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Need for Speed: Carbon

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Need for Speed: Carbon
File:932990 75531 front.jpg
Developer(s)EA Black Box
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Platform(s)PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, GBA, Xbox 360, Xbox, Mobile
ReleasePC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube:

United States October 31, 2006
Xbox 360:
United States November 1, 2006
United Kingdom November 3, 2006
European Union November 9, 2006
Australia November 9, 2006
PS3:
United States November 20, 2006
Wii:
United States November 19, 2006
European Union December 8, 2006
Australia December 14, 2006

Japan December 31, 2006
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Need for Speed: Carbon is the latest installment in the Need for Speed series but using the same engine from Need for Speed Most Wanted. It was first shown in EA's montage at Sony's E³ 2006 conference and was the cover story in Game Informer magazine of July 2006. Carbon is the first in the Need for Speed series to be released for all next-generation consoles. Carbon features a selection of cars from its predecessors, as well as many new additions including the Audi Le Mans Quattro, Shelby GT500, and the Chevrolet Chevelle SS. Carbon features actress and model Emmanuelle Vaugier. The PSP, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance version of the game is called Need For Speed Carbon: Own the City. Need for Speed: Carbon debuted at number one on the UK all format gaming chart on its first week of release, beating Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6. [1]

Gameplay

Carbon bases its ideas on life like street racing clubs and teams. The player can pick specific people to be in their crew, such as a scout who can help find shortcuts throughout the track, a blocker who races beside the player in the race and can target cars during the race and knock them off the course, and a drafter who can help find the slipstream in the race. Also, each crew member will also have a second specialty, such as fabricators, who can modify certain parts of your car and enable AutoSculpt (a tool which allows the player to customize the modifications), mechanics, and "fixers", who can reduce your wanted level or get truckers out of your way. Also the player is able to win territories, which has benefits from certain car part stores to important people. The game also features drift racing, a mode that had been included in Need For Speed: Underground, but omitted from Most Wanted, and canyon racing, a two-part race where the one part involves you gaining points depending on how close you follow your opponent down a mountain trail and the other part involving you losing points depending on how close the opponent is following you.

There is also the ability to upload one's car's picture to the Need for Speed website, complete with stats and modifications. Also, the PC, X360, and PS3 versions features an online "Be the Cop" mode.

A Collectors Edition of the game is also available offering 10 exclusive cars, 10 pre-tuned cars, 6 new races, 3 unique challenge events, 10 unique vinyls and a Bonus DVD. The Collectors Edition also features alternate packaging with alternate cover art and metallic finish packaging.

Environment

According to the July 2006 Game Informer issue, Carbon's city Palmont is located on the West Coast of the United States. The city is divided into different sections, each controlled by different bosses. Several real-world locations that apparently influenced the designs of this city are Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, hints of Denver, and Vancouver. Within each district there are 5-7 neighborhoods, and one goal in the game is to win as many of these neighborhoods as possible to gain turf from various bosses and find better shops and teams. As you gain territories you will gain access to other team members, shops, and cars. The Need For Speed Carbon: Own the City version for PSP uses 2/3 of the map from Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Plot outline

Template:Spoiler In the game, the player starts out by driving down Carbon Canyon in the BMW M3 GTR belonging to the player, which the player retrieved from Razor (the antagonist in Need For Speed Most Wanted) and subsequently left Rockport with. A recap of his last race, driving Darius' Toyota Supra, in Palmont City (with Kenji, Angie, and Wolf) is then shown. As the race comes to an end, police use an EMP device to disable all the racecars except for the player's. Then Nikki comes to drop off a sack inside Daruis' Supra, but as she tries to get in a cop pulls her away, and the player makes his escape through an alley that a stock Chrysler 300C quickly conceals. The player opens the sack only to find it is filled with useless paper. As the flashback ends we hear Darius advising the player to leave the city with his car rather than face the heat. The subsequent intro race focuses on Agent Cross (a returning character from Need For Speed: Most Wanted) pursuing the player down the Canyon. Like the intro race in Most Wanted, this race ends abruptly, fading out as the player's car runs into a construction zone. The next cutscene shows the M3 crashing into a truck and cornered by Cross, who is all too happy to finally "settle (their) score from Rockport."

However, Cross' celebration is interrupted when Darius and Nikki arrive on the scene. Darius dismisses Cross before bringing the player up to the current speed on the changes within Palmont since the player left. The main concern is the current war for territories between rivaling gangs. There are 4 dominant gangs ruling respective areas of the city, three of them headed up by the player's opponents during the race that fateful night as well as Darius' Stacked Deck, along with several minor gangs. Darius then recruits the player with the intention of helping take over the city for the Stacked Deck, to return Darius' favor in saving the player from arrest twice. However, the player's M3 was totaled in the pursuit, so Darius has Nikki help the player attain a ride. The player is introduced to Neville, who becomes his first "crew" member. The player then has to make a choice between a Tuner (Mazda RX-8), an Exotic (Alfa Romeo Brera), or a Muscle (Chevrolet Camaro SS) for his first new car. The car he chooses will also determine what territory he starts in as well as which gang he will face.

As the player inevitably proceeds to win more and more races, the player gains new territories and eventually wins complete control over a gang's territory. After taking all the territories in one section, the boss of the district's dominant gang challenges the player to a series of 2 races: one on the streets and one in the canyons, in that order. If the player wins, they are awarded marker cards similar to those in Most Wanted only the player can choose two out of a possible six, of which one of the first four may be the pink slip to the defeated boss' car. (Even if the player fails to win that car, it will still be unlocked for use in non-Career races.) After that, a member of the defeated crew will ask to meet the player, where he/she will then reveal their point-of-view of the night the player fled, giving clues to help the player make sense of the suspicious circumstances of his departure and offer to join the player's crew. Nikki also gives her point-of-view at about 30% career completion. She tells the player that she was knocked down during the chaos and the sack which indeed contained the race's prize money was switched by an unknown thief. Of course, Cross is watching this particular meeting from a nearby alley.

After the player defeats the three crew bosses, Darius offers to meet up with the player. Instead of congratulating him, he accuses the player of stealing the money that was dropped off in the player's car and asserts that the city is rightfully Darius' own. He then has Cross - who was already waiting for the player - to arrest him. Next, Darius takes the players car keys and hands them to Nikki, asking her to bring the player's car to Darius's garage and leaves. Cross then releases the player as Nikki tells him of a side deal she made with Cross, before handing back the player's keys. She also helps the player connect his crew members' stories to reveal the true nature of the police intervention: Darius set up the whole thing to drive the player out and come out richer. Part of the deal includes Nikki racing as part of your crew.

The player is then given access to Silverton, controlled by Darius' Stacked Deck. As the player begins to start the first race in this new realm, Darius is informed of the fact. He becomes agitated and recruits the nearby three major crew bosses and gives them new cars so that the player can be defeated once and for all. Darius gives orders to ensure that the threat offered by the player will be diminished. Once the player gains control of all of Silverton's territories, he is challenged to a series of 4 races, the first two of which are against all three of the other gangs' bosses. However, the player defeats the bosses, and Darius challenges the player to a street duel. Here Darius admits that he didn't just steal the money, he spent it to make Nikki his second-in-command. The player wins, and they enter a canyon race.

After Darius is defeated in both races, he comes over to the player and hands over his Audi (Oddly enough, the car does not end up in the player's garage but is instead unlocked as a "bonus" for non-career races.). Darius then leaves Palmont City, but not before warning that "there's always someone faster than you, and sooner or later they're going to catch up." Template:Endspoiler

Car Customization

Carbon allows for a considerably larger number of car customization options than the previous game, Most Wanted. A vast selection of decorative vinyls, spoilers, exhaust tips, etc., are available in a variety of colors.

Characters

There are several main characters that the player encounters during the game:

Name Casted by Voice by Car(s) Boss of Description
Nikki Emmanuelle Vaugier Emmanuelle Vaugier Ford GT - Rachel's friend from underground 2 who helps you out and eventually becomes a selectable crew member as a drafter later in the game.
Darius Tahmoh Penikett Tahmoh Penikett Audi Le Mans Quattro Stacked Deck Helps you escape in the beginning, but is revealed to have a hidden agenda as the game progresses.
Cross Dean McKenzie Dean McKenzie Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - Formerly a police sergeant who lost his job after failing to stop you from escaping Rockport in NFS: MW. Currently works as a bounty hunter bringing street racers such as yourself to justice.
Angie Danielle Kremeniuk Danielle Kremeniuk 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
2006 Dodge Challenger Concept 		21st Street Boss of a gang called 21st Street located in Kempton, prefers muscle cars.
Kenji Ken Kirby Ken Kirby
Archie Kao 		Mazda RX-7
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 		Bushido Boss of a gang called Bushido located in Downtown Palmont, prefers tuner cars.
Wolf Shaw Madson Shaw Madson Aston Martin DB9
Lamborghini Murcielago 		tFk Boss of a gang called TFK located in Fortuna, prefers exotic cars.

Note that the three crew bosses have two cars listed, the first is their primary car and can be won by the player. The second can only be seen after the player unlocks Silverton, and all of those cars have Stacked Deck Red paint jobs with vinyl designs similar to that of their former crew.

As the game progresses, the player can select the following people to be a crew member:

Name Casted by Voice by Car(s) Roles Skills Description
Colin Steve Lawlor Steve Lawlor Alfa Romeo Brera
Porsche Cayman S
Porsche Carrera GT 		Drafter Fabricator Ranking member of Wolf's TFK before his defeat. Got a look at the face of the thief who switched the money bag.
Neville Chris Gauthier Chris Gauthier
Brian Scolaro 		Matches Player's class Blocker Fixer Your first crew member and the typical social loser, albeit a formidable Blocker.
Nikki Emmanuelle Vaugier Emmanuelle Vaugier Ford GT Drafter Mechanic The last person to join your crew. See above table for more info.
Sal Elias Toufexis Elias Toufexis
Josh Keaton 		Matches Player's class Scout Fabricator Joins your crew second, interested by your reputation.
Samson Noah Danby Noah Danby
Joe May 		Chevrolet Camaro SS
Dodge Charger R/T
Plymouth Hemi Cuda 		Blocker Fixer A member of Angie's 21st Street Crew before her defeat. The only former crew member to not fly his respective gang's colors, he explains that the Chrysler 300C that aided your escape was actually an unmarked police car.
Yumi Melody Melody
Kim Mai Guest 		Mazda RX-8
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 		Scout Mechanic Formerly a member(possibly second-in-command)to Kenji's Bushido before his defeat. Yumi had tuned into police frequency during your escape and explains that the ensuing chaos was planned from the start.


Other miscellaneous people include:

Name Casted by
Stunt Nikki Silje Halvorsen
David David Footman
Flag Girls Cheryl Dee Chung
Heather Johnson

Official cars

File:Nfscarbon.jpg
A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and a Lamborghini Gallardo, two cars featured in Carbon.

The cars in Need for Speed: Carbon are divided into three categories:

Tuner Cars: Their strongest point is handling. Most cars are from Japanese companies.

Muscle Cars: Their strongest point is acceleration. Most cars are from American companies.

Exotic Cars: Their strongest point is top speed. Most cars are from European companies.

*Exclusive to EA Downloader NFS: Carbon Collectors Edition
**Exclusive to NFS: Carbon Collectors Edition

The official site only lists 46 vehicles, 3 of those being special police cars.[2] [3]

Cut Features

This is a list of some of the features that were, according to the original design, going to be in the game, but either due to time restraints, changes in design or difficulty of implimentation, were cut.

  • A police helicopter that fired vehicle immbolizers was going to be in game and persue the player's car after reaching heat level 3 or higher, but due to the complexity of the pathing needed, was cut.
  • Customizable license plates
  • Drifting against computer players, but the programmers had difficulty in programming the AI to drift.
  • Rain during drift races
  • Another type of crewmember, a Persuader, who would cause traffic to block the player's opponents, was cut due to programming difficulties.
  • Traffic in Canyon maps
  • Many UCAP (Similar to MOCAP but with facial expressions) scenes were cut due to the sheer amount of rendering power needed.
  • 20 Car races were cut from PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox consoles due to lack of respective processing power.
  • A "Tuner" flag girl (currently there are only Muscle and Exotic flag girls ingame)
  • San Juan being the starting area before going out into Palmont, complete with cop cars
  • Being able to adjust the Ride Pitch of your car, making it slant downwards.
  • Being able to get more than a 20x multiplier on Canyon Drift races.

Trivia

File:Nfscarbon055.jpg
Cross' Corvette
  • During the prolouge race FMV, incorrct gauges appear for Darius' Supra. Those are actually from a BMW 3-series (possibly an E36 or E46).
  • The police department vehicles and most of the police radio are recycled from Most Wanted.
  • When in chase heat level 5 or more in the challenge series, Cross's Corvette C6 will appear exactly like the Corvette from Rockport.
  • Also if the player looks carefully on Cross's pursuit car (when he's chasing you) the police symbol is from Rockport
  • The San Juan district is unaccessible by free roam. It is only used as a practice course in the beginning of the game (available in the Collectors Edition).
  • Colin's clothing appears to be the same from the flashback to the current scene.
  • Darius constantly refers to Cross as "Crock", "Crawl", or "Crog".
  • All the hotels and casinos in Silverton are spoofs of their real counterparts (e.g. the London hotel is a spoof of the New York, New York casino).
  • David Footman (the director) has a cameo as one of Darius' crew members in the intro scene. His name is used to take care of Cross.
  • There's a deleted scene (viewable in the Collector's Edition bonus DVD) where Cross will back up in the player's BMW as an insult and will call him Romeo.
  • The Gold-level Canyon Duel in the Challenge series consists of you driving Cross' Corvette, trying to beat the player's BMW M3. At the game's beginning, you have to use your M3 to escape Cross' Corvette.
  • The vinyl on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX in the introduction and the Canyon tutorial is a body vinyl of the Scorpio's crew logo, however the vinyl is inaccessible in-game.
  • The EA Trax only play in Checkpoint races or when driving in free roam.
  • The cop with the mustache in the arrest sequences is modeled off Neil Eskuri, the Senior Art Director for Need For Speed: Carbon.
  • Eskuri Plaza, in Kempton, was also named after Neil Eskuri.
  • The Koenigsegg CCX (only available in the Collectors Edition) will only reach a top speed of 202 mph (325 km/h) in the game. The real car reaches 245 mph (394 km/h).

Soundtrack

File:Nfsc 6.JPG
A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution during a circuit race in Carbon.
  1. Dynamite MC - "Bounce & After Party"
  2. Ekstrak feat. Know-1 - "Hard Drivers"
  3. Eagles of Death Metal - "(Don't Speak) I Came to Make a Bang"
  4. Every Move a Picture - "Signs of Life"
  5. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army - "Are "Friends" Electric"
  6. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - "Scorpio"
  7. Goldfrapp - "Ride a White Horse (Serge Santiago Remix)"
  8. Kyuss - "Hurricane"
  9. Lady Sovereign - "Love Me or Hate Me"
  10. Ladytron - "Sugar (Jagz Kooner Remix)" & "Fighting In Built Up Areas"
  11. Melody. - "Feel The Rush (Junkie XL Remix)"
  12. Metro Riots - "Thee Small Faces"
  13. Part 2 feat. Fallacy - "One of Dem Days (Remix)"
  14. Pharrell feat. Lauren - "Skateboard P presents: Show You How to Hustle"
  15. Priestess - "I Am the Night, Colour Me Black"
  16. Roots Manuva - "No Love"
  17. Spank Rock - "What It Look Like"
  18. Sway - "Hype Boys"
  19. The Bronx - "Around the Horns"
  20. The Presets - "Steamworks"
  21. The Vacation - "I'm No Good"
  22. Tiga - "Good As Gold"
  23. Tigarah - "Girl Fight (Mr. D Hyphy Mix)"
  24. Tomas Andersson - "Washing Up (Tiga Remix)"
  25. Valient Thorr - "Heatseeker"
  26. Vitalic - "My Friend Dario"
  27. Wolfmother - "Joker & the Thief"
  28. Yonderboi - "People Always Talk About the Weather (Junkie XL Remix)"

Critical Reception

Many magazines reviewed the game well. PCFormat gave it a score of 78%, saying that it was "engaging enough," but lacked innovation.

One criticism of the game is that it doesn't take a lot of time to beat. Gamespot noted that it only took them 7 hours to beat, which is incredibly short for a game.

Conflicts with Windows Vista

Currently, the PC version of the game has compatibility issues when playing under Windows Vista and crashes after the EA Logo screen. It does play if run in Windows 98/ME compatibility mode, however crashes and freezing during races or menu screens occur very frequently.

Recently EA has released a patch (upgrading the game to Version 1.3), however this patch does not yet address conflicts when playing under Windows Vista, but deals with online play issues.

According to EA's Website Support page [4], they have not released any games that are supported under Windows Vista and suggest changing the compatibility mode to play EA games if necessary.

References

  1. ^ ""Christmas charts take shape"". 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  2. ^ Official Need for Speed website Accessed December 21, 2006
  3. ^ Official Need for Speed Car Library Accessed December 21, 2006
  4. ^ EA Customer Support Page Is my game supported on Windows Vista? Accessed December 21, 2006
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