My Entertainment: 2006

I'm sure all of you remember that the first game review I typed was 'King of Fighter' and I pledged that I would type another review on a 3D game. Well, I apologize for late typing this post. All of you must be anxious awaiting this post. This is because I need to choose and test the suitable game to be put up this post. After choosing the game I desire, I need some time to explore and master the game. This is vital to ensure there will be no errors and mistakes in this post. Ok, let's stop lecturing and start with the fascinating post, shall we?

I'm sure most of you are enthusiastic of 'Need for Speed'. Those who are familiar with this game surely know the latest release of NFS from Electronic Arts is 'Need for Speed Carbon'. It's something like the fusion of its predecessor: 'Need for Speed Underground 2' and 'Need for Speed Most Wanted'. The plot begins as you who were once arrested by the police during a race. Then, you have to start from scratch by buying a new car. You will be given only 3 choices at the start: Mazda RX8, Dodge Camaro and Crysler 300c SRT. After you won your first race, you will be a fugitive wanted by the police for illegal racing. However, you can easily evade the pursue. The type of vehicles which pursues you differs as your heat level increase. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not referring to your body or PC temperature. As you race, and hit any civilian cars and vandalize the public amenities, police cars will start to patrol the area. If you're the first in leading the race, you will catch their attention and they will be starting chasing you. However, that depends on your heat level as well. Even though you're not the first during the race, you will still be the target of the police if you have a high heat level. Every time, you are being pursue by the police, your heat level increases. When your heat level increases by one, the cops will get more aggressive and when your heat level reaches 3, they will start to use other cars to chase you down. At the first and second level, they will drive the usual patrol cars you see on TV. Those cars are sluggish and frail. You can easily pulverize them just by ramming their car at high speeds or use the pursuit breaker. I guess beginners might not know what a pursuit breaker is. OK, let me explain. Around the city you race in, there are fragile objects which you can knock down by just ramming into it. Once they collapsed, they will block and disable some police cars which are left behind. You can also try slightly ramming into transport trucks which carries cars or logs. By doing so, their cargo will fall and scatter at the road. This is effective when you are in a tight pursuit.

The red icons in the map above represents the pursuit breakers.

Once your heat level has risen to a high state, you can lower it down at your safe house by offering $1000 bribe. You can do that by pressing no.4 button. Always beware when you are being pursued by the cops as your car will get an impound strike every time you are busted. When the impound strike exceed the maximum amount, you will lose your car. You will also have to pay a fine in order to be released each time you are arrested unless you have a special ticket which you won from the boss you defeated. At the 3rd level, the police will pursue you using a type of Nissan car which I can't determine which one. At the 4th level, SUVs will start coming from opposite sides to ram your vehicle. Avoid it at all cost. Don't be foolish to confront that powerful car. At the 5th level, cops will drive 'Dodge Vipers' to pursue you. Apart from that, you should always avoid or turn around when there is a road block ahead because they will place spikes on the road to burst your tires. If your tires are burst, escaping the police will be almost impossible. When you are able to evade the police, find a cool down place if possible. It appears at your map as blue circles. It's a hiding place. If you can't, try to avoid from the sight of the cops until the cool down metre reaches the maximum point.

The blue icons above represents the cool down spot.

Another feature that makes NFS Carbon different from its predecessor is the crew member feature. Now, you have crew members whom you choose one from the 3 types available which is drafter, scout and blocker. Drafter acts as a catalyst to boost your speed by shooting blue auras from its back. Well, it’s obvious what a scout does. They search for the shortest route in the game and plot it in your mini map. A blocker blocks and rams your targeted opponent, thus causing them to stop temporarily. Among these three crew members, I would certainly recommend blocker as it would certainly prove to be of utmost advantage especially when you completed 60% of the game. You do not need to count on a scout to search for a short route. It’s very obvious if you are alert enough during the race. A drafter is just useful on a straight route but is useless during a sharp corner. You must be wondering why I make such a statement. Think about it rationally. During a sharp corner, the only thing you want to do is slow down and press the brake button. So, what’s the use of slowing down with the drafter in front of you shooting the blue aura to increase your speed? On the other hand, you can use the blocker to slow down your opponents when they are about to catch up with you. Anyway, you’ll understand more when you proceed further into the game.

OK, the most important action to take when you start a new career is to choose an appropriate car. Therefore, I suggest Mazda RX8 for beginners because of its good handling and moderate top speed. A little difference in the acceleration and top speed among the cars available at first does not matter much as they won’t be of any use when you have to race with cars such as Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Muchie’lago and so forth. Instead, a good handling will prove useful during sharp corners as you don’t have to press the brake button for a long time in order to turn. This will enable you to accelerate first compared to other cars with poor handling. It is advised not to upgrade the parts of your first car and not to purchase any other cars until you have unlocked high performance cars such as Lamborghini Gallardo, Mercedez Benz Mclaren, and so forth. Be patient and wait until you reach the completion percentage of 60% above: when you start conquering Darrius’s territories. Don’t panic because your opponent will have the similar configuration of performance with your car. If you don’t upgrade any parts, so will them. Save the money to purchase and upgrade cars such as the ones I mentioned before. Purchasing and upgrading one of those cars would cost you at least $300000. Have some faith in my tips and advice because you will surely be grateful later on. Purchasing cars other than the ones I mentioned will be futile as they will be of no use when racing with super fast cars such as Porsche Carrera GT. In the end, you will just end up selling those cars lower than the price you bought it in order to buy those super fast cars.

When you start your new career, the difficulty is set to easy. Therefore, your opponents are basically slowpokes and idiots. If you are familiar with NFS and have been playing them for a long time, those idiots will pose no problem to you except the new canyon race where you will race with the boss. This is a new and challenging race even for experienced gamers. The concept of the race is like this: The race is separated into 2 rounds. During the first round, you have to follow the boss’ car down a hill as close as possible to gain points. The closer you are, the more points you will gain. During the second round, the boss will follow you instead. This time you will lose the points you gained earlier. The closer the boss, the faster you will lose your points. Your objective is to reach the finish line before your points runs out. However, BEWARE of certain sharp corners. Some corners have black striped yellow metal bars which are fragile. If you knock one of them, they will break and you will fall down the cliff. Then, it will be game over and you have to start from scratch. Below are some tips to emerge triumphant in a canyon race:

1.) Slow down when you approach a sharp corner especially those with black striped yellow metal bars.
2.) Try not to knock or hit objects as it will decrease your speed greatly.
3.) Don’t use brakes when you encounter corners which are only slightly bent but release your accelerate button for a slight moment instead. AIs always use their brakes during corners. Doing this will help you to get closer to the boss.
4.) On straight roads, try not to steer your car too much to maximise the acceleration of your car.

As I have said the difficulty will start to rise as you conquer more territories. The game will only start to be really challenging when you start to conquer Darrius’ territories. At that rate, your opponents’ cars will start to be super fast cars such as Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Gallardo and so forth. Anyway, don’t feel despair yet. You can still emerge victorious against those speed demons. You just have to use dirty tricks. Well, when I mentioned dirty tricks, I didn’t meant cheats but shortcuts and blockers instead. Of course, you need to choose the right race to play. The main objective now is to unlock and own a super fast car before proceeding any further. Here’s the plan:

Conquer the above territory to unlock Mercedez Benz Mclaren.

Win the above sprint race to unlock Lamborghini Gallardo.

I know it sounds impossible to outrun super fast cars such as these but looks can be deceiving. Follow this tips and you’ll surely win the sprint race eeemmmm, after a few restarts, may be 5 or 7, well; it’s just a part of the hardship which you have to endure in order to unlock the cars. All the endeavours are worth it after you unlock them. Now, follow these instructions outrun your opponents:

1.) Use shortcuts whenever you encounter one.
2.) Use your NOS on a straight road and after you slow down during a corner.
3.) When you finally gain first place, activate your blocker to knock away any opponent who tries to catch up with you.

Below are some of the dream cars available when you completed the career mode. Hhhmmmm, if only we own a real one. Anyway, did you noticed something is missing from the game? WHERE IS FERRARI!!!!!!!