Need for Speed: Carbon (Xbox 360)

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Description

The 2006 game in the Need for Speed series is an evolution of the gameplay introduced in the previous games. The career mode offers complete freedom in a city with a story mode supported by FMV cutscenes, as featured in Need for Speed: Most Wanted, but now also set in the Carbon Canyon, where racers duel for territory in the city below. There still are many police pursuits. At the same time, the focus on tuning and sculpting your car remains, as introduced in Need for Speed Underground. As you win money from races, you can visit garages and car lots to make improvements to your vehicle.

Enhancements are still unlocked gradually, but the cars have now been divided over different tiers. There are about 40 cars to unlock. Many of them have been featured in previous installments, but there is a new selection and this year's edition introduces powerful muscle cars such as the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger. Other features include the possibility to form your own crew, more detailed sculpting features, drifting races (introduced in NFS:U and replaced by drag races in NFS:MW) and the new car classes. The PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions offer online multiplayer, missing from the PS2, GC and Xbox releases. Up to eight players can race together, in the Pursuit Tag or Pursuit Knockout modes, with a few variations. Pursuit Tag is a race of one civilian car against cop cars. To become the civilian car, you have to tag it and then try to fend off the cops as long as possible until you are tagged again by other players. In Pursuit Knockout everyone starts as a civilian car, but the last one at the end of the first lap becomes a cop and needs to cause as much damage as possible to the other speeders. Another mode allows you to drive cooperatively (up to four players) in a single race.

The city and the surroundings in the career mode have been divided into different territories, controlled by gangs. You are either invited or challenged to race in the sections and claim them as your own. To do so, you have to impress the gang leader by winning races until he challenges you for a duel - first in the city, then over the narrow roads of Carbon Canyon. Scores are based on proximity. You need to follow the boss in the first race, and he is in pursuit in the second one. There are 4 boss duels in total.

The crew feature, with room for up to 6 cars, allows you to assign three roles to racers: drafters, scouts and blockers. These are supporting characters you can hire to help you win races. Drafters leave behind a coloured trail that makes it easier to find the way, scouts discover hidden shortcuts, and blockers try to cause mayhem to slow your opponents down. If you hire a scout, you get access to the new AutoSculpt feature. It enables you to modify the height of every part of your car through sliders, solely for visual effect. You can also buy full body kits.

Screenshots

Alternate Titles

• "NFS:C" -- Common abbreviation
• "Need For Speed: Carbono" -- Spanish title

Part of the Following Groups

• Automobile: BMW M3
• Automobile: Chevrolet Corvette
• Automobile: Ford GT
• Automobile: Lamborghini Gallardo
• Automobile: Lamborghini Murciélago
• Automobile: Lotus Elise
• Automobile: Mazda RX-7
• Automobile: Mazda RX-8
• Automobile: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
• Automobile: Porsche 911
• Automobile: Porsche Carrera GT
• Automobile: Subaru Impreza
• Automobile: Toyota MR2
• Automobile: Toyota Supra
• Automobile: Volkswagen Golf
• Genre: Open world driving
• Need for Speed series
• PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
• PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits releases
• Portability Engine: Cider
• Technology: amBX
• Visual technique / style: Live-action cutscenes

User Reviews

There are no reviews for the Xbox 360 release of this game. You can use the links below to write your own review or read reviews for the other platforms of this game.

The Press Says

Game Informer Magazine	Dec, 2006	8.5 out of 10	85
Gamesmania	Nov 07, 2006	85 out of 100	85
Xboxygen	Dec 04, 2006		80
GameSpy	Nov 13, 2006		80
4Players.de	Nov 08, 2006	76 out of 100	76
Totally Gaming Network	Nov 17, 2006	7 out of 10	70
Eurogamer.de	Nov 06, 2006	7 out of 10	70
Play.tm	Dec 06, 2006	65 out of 100	65
FZ	Nov 08, 2006		60
Good Game	Dec 05, 2006	5 out of 10	50

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
I always call it "Need for Speed: Cabrón"	3	thf (155557) Jul 06, 2010
find car lots	3	beetle120 (2319) Dec 27, 2007

Trivia

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2006 – #3 Most Buggiest Game of the Year
• GameSpy
  • 2006 – PC Sports/Racing Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
• Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2006 - Soundtrack of the Year
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 03/2007 – #2 Best Sports/Racing Game in 2006 (Readers' Vote)

Related Web Sites

• More Than Just a Race (An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Need for Speed: Carbon (September, 2007).)
• Need for Speed: Carbon (Wikipedia entry about the game)
• Need for Speed: Carbon (Official game website)
• X360A achievement guide (X360A's achievement guide for Need for Speed: Carbon.)