October 24, 2006 - Electronic Arts met Microsoft's launch day needs last November with Need for Speed Most Wanted, an arcade racing game that boldly re-introduced FMV into videogame format (successfully!), brought an over-the-top array of sound effects to the mix, and returned with hardcore cop chases. It was a solid piece of gaming.

Like the giant software machine that it is, EA is back in 2006 with another game in the series. This year it presents Need for Speed Carbon with a newly tweaked, feature-heavy revision. NFS Carbon is a sequel of sorts that revives the saturated FMV look, provides a bit of story, and really works on the cars. The customization feature is even deeper than before. There are collectable items with gamer cards, challenges outside of the Career Mode (like last year), online functionality, and, EA's big feature, drifting. Drifting has made a big return this year in a couple of ways. Drifting appears in regular races, taking the place of drag racing from Most Wanted, and appears in boss challenges.

Blazing.

Need for Speed Carbon takes place in a fictitious city that's been taken over by a swarm of racing gangs. You apparently were the top dog for some time before "that fateful night." During a city race, which involved the seemingly illegal transportation of goods, all of the cars in your racing pod were electronically zapped by a government special ops team. They used an EMP-type gun that stopped all functionality in each car, except yours. You made it out alive. Then, according to the story, you skip town. When you return, a significant period of time later, the city has changed. Filling the vacuum you left, a gaggle of gangs have grabbed territories across the city. Now that you're back, your job is to win those territories over one by one until the entire place it yours again.

The Career Mode centers around re-taking the city, much like the way it's done in Saints Row. There are four territories in the game, each consisting of about four or more sections. Think of the territories as counties and the sections as cities. Your job is to take on each city, comprising three or four races, at a time. The races types, like all most recent NFS games, vary greatly. You'll enter into checkpoint races, pursuit evasions, loop circuits, trade paint events, drifts, sprints, speed traps, and race wars. The only one that needs real explanation is race wars, which usually puts you in a three-lap circuit with 18 others. Once you grab control of a full territory, you'll then do something totally new. In NFS Most Wanted, you competed in two races against the next boss on the Black List. In Carbon, you'll race against the gang boss that controls the territory in two races and then progress to the canyon duel, which takes place outside the city.

The city is yours to re-take.

Canyon Duels are interesting and different. Here, you'll race against a boss in two challenges. In the first race, you'll have to follow his lead. You'll start within about 20 feet of one another and you'll follow him (or her) as closely as possible. The goal is to minimize the space between you and the opponent or, if possible, to overtake the opponent without skidding or drifting off the harrowing canyon passages. What makes this a challenge is the amount of drifting you'll end up doing and the interactivity of the canyon road barriers. These barriers are temporary. If you hit them hard enough, they'll give way and you'll tumble into the canyon below.

Finish the race successfully and your time is recorded. Then you and the boss switch places. In the second race, you'll lead and he'll follow. If he scores a better time than you (by shadowing you closer than you shadowed him), he wins. Risks are involved. Battles will be close. And you may end up driving to your death over a cliff. Still, you will see opportunities. For instance, you can speed up ahead of the opponent in the first race. It's tough but doable. If you can pass him and stay ahead for about five seconds, you'll win the whole kit and caboodle, no second race required. When you win, you get the territory. One last thing, during the struggle for dominance of a territory, you'll often be challenged by another gang trying to re-take it. You have a choice to race or not; take it from me, it's always better to race them.

Carbon returns with the colorful, weird and heavily saturated FMV cutscenes of 2005, only this year Carbon provides a different take. If you've ever played EA's NASCAR series, then you would be familiar with its crew system. With a crew you can pick scouts, blockers and drafters. Pick one for a race and they'll act as a guide for that session. With the press of a button (Y on Xbox 360, Triangle on PS2 and PS3), you can call on them to do their thing. With blockers, your crew member will get in the way of oncoming opponents. With drafters, they'll position themselves in front of you so you can slingshot ahead. And with scouts, they'll find shortcuts not shown on the city maps, permitting you to shave seconds off your final time. I'm not sure how crazy I am about these teams. They add flavor and color to be sure, but usefulness? I'm not sold on them yet. You can only pick one per race. Also the scout finds paths that existed in all other NFS games, only you didn't need someone else's help before. This scout actually removes the little thrill of discovering the paths yourself.