Need for Speed: Carbon

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 561 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 320 out of 561
  2. Mixed: 200 out of 561
  3. Negative: 41 out of 561
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  1. modimagic
    Dec 3, 2017
    5
    Playing Need For Speed: Carbon after Underground 2 and Most Wanted was an underwhelming experience. I did not have as much fun as was expected. Now that I have completed it, I will never play it again.

    The graphics were worse than Underground 2 and Most Wanted. Palmont city is presented as a dark and dull place. Underground 2 was so well lit and colourful. Everyone had great    Playing Need For Speed: Carbon after Underground 2 and Most Wanted was an underwhelming experience. I did not have as much fun as was expected. Now that I have completed it, I will never play it again.

    The graphics were worse than Underground 2 and Most Wanted.
    Palmont city is presented as a dark and dull place. Underground 2 was so well lit and colourful.

    Everyone had great expectations from this game. I believe NFS: Carbon could have been a great game if developers Black Box had been given proper time to complete it and not rushed for release.

    I can only wonder what could have been...    … Expand
  2. Macmillan
    Aug 28, 2011
    7
    i like the concept of canyon racing.the way ea has detailed car visuals is also good.the bad thing is races are way too easy n cop chases arnt nessescary.rivals are very few too bt i must say scenary of palmount is good bt ea dosent utilised it in a good manner.it is a good game.bt most wanted is a lord of racing.
  3. Govin_Lock
    Nov 28, 2013
    7
    The graphic is as good as PS2 game, Has team race, good cars and challenging canyon duel. But the story is too short, more lack feature of pursuit and too easy for winning a race.
  4. Marick
    Sep 22, 2014
    7
    Yeah. Need for Speed ​​Carbon is a little different than other series. He is trying to bring more story / action than other titles in the series. Unfortunately, the story is not so good. The thing I liked most is that the new mechanics introduced in the 4 "bosses".
  5. Stealthgear
    Dec 16, 2014
    7
    After Most Wanted came out, the Underground players were probably upset. Carbon is more like the last real Underground game, but because of the name Carbon, I don't think people knew what this game was about. Its like Underground, Juiced, and Midnight Club on top of the Most Wanted engine. The cop AI is not as good as Hot Pursuit 2 of course. The world map is also typical of Underground 2.After Most Wanted came out, the Underground players were probably upset. Carbon is more like the last real Underground game, but because of the name Carbon, I don't think people knew what this game was about. Its like Underground, Juiced, and Midnight Club on top of the Most Wanted engine. The cop AI is not as good as Hot Pursuit 2 of course. The world map is also typical of Underground 2. The races and challenges are exciting. All the graphics, including facial animations are great. The controls also work fine with joystick and keyboard. The sound on this game is stellar. The music is more electronic and I think they knew what type of person wanted this again. But what is this game really? Its like an Underground game with better graphics and a canyon race which is more exciting than normal. A lot of the cars are the same, but there are muscle cars and more german exotics. Its a better game than Underground 2. Its not like they reinvented anything here. So I think this deserves a 7, even though the presentation is excellent. This game was bound to get lost and forgotten with all the other racing games it is similar to. Yes its one of the best Underground style games. You start off with a slow car and its kind of the same gameplay with city tracks.… Expand
  6. AlexeySoltan
    Oct 14, 2021
    7
    its nice but assistants are useless and canyon missions are boring and hard
  7. AdamK.
    Nov 13, 2006
    6
    Considering last years nfs took about two weeks of gaming this was a great disappointment as it was far to short and far too easy. There was no setting to make things harder. In Career mode I did not go through one roadblock during the whole career. It is a great game, but keep the users active for a while unless it is not value for money!
  8. BestNoob
    May 7, 2020
    5
    Not as good as NFS:UG1 & NFS:UG2 or Most Wanted 2005 but still better than all the new titles.
  9. Leptoi
    Jul 10, 2016
    7
    Have the same **** that the other games of nfs had , history its bad but if you like car games and some customization style , maybe you gonna like this . Just remember that there are better options
  10. dandalis
    May 6, 2021
    6
    When i first played Carbon some years ago, i didnt enjoy it, i dont know what it was, but i just couldnt get around it, i thought it was a bad game, so back there and then i rage quit, which now me makes look back at my former self in shame. Though lately it started to bug me whether i was too harsh on the game or not, and recently i decided to give Carbon another go. While i still have myWhen i first played Carbon some years ago, i didnt enjoy it, i dont know what it was, but i just couldnt get around it, i thought it was a bad game, so back there and then i rage quit, which now me makes look back at my former self in shame. Though lately it started to bug me whether i was too harsh on the game or not, and recently i decided to give Carbon another go. While i still have my gripes with it, this time however i did manage to get a decent amount of enjoyment out of it and realise that previously it was mostly down to me not being up to snuff, not so much the game.

    Playing Carbon made me kinda nostalgic, there's just something cool about mid-2000's gaming and culture that is reflected in the game. The game's story and characters are cheesy, but in a good way, they dont feel or look pretentiously cringe, like characters, writing sadly do in latest Need For Speed games. There's plenty of enjoyment in beating and shutting up the cocky bosses that Carbon throws at you. The car roster also manages to reflect the hottest newest, at the time, cars and classics that were trendy in 2006. I started out with the Chevy Camaro and didnt regret it, the car was challenging, but satisfying to race with. For an older game the cars are decently modeled, however it's the car sound design that stands out, as cars sound really damn sweet in Carbon.

    It's a shame that Black Box didnt include drag racing, since Carbon's a direct sequel to Most Wanted, but atleast they brought back drifting from Underground. Overall there's a healthy amount of variety in terms of race types, though 'Race Wars' could've offered more, since they are just glorified circuit races. 1 on 1 canyon races are by far the most intense and challenging, and require a much different driving style than the one you normally use. Canyon drift events also require some time to master them, but once you do, they're pretty gratifying if you pull of a good chain of drifts. The overall handling model can differ quite a lot car to car, muscle cars logically are a handful around the corners, while sports cars feel pretty planted, super cars require mastery of their speed. So while the model is arcady, it's still retaining a good amount of believability in how cars handle irl.

    As you progress through the campaign, acquiring money to buy new cars and upgrades is not an isssue, but once the campaign is over, if you want to continue to build your collection, getting money becomes a lame grind, as the payout for repeatedly winning races is just laughable. You also need to be conscious of what kind of cars you're buying during campaign, if you choose not so wisely, it'll be difficult or nigh impossible to win some races to drive the progression forwards, forcing you to buy a different car. The crew system can also introduce some headaches, on paper it's a cool idea, and at times it really pays off in the game, but when you get blocked, crashed into by your crew mate who's on a AI rubber banded power trip, your opinion on the whole thing suddenly can take a nose dive. Speaking of rubber banding, it's obnoxious to see how you pull off the perfect drive, only for your crew mate to rubber band like crazy and snub victory from you, you're on the same team yes, it doesnt matter if they or you win, but still, obnoxious.

    Visually Carbon still looks kinda fine for a 2006 game, i think it's the art style that helps with it, aswell as the night time setting of course, helping to mask the graphical shortcomings. It takes a bit of a hassle though to get it to run properly in 2021, needing a wide resolution, HUD fix, though it's pretty easy to do. But some minor visual glitches still remain, like the 'sculpt' lines being rendered off of the car's body while customizing it, aswell as i noticed some minor flickering during gameplay, but it's nothing that gets in the way of the overall experience.

    I'm glad that i gave Carbon another shot, it made me reappreacite it and realize that it's no where near being a bad game, and even though it's ways off from being my favorite NFS, Carbon's alright in my books now.    … Expand
  11. Hayter
    Nov 10, 2019
    6
    Есть у меня пара знакомых, которые превозносят эту игру до небес, но делают это неоправданно, не знаю, что ими движет, но лично я не могу оценить эту игру выше 6 баллов
  12. Amorph0us
    Jan 7, 2022
    7
    I am not sure how could can be a story related to cars, but I found this one ok. I mean it's something over nothing. Otherwise a great NFS experience and one of the best of the series.
  13. shkipermann
    Feb 25, 2023
    7
    {__/}
    ( • - •)
    /つ☕______________________________________________________________________
  14. rezo_21
    Sep 18, 2021
    7
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 68 IIIIIIIIII====================
  15. Cz3rw0ny
    Apr 5, 2021
    7
    Definitely not as good as Most Wanted. It had a totally altered aesthetics, but the feel and gameplay also felt odd. It deserves a 7 though.
  16. Nameless2131
    Feb 6, 2020
    7
    9/10 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  17. MaxmilianKohler
    Nov 8, 2019
    7
    Unskipable cut scenes.

    Options doesn't list all the key bindings so there are some you can't rebind. Too many cops in free roam mode. And it takes an excessively long time to lose them. To the point where I avoid it completely and just jump from race to race, which in my opinion isn't as enjoyable, but it's not fun driving endlessly trying to get away from the cops. The cops even    Unskipable cut scenes.

    Options doesn't list all the key bindings so there are some you can't rebind.

    Too many cops in free roam mode. And it takes an excessively long time to lose them. To the point where I avoid it completely and just jump from race to race, which in my opinion isn't as enjoyable, but it's not fun driving endlessly trying to get away from the cops.

    The cops even spot you and start chasing you during races and then continue to do so after the race. It takes forever to get away from them. This warrants a 2-3 star rating reduction. It's awful. At least you can restart the game to avoid the cop parts.

    Not a fan of the drifting implementation.

    You get a teammate, and they're really annoying. Both vocally and by getting in your way.

    The graphics are nice, and the driving is generally nice (except for the drifting). It's very arcady/unrealistic. Not necessarily a demerit, just a preference thing.

    The story & dialogue seems created by/for a 6 year old.    … Expand
  18. r03vg
    Apr 17, 2020
    6
    EA просто сделали довольно странный неудачный самоповтор. Новые фишки выглядят интересно лишь по началу и быстро наскучивают. Вся игра превратилась в какую-то клоунаду.
  19. ChesterField
    May 7, 2020
    7
    Not much innovation, if you played to the previous ones is very similar. Still a good game but this formula is getting old.
  20. MrPajamas
    Mar 27, 2021
    7
    Need for Speed: Carbon builds on the great Most Wanted. Right at the beginning of the game, we get the opportunity to ride in the legendary BMW from the previous part. But as usual, we will lose it quickly this time as well. Underground 2 and Most Wanted were great and unfortunately I can't say this about Carbon. You ask why? What always struck me in the Need for Speed ​​series was theNeed for Speed: Carbon builds on the great Most Wanted. Right at the beginning of the game, we get the opportunity to ride in the legendary BMW from the previous part. But as usual, we will lose it quickly this time as well. Underground 2 and Most Wanted were great and unfortunately I can't say this about Carbon. You ask why? What always struck me in the Need for Speed ​​series was the graphics. EA just always had a beautiful visual and not that it was impossible to say about Carbon, but just what was it? The graphics here, although nice, just won't inspire you, as with the previous parts. I even thought that the previous Most Wanted looked better, but maybe that was just my opinion. In short, the game in graphics did not go much compared to previous parts. What's not bad, but purely I don't like it is the overall stylization of the game. Well OK. Stylization doesn't really. The menu and graphical interface is nice, but the city is so weird. Underground 2 immediately got me with its night city charm. Most Wanted with its daylight in the city, but Carbon somehow didn't interest me. The night city, although nice, is just kind of dead? Don't get me wrong. Maybe I'm the only one who sees it, but it just occurs to me that almost everything here is white. Underground 2 had a varied set of colors and so the city looked alive, but here everything is so white and I'm not a big fan of this style. Another thing is driving. Cars leave a line behind them or whatever it is. The control to the beginning compared to previous works is strange. So far I have not praised the game much and unfortunately the tuning will not save it. We can tune the cars well enough and I would say that maybe even better than with Most Wanted, but just like that, every car here won't make much of an impression, because those colors - what the hell are those colors? Again, this is my opinion, but in my opinion, all colors here are so dark, faded and simply indistinct overall. Such beautiful rich colors, which we had the opportunity to see in previous games here or at least I did not find and most importantly. The most terrible thing for me here was that I couldn't put my favorite neons on the car. Of course at Most Wanted, I understood when we had daylight, but here, where the night city returned, why didn't the developers give us the opportunity to put neons on our car? This just shows more that the whole game seemed to me to be kind of dead. All the lights in the city are white, and if I want my car to at least stand out with the light, I can't do it either. But now to the positive side of the game. The races, although harder to control or at least for me, are otherwise the same as before and even sometimes better in that, for example, my favorite drift returned to us. On the one hand, I didn't like it very much here, because, as I mentioned, it drifted quite badly because of the controls. The fact that it doesn't add much new is also not good for the game. We have the police here again, although the fact is that there are some gangs here, although I do not welcome this news very much and I was not very happy with it. So far, I've criticized the game quite a bit. You ask, is the game good at all? The answer is yes and I will now tell you why. Despite everything. Despite the dead city, worse control and nothing much new, the game continues with movies in the style of Most Wanted, and the story here, in my opinion, saves the game a lot. Once again, we'll see a Razor-style villain, or a pretty girl by the side, like Miu. Although the story recycles, it still works. What the game manages to be number one, however, is the soundtrack. The songs here are great and especially the one from the menu is just one of the best I've ever heard in the series. So in the end can I recommend this game to you? Although I think it's the fall of the series, because the previous episodes belonged to the golden era of Need for Speed ​​and the best racing games ever, even so, Need for Speed: Carbon is a good game saved by the soundtrack and the overall Most Wanted concept follows up. For me, a good game that I can recommend.… Expand
  21. referencia
    Dec 16, 2020
    5
    Chato é uma palavra fofa para descrever este jogo, diferente de seu antecessor que era divertido e frenético. Este jogo tem uma péssima imersão, péssimo mapa e uma história muito +ou-. Você não sente a velocidade de seu carro, tudo o que você faz no jogo é: Menu>mundo aberto>mapa>corrida>mundo aberto>garagem>mundo aberto>mapa>corrida.
    Não tem nada recompensante ao explorar esse mundo    Chato é uma palavra fofa para descrever este jogo, diferente de seu antecessor que era divertido e frenético. Este jogo tem uma péssima imersão, péssimo mapa e uma história muito +ou-. Você não sente a velocidade de seu carro, tudo o que você faz no jogo é: Menu>mundo aberto>mapa>corrida>mundo aberto>garagem>mundo aberto>mapa>corrida.
    Não tem nada recompensante ao explorar esse mundo totalmente morto, nem a policia é interessante, tudo parece sem graça e morto. Uma completa perda de tempo.    … Expand
  22. bar0yka
    Dec 14, 2022
    7
    hikayesi o kadar da iyi değil ve graafikleri biraz garip geldi most wanted dan sonra 7.5 - 8 verilir
  23. petrkozak13
    Dec 13, 2021
    7
    Not as good as Underground 2 or Most Wanted but Carbon is still pretty dope game.
  24. levoxyl
    Mar 17, 2023
    7
    great NFS game ,but as always they have a huge problem with the progress data saving. I already overdid my last data in a day , i am not doing it again. i know how to use my laptop so i am not dumb.
  25. dr-kenobi
    Sep 7, 2022
    7
    Цілком гідний НФС. Не рівня мост вонтед, проте, гралось абсолютно адекватно
  26. imalynxcat
    Apr 1, 2023
    7
    As a racing games fan, I could not have fun while playing this game. Most wanted and Underground 2 which are old comparing to carbon are technically better games.

Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Best PC Game of 2006
18
#18 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
22
#22 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. IGN
    82
    The drifting is an acquired taste (but it's good), the canyon duals are decent changes (though not great), and the crews...well, they suck. Of the myriad new features, the addition of muscle cars and the online functionality are the best.
    Read full review
  2. GameBrink
    80
    A great addition to the series for fans and probably a decent rental for most. While things have been upgraded and new elements added on, it’s still NFS and it still gets repetitive and boring after awhile. It’s like EA’s "Madden" of racing.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpot
    74
    Even though the wingman mechanics and canyon races don't quite pan out, it's still a stylish and enjoyable street racer.
    Read full review
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