game, and particularly if you're as devoted to Muscles cars, Tuners, or Exotics as I am, then you'll love this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/06