Need for Speed: Carbon for Xbox

GF Rating

4

Weak

Need for Improvement

posted by ouch5150 (SAN MATEO, CA) Nov 22, 2006

Member since Nov 2006

10 out of 13 gamers (77%) found this review helpful

I rented this game, and still have a few mixed emotions about it.

First off, the graphics are great, the cars are fast, the streets are crazy, but it just isn't anything new.

The cars look great in the customization menu, but there are a few things that are just not right at all.

Yes, there is a new Autosculpt feature, but there are only 5 each of Front/rear bumper and skirts to customize. And only 4 full bodykits? What happened to Underground 2's seemingly endless selection of mods for your ride?

I was disappointed with Most Wanted for the same reasons.

Also, the addition of muscle cars are great, but how about making them a little more controllable?
Flying down a curvy street in a Dodge Charger, trying to take the lead when your car barely grips the pavement, is straight up frustrating.

I do, however, like the fact that you can completely customize your vinyls, a la Forza Motorsport, and the color charts for the paint are good, too.

Gameplay: very monotonous, so much that I didn't even finish this game. I played about 5 days, on and off, and was about 75% complete. I even played the challenge series, but that got monotonous, as well.

Unless you have kids that are EXTRMELY well talented with their hand-eye coordination, I don't recommend buying this for them at Christmas. The anticipation of having a muscle car, only to find out they can't control it, would make alot of kids feel disappointed.

Long story short? Most Wanted 1.5, with a new car class, nighttime scene, and a little more customization options.

It looks like they are running out of fresh ideas, and unless new ones are found and implemented, I think this series is going to wane, and eventually sit on the shelves in the coming years.

But if you loved Most Wanted, wondered what it would look like in a nighttime setting, and don't mind a newer version of an older game, then this game is for you.

Personally, I would rent it, but I'd save my money for something well worth the price.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Game is the best

posted by charliedog (BOONTON, NJ) Nov 1, 2006

Member since Aug 2006

15 out of 20 gamers (75%) found this review helpful

Out of all the racing games I have played, this is by far the best. If you are interested in any type racing game, this is for you. This game consists of many different ways to design your car. The only problem is that it gets kinda boring because there is so many races. Overall, I rate this game 10 because it is one of the best games I have ever played and I think that whoever is reading this will love it too.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Truth

posted by EnixMafia (LONE TREE, CO) Nov 4, 2006

Member since Jun 2006

5 out of 7 gamers (71%) found this review helpful

It is a great racing game that would entice any racing fan. They level of car mods you can do with that game....oh my God!!!!!

I love how it is a continuation of NFS Most Wanted. And unlike most racing games that I have played, the story line is actually pretty freaking good.

To be honest, I didnt rent this game at all. I already bought it, the day it came out. And you should all do the same. It IS amazing.

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

this game is pretty good

posted by backtonoob (GRAND JUNCTION, CO) Nov 24, 2006

Member since Dec 2005

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

since i'v been playing this game for a couple of days i thought the game was good. the game play was good. the car making was exellent. the best thing that i like to do is to make you car in colors and everything that you could too. the ford mustang doesn't do much i was looking forward to remolded and remake the mustang but its a long time before you can do it

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

Similar to NFS Most Wanted

posted by akaBman (WEST ALLIS, WI) Nov 3, 2006

Member since Oct 2004

3 out of 7 gamers (43%) found this review helpful

I just played this game briefly so far because it just was released, but it seems similar to NFS Most Wanted. So instead of a 10, I would give it a 9.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

NEED FOR SPEED CARBON

posted by darkjedi76 (COLUMBIA, SC) Nov 13, 2006

Member since Nov 2006

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWNNNNN- NNNN...

I think this is the third time I have played this game. A couple new cars, couple new tracks, slight improvements, but other than that save my money and hopefully flat out 2 will be worth my time.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Very disappointed!

posted by bdelgado (COCOA, FL) Nov 8, 2006

Member since Aug 2006

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

I for one am a huge Need for Speed fan, and Carbon for some reason just didn't do it for me. First of all the career mode was way too short. I beat game in 2 days. And I work 12 hours a day 5 days a week. (Not much time was spent playing it). The customization portion was alright. I liked Underground 2's tuning options alot more. Overall the game had alot of potential but didn't compare to the others. I was chased by the cops twice, all the while having a heat level of 5. I loved the canyon races though.

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GF Rating

4

Weak

disappointing

posted by chinch (OAKWOOD, GA) Nov 6, 2006

Member since Nov 2006

1 out of 5 gamers (20%) found this review helpful

i rented this then found out that it doesn't have any xbox live capabilities. And not only that I found out that only 2 people can play at a time. It's pretty much NFSMW with a few tweaks...i say avoid this game.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

good but bad

posted by racecar123 (DAVENPORT, FL) Jan 18, 2011

Member since Jan 2011

this game was stupide because i wouldnt work on my xbox360 it said it was not supported go to the website to get an update but there was none but its a good game because i use to have it on gamecube and it was awsome

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

i loved it!!!!!!!!!!

posted by dontbehatn (TURTLE LAKE, WI) Aug 3, 2010

Member since Aug 2010

this is the best game i have ever played. its so fun when you use the cheats but chalenge yourself frist and dont use cheats, then unleash alot of speed!!!!!

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GF Rating

3

Bad

Eh...

posted by JohnnyKirk (DENVER, CO) Jan 30, 2009

Member since Dec 2008

This game was my least favorite racing game to date. The cars are unresponsive and the goal of the game seems redundant and just didn't move quickly enough.

There are better racing games out there-

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GF Rating

4

Weak

doesn't seem any better than the PS2 version

posted by plflorence (PHOENIX, AZ) Aug 13, 2007

Member since Jul 2007

I have the PS2 version and I thought I would take a look at how the xbox version is like. However, it's not much graphically better. The physics and AI of the game is still terrible as it is in the PS2 version.

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GF Rating

6

Above Average

Disappointing.

posted by MDBluesfan (MANCHESTER, MD) Jul 30, 2007

Member since Sep 2006

After NFS:MW, this game felt like a step backwards in a number of ways that I couldn't quite put my finger on. None was so obvious as to be easily labeled, but they were there, nagging away and making the game considerably less fun.

Put them all together, and the result is a game where the cars felt slower and less nimble than in the previous installation, without anything substantial to make up for it.

The two obvious additions (drifting and a crew with "wing men") both fell flat.

The drifting wasn't realistic enough to satisfy true drift fans, but wasn't intuitive or arcadey enough to please the uninitiated. By and large, I found myself skipping the drift races (especially in the canyon.

The crew was even worse. You could pick a team mate for most races who would either let your draft (completely worthless), find shortcuts (mostly worthless), or block other drivers (occasionally useful, but usually worthless). If they just didn't do their job, it would be okay, but more often than you'd like your crew will actually get in your way/spin you out. And going solo isn't an option.

Boss races were decreased far too dramatically, too, which resulted in less opportunities to win new rides. On top of that, money was too scarce to be able to afford to really customize lower tier cars (necessary to compete) and then buy new ones, so you really had to hope you won the boss rides. There were a number of cars that I'd like to have tried, but couldn't afford and didn't have the patience to start a new game for each of them.

Customization was a little enhanced, especially the visual aspect, but was very clunky when compared to Forza, which it was obviously trying to emulate.

The story was, if possible, weaker than Most Wanted. Certainly not worth making the jump just for that.

In all, you're better off sticking with Most Wanted. It offered better arcade-style racing without any of the "extras" that clutter up this game.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

david

posted by louves118 (ROCHESTER, NY) Jul 25, 2007

Member since Jun 2007

the game was hot but the canyon races is hard i hate it its impossible to beat, the last one.

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GF Rating

7

Good

Good, but cheap at the end.

posted by sysarugame (ROCHESTER, NY) Jun 5, 2007

Member since Nov 2006

This game started out awesome. Thankfully, there was not as much emphasis on police as in the last one, and the "tier" car system was a good idea. Even with the lack of customization, everything was fine up until the last couple races. I mean why did the developers mess up a good thing by making the last few races so cheap. Your opponents have the ability to not only speed up around corners, but to out pace you on stretches and going up hills. I mean there is not much you can do when you need to slow down for corners (which just happened to be the sharpest in the game), and they either go the same speed or speed up (sometimes with no boost). There were several times I would be in first place and then take a shortcut (boosting all the way), and at the end of said shortcut, I was not only in second place, but the opponent was already around ANOTHER corner. Basically, this game destroyed the "shortest distance between two points" rule. There were another times when my opponents would spin out and either crash, or are facing the other direction and within about 5-7 seconds, they are back on my heels when I had been two turns ahead at the time of the crash. It seemed that everytime I looked away from the map to see the road, I would look back to find the other cars closer and closer, regardless of my speed or mastery of the corners. The only time cars seemed to follow the rules of physics and common sense was when they were about two car lengths infront of you. Any further and they would take off up a hill or around a hairpin. Too cheap, much too cheap. The only other problems where with my team, especially the scouts as they would slow down at strange times and mess up my racing. I learned to stay far away. All in all, a good game. Actually, most of it was excellent. Could have been more refined though. Definite rental.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Simply fantastic

posted by Cenoix (WEATHERFORD, TX) May 16, 2007

Member since May 2007

Let me start off by saying this game is fantastic!

Some people lead more towards the Underground titles. However, Carbon was the true Need for Speed experience for me.

Stunning graphics. The visual aspect of the game sure was a step up from the previous Need for Speed titles. So realistic, it was almost like being there.

But as always, throughout these titles, you will find a lot of the same game play. With Carbon you'll be getting a little more bang for your buck.

Endless modifications, including performance, visuals, ect. Carbon brings, 'auto sculpting'. This feature allows you to start off with a base body kit, and change it so how you want it.

Aswell as having Auto Sculpting. Carbon gives you Territories, Crews(Ability to hire crew members to race along side you), Free Roam(Drive anywhere you want), Reward Cards(Gain reward cards throughout the game to unlock special features), and much much more.

The cars in Carbon are great. I won't say to much about that. You need to find out for yourself. I will say this, you can get muscle cars. You may or may not be disappointed with the way they handle.

Over all, if you're looking for a fast paced, adrenaline pumping racing game. NFS : Carbon is for you.

I give it a 10 out of 10.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Test Drive is still the racing king...

posted by Clipped (ONTARIO, CA) May 5, 2007

Member since Dec 2005

Test Drive is still the better game. This one isn't very unique. Even though the map is huge the scene never seems to change. Get ready to be bored if you play this one, because it's the same missions over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over!!

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

needs a little work

posted by frogbutton (WOODINVILLE, WA) Apr 21, 2007

Member since Nov 2006

It was pretty good but it needed more body kits but their are advantages 1 is theres a new race called canyon races 2 theres autoskulpt for front bumper skirts and rear bumpers rims and more! And you can race for territory and when you earn a part of the town you have to race a boss on a canyon duel. the graphics are pretty good. sound is awesome. and if you get board of career you can still go to challenge series or you can practice a race on quick race. or you can play to player. but overall i think if you like racing games you should get this game.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

amazing

posted by blackjack6 (MIRA LOMA, CA) Apr 16, 2007

Member since Apr 2006

u have got to try this game it will blow u away

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Best NFS Yet!!!

posted by Wonderful (OXNARD, CA) Apr 10, 2007

Member since Jun 2003

NFS Carbon is the best game in the NFS series so far! The racing is great and the new feature of having a partner was even better. You can chose a partner that has different skills such as blocker, drafter, or scout. This makes the game more interesting and fun. There are tons of different races to play as you knock out rival gangs and take their territory. They have also brought back the drifting races, which is hard at first but gets alot easier. Another great feature about this game is the canyon runs, where if your not to careful you might lose more then the race. You can still tune your car the way you want it and add crazy vinlys to your liking. The reason i rated this an 8 was because of how short it was. I had the game for one day, and after about 4 hours of playing it on and off, i was about 60 % done. I also thought that the beginning of the game was very easy at some points, but found it very challenging as you progress against harder opponents which is how it should be. I also thought the creators should have added more body kits and accesories to add, because there was only about 4. But overall, this has to be one of the top racing games i have ever played in my job as a gamer!!! (It's not my job, haha)

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

NFS:CARBON REVIEW

posted by SCOTTL83 (ALACHUA, FL) Apr 6, 2007

Member since Apr 2007

OK SO HERE IT IS IN A NUTSHELL. GREAT GAME. GRAPHICS A LITTLE CHOPPY ON THE CHARICTORS IN THE RACEING MODE.BUT THE VIDEO SEQUINCE HAD GREAT ACTORS AND THE CONTINUED STORY LINE FROM NFS: MOST WANTED KEPT THE GAME ALIVE. I ALSO BEAT THIS GAME IN 2DAYS. VERY SHORT CAREER MODE. OUTSIDE OF CAREER MODE THOUGH ARE PLENTY OF RACES.ALOT YOU CAN DO WITH THE CARS CUSTOMIZATION. THE GAMES NOT A PERFECT 10. BUT I THINK IT DOES DESERVE A 9. I HAVE PLAYED EVERY NFS GAME TO DATE AND CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT. IF THE COMBINED MOST WANTED AND CARBON. IT WOULD OF BEEN THERE BEST GAME YET. MY RECOMMENDATION PLAY MOST WANTED AND AS SOON AS YOUR DONE BEATING IT PLAY THIS ONE.

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GF Rating

7

Good

The unlikely combination of racing and an element

posted by JCDenton (FREEDOM, NH) Mar 9, 2007

Member since Mar 2006

Need for Speed: Carbon-based-life form attempts, just like nature's quirky brand of mutation, to evolve the species of underground car racing for a new generation (I know, that was a stretch). Anyway, the truth is Carbon is definitely a step forward compared to last year's Most Wanted. The primary reason I say that is advancement is much less focused on racking up bounties, taking out police cars and evading pursuits, which took a lot of time and patience. All of that is still in the game, but doesn't effect storyline advancement. The story revolves around (surprise) illegal street racers. You're trying to recoup your losses after all your so-called buddies get busted by the cops. Helping you is Nikki, played by Emmanuelle Vaugier (I know... how did EA arrange that!?) Okay, so Vaugier might not be as famous an NFS girl as Brooke Burke, but she looks the part. Anyway, the core of the story is that you form your own street racing team and start taking over territory all over Carbon Canyon. This leads to another nice addition to this game. In many races, you'll get a wingman. Some wingmen scout out for trouble, some give you extra speed to get you out of a jam and some block all those ugly cars so you can take the prize. See, racing is like clubbing (or so I've heard). Race enough and you square off against the bosses. Boss races work a little different this time around. After racing the boss in the city, you go to the canyons in a two-part race where you chase him down the course, after which he chases you. Whoever stays closer overall wins. There's plenty of extra playability with free-roam challenges, challenge mode and quick races that help unlock special features. However, the controls can still frustrate, especially around tight corners, even with the best handling cars. And you may get a bit upset at later challenges and courses, designed to give you road rage. Plenty of customization and features make this a good way to feed your need for speed.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

ONE THE BEST GAMES THAT I RECIEVED

posted by YOBOISOSIC (KANSAS CITY, KS) Feb 14, 2007

Member since Jan 2007

ITS A PRETTY SWEET GAME TO PLAY IF YOU LIKE RACING BUT I BEAT IT IN 2 DAYS SO THATS WATS UP

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GF Rating

5

Fair

it's okay

posted by ogre1011 (DICKINSON, TX) Feb 13, 2007

Member since Oct 2006

The game is good, don't get me wrong but i would have rather had a NFS: Most Wanted 2. While this game carries the story line all the way from NFS: Underground 2 it's really easy.

Highs:
Awesome cars / car options
Improved graphics and sound
Night Races

Lows:
Night Races
Lot of recycled stuff from NFS: Most Wanted
Drift / canyon races
Very quick story mode
No import option from NFS: Most Wanted (even the cars available in both games)

The game is fun and the cars are fast and cool, but this one i would only rent; its not going in the buy cart like NFS: Most Wanted did.

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

A okay race game for most anyone.

posted by integraT (DANBURY, NC) Feb 11, 2007

Member since Oct 2005

Need for speed: Carbon is good game for anyone with at least knowledge about how cars work and car performance. The Goods: Car selection, challenging game play, car sculpting, and The Bads: car's paint selection, aftermarket decals placement.

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Need for Speed: Carbon for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

GF Rating

Number of Players

ESRB

Compatible With