Over the past couple of years the Need For Speed series has had to decide whether or not it wanted to be a simulator or an arcade game. There were a few ups and downs between the first Underground and the series' evolution into Most Wanted. Need For Speed Carbon, an offshoot of those titles, takes the series in yet another direction. Like the others, Carbon is not free of mistakes. But its simple, high-octane thrills ensure the game will be spinning in Xbox 360s well past Christmas. 

Command and Conquer

By now you've probably heard the concept a million times: enter competitions, win first place, and take control of the city. That's the gist of Carbon.

A more detailed examination reveals exactly what that entails. The game follows the current trend of implementing one enormous and continuous world over several smaller locations. You can drive anywhere you want at any time. (There is a restriction on car dealers, but I've yet to figure out why.) Since the world is very large and could take several minutes to fully explore, the game has a simple 2D map that lets you jump to hotspots with the press of a button. You can go from one competition to the next without having to actually do any normal driving. Unless... 

Donut Chasers

...The cops become aware of your actions. A police officer could appear at any time. When there is one, there will soon be many. You'll know you're when you’re going to be chased – the game performs a cinematic zoom whenever a cop enters the fray. Play is stopped temporarily, and a red overlay is applied to the screen to build suspense.

Cops will harass all speeders, possibly causing you to lose. That didn't happen during my career, but it is possible. During one chase I got in a serious pile-up shortly before the finish line. I managed to break away and regain the top spot, but that was just my skills – or plain luck – at work.

Win or lose, the cops shift into gear as soon as the race is completed. All races end with you cruising the streets of that location. It's a near-seamless transition that keeps the world and your competitions connected at all times.

The chase begins with three or four cops. Giving in would be stupid, but if you fight and win, more could take their place. Beating a cop car – that is, ramming into one until it's totaled – is not the way to win this war. You'll rack up points for doing so, but also increase the amount of cash you owe to the city. Two or three cops will take the place of every police unit you've destroyed. 

After a minute or two of dodging the bullet, the more cops clock will start counting down. If you escape now, you're home free. But if you are unable to do so by the time the clock runs out, many more police will be on your tail. They're easy to dodge in small numbers. Their barricades aren't very impressive either, until they start using spikes. Hit a spike and it's over -- your car will be too slow to get away.

In large numbers, it doesn't matter what kind of a barricade they're using -- they will catch you. Escaping six cars, from all sides, is one of the biggest challenges you'll face.

Most of the time you won't have this issue. Most races are free of police. You'll have numerous escape opportunities to avoid getting arrested, including safe havens that are invisible to the police. Safe havens become available after you've gotten a few hundred feet away from the nearest cop. They appear on the map as a lightly flashing circle. Drive there, park, and wait for the evade meter to fill. After that you're home free.

Should you get caught, the police will force you to pay a large fee to get out of jail. Unless you have a Get Out of Jail Free card, which you’ll have the opportunity to win after every boss battle. 

Speedtrap

Speedtrap is one of the competition types featured in Carbon. Roughly one-half dozen markers are placed on the map. Each marker judges how fast you were going as you approach. The fastest driver at the time of the approach is the one who wins. In other words, I could reach 100mph on every marker, while all my opponents average 90mph at each marker.

Then at the end one of my opponents speeds in front and crosses the finish line first. As impressive as that may seem, it doesn't really matter. I still win because I gained more speed at the designated points. A speed penalty is given to anyone who takes too long to cross the finish line, but this was never a problem for me. Once you install the nitrous boosts, it shouldn't be a problem for you either.

Checkpoint (another form of time attack), circuit, and other standard race types are included. Drift is the most interesting, taking on two forms: single and duel. Single drift races are point-based. The controls are switched to a looser, turn-heavy style that might seem a little weird at first. To win, score the most points. It's easier said than done, but the game controls make it near-easy to master. Get used to depressing the right trigger only half-way, which will allow you to gain enough speed to drift successfully without going too fast.

The other form, duel, reverts to the basic game controls. First your opponent – a gang leader that doesn't want to lose his or her turf -- is the one in front. You race behind, trying to stay as close to the vehicle as possible. If you manage to overtake your opponent and stay in the lead for 10 straight seconds, the race is automatically over. You will have won. If not, you'll have to race again, this time with the player in front. In which case the goal will be to get as far away from your opponent as possible.

At the end, the person who has stayed closest to the driver in front will be crowned the winner. After winning, one of the your enemy’s former teammates will offer his or her services to the player. 

Auto Wins

Carbon is the first Need For Speed to introduce the aspect of team-based racing. The game doesn't go into it too deeply, sticking with just you and one AI teammate. Teammates can be blockers, drafters, or scouts. Drafters will drive in front, enabling you to follow in their path to gain an extra boost of speed. Blockers hang behind to hold back annoying opponents. Scouts drive ahead to look for new shortcuts. He'll point 'em out to you upon finding one, and usually take the shortcut himself.

Strangely, if one of your blockers, drafters, or scouts happens to win the race, then you win the race. In Carbon, getting second place is never good enough. Circuit races typically have a tier with gold, silver, and bronze cups to earn. You don't have that luxury here. I suppose EA looked at the teammates as an opportunity to give the player something back for having to win first place. This way you don't really have to win – but if you don't, the other guy does.

As much as I liked this feature, it did make the game a bit too easy. I preferred to cross the finish line myself, even when I knew my comrade was so far ahead of the pack that he could just win the race for me. As every gamer knows, it's more satisfying to do everything yourself.

Gameplay: 8.4
Every car handles differently, every course is linked together in one massive world, and the controls will take you back to the days of arcade racers like Daytona USA. (Actual arcade racers – the ones with $5,000 cabinets all arcade owners dreaded purchasing.) The customization features are a little shallow, and the game is a little easy. Okay, a lot easy. But you’ll love the ride while it lasts, and you’re going to want to play through this racer more than once.

Graphics: 8
The cars look amazing. Every part of them is packed with realistic detail. Even the interiors are noticeably accurate. The cars reflect the city lights quite beautifully, and will do so differently depending on the type of finish that’s been applied (chrome, matte, etc.).

Carbon’s environments aren’t nearly as memorable. The backgrounds aren’t that far beyond what was possible with the old Xbox. Also, the cars, as gorgeous as they are, cannot be damaged. They can crash repeatedly, and abolish generic police vehicles. But your vehicles – which are from licensed manufacturers – are as protected as those in Gran Turismo, save for a few scratches every now and then (that magically disappear after every race).

I know that this is what most, not all, automakers want. But if some manufacturers are on board and others are not, maybe it’s the supportive companies you should be focusing on – to give the gamer the most intense experience possible.

Sound: 7.9
Hurray for the return of full-motion video! First you get to see the actors, who look toward the camera when talking to the player’s character as if you were actually in the story. The actors also appear in polygon form, with extreme realism to boot. Their polygon expressions are a little better than their real expressions, mainly due to the real actors’ lack of believability.

The voices – they’re better than most, but have a hint of “video game syndrome.” It looks like a bunch of actors were hired to be in a video game. It doesn’t look or sound like they were hired to be in a professionally written story. Which isn’t too surprising. Carbon’s characters only have one theme: “take my city and I’ll hate you forever” (an exaggerated but truthful interpretation).

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Most Career mode races can be won on the first try. The external challenge mode provides additional races to conquer, but they’re not enough to boost this game’s difficulty.

Concept: 7.5
It’s Need For Speed all over again. I’m not about to be one of those crazy people who say the series needs an overhaul to be great again. It doesn’t. I love the direction the developers have taken. That said, it’s not an original direction, just one of polish. But this series is meant to be a certain way. To make it original again would likely eliminate all the things we love.

Multiplayer: 8
Four for co-op; eight for multiplayer via Xbox Live. Some of the Career mode races are playable online as well for added challenges.

Overall: 8.2
A throwback to the good old, worry-free days of arcade racing. This is the kind of game you’ll play after seeing The Fast and the Furious (or any other street racing flick). You might hate that series – you might think the third Furious is the worst movie ever made. But mark my words, if you’re flipping through and it’s on TV, you will drop the remote, grab your 360 controller, and play this game.