Throughout Need for Speed Carbon, you have to continuously build up your car buying upgrades to make you better able to edge out more challenging competitors.



There are three classifications of cars to be used in this NFS game: Tuner, Muscle, and Exotic. Whichever you choose among these cars to drive, you'll eventually unlock other types of cars, which is apart from your starter type. So if you want a nice variety of cars in your collection, then that is possible.

This version of the Need for Speed game on the PS2, as previous games on the series, is not difficult to learn and play. As you would have expected of games from EA, the controls are quite responsive. The only aspect where the game seems to be flawed is when trying to 'drift' round the Canyon Corners. As the cars shift too much, your car could end up mounting over the side of the cliff.

Another thing that's worth mentioning is the button for the boost. If you play both Burnout and Need for Speed games, it is easy to mix up the controls for both this game. The L1 button is the boost button for Burnout, while R1 is for Need for Speed. Also, the controls for both these game series are quite identical, for the most part.

This game features a wide array of artists included in this latest iteration of EA's Need for Speed franchise. This time around, the developers have created an atmosphere that will help players feel like they are truly part of the game. The atmosphere is attained not only through the songs played during the game, but through the sound effects as well. EA has focused all their efforts in making this game feel like a real racing event that they have used real-life car models and recorded them accelerating, decelerating, doing slow and fast turns. Then they integrate this into the game, giving players the feel and illusion of driving a real car model on the track.

This game also features some good Drift races that you can choose to partake in, but you may also wrap up an entire run without having to compete in even one Drift event for the entire time. Also worth noting is that Most Wanted is a much lengthier game which requires you to complete the Blacklist, contend with 14 bosses, while in NFS Carbon you only have to compete with 4 bosses all in all.

For you to make this a truly rewarding gaming experience, you need to constantly improve your car. And to make sure that you have the best car possible, you can utilize the all-new Autosculpt feature which enables you to customize your own car, as well as its design. You can let your imagination take over this one.

Although lacking an online feature, you can't really take anything away from Need for Speed Carbon on the PlayStation 2. It has got all the right goods!