Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City

"Another gaming history is hitting at a high speed!"

This game must be considered as one of the finest not to mention, the most coveted racing game on any portable system. Although this game has some flaws, they are too few you can consider it none. This review will tell you how this game rocked the shelves not only with the cover but also the game itself. There are also alot of improvements in this game from it's previous game. This will be a quite long review. So get ready for the PlayStation Portable Racing Game "Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City"

Gameplay- 9/10

Yeah, gameplay. The characteristic any game shouldn't miss or fail, especially on these kinds of games. Gameplay here can be compared to next-gen console racing game, or at least near comparable. Gameplay here has never been the same; you race on a seemingly quite dark but noisy roads of the fictional Coast City. You get to choose from over 30 cars with 2 new cars as an addition to the new game. Of course, there were improvements on this game, improvements from its predecessor game "Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0" Major improvements were made such as free roam, more tune-ups, storyline, and the ability to toggle your music and as well to play your own music. The good ol' free roam is back and it's never been the same. There are 30 hidden crates all over the city for you to find. As you destroy each crate, you unlock several bonuses such as artworks, info and a lot more. During the race, a pleasing display will be shown to you. The HUD specifically speedometer, tachometer, time and position is well presented. Looking at it won't keep you bored because of some several things such as environment and of course, music. There are also a lot of tracks that you can race in. There are designated tracks to where the event is placed. Although gameplay is seemingly perfect, its not. There are some minor flaws in this game, such as the ability to run-over obstacles in order to escape pursuit. That won't be much of a problem here. The game still is worth playing.

Story- 5/10

Looks like Racing Games today are starting to have storylines or plots. Story in Racing games started on the game "Racing Lagoon" Although the Need for Speed series is famous for having it's own story. This one is different. Although the story here is canonical and quite crappy, it still is an addition to the coolness of this game. You get to play as an unnamed guy who just recently recovered from a car crash that almost erased your memory. And it is up for you to know who was behind the car crash that killed your brother. After facing several people, you will find out that it was actually you who was trying to kill your own brother because of jealousy. What the hell is that kind of story? You find answers all around the city, battling and racing many people then you will just find out you were behind the killing? What is that kind of story? That is really, really crappy. Never have I thought EA would think of such thing. This is a disgrace to the NFS series in terms of story. If only this game had a better story I would play it. But lets look into the bright side. If there is no story in this game, then the game won't be great. You won't be able to race on different turfs and you won't get some crappy cut-scenes. I really wanted the world to know that this game sucks in terms of story. Storyline here makes the whole game have a heavy pack, it sucks the whole game down.

Music- 9/10

Music here is very cool, not just cool but great. What is a good racing game without good music? It won't be called racing game if it is only racing, it should also have music. NFS is famous for it's soundtrack. There are lots of tracks here that you can toggle on or off and listen to. There are too many for me to list down each. What's great is that you can play your own music inside the game. You only need to have music in your PSP then you can play it in the game! Unfortunately, you can't play them during the game. There is only a specific place where you can play your own music. But that is only a little bit of a problem. The music in this game is already great!

Definitely a game for those people who seek company. Never mind the lousy storyline. It was playing the game that blew me away. Although this game has a little bit of a bad side, its just little. Thank you for reading my wonderful review!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/08

Game Release: Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City (US, 10/31/06)