Carbon on the Wii is essentially a port of the Xbox version of the game, the only real difference being with the control scheme. The default way of driving is by holding the Wii remote sideways and moving the controller left or right to turn the vehicle. It's a control scheme that takes a bit of getting used to, you can press A to oversteer the vehicle but it just ends up feeling clumsy. There are four other ways of controlling the vehicles, such as using the nunchuck to to steer, but none of them controller options are preferable over a controller. We're pleased that EA didn't just force the one control system onto the game though.
A bit of self promotion doesn't hurt.
Carbon on the Wii picks up the story where Most Wanted left off. Your player (who was leaving Rockport at the end of Need for Speed: Most Wanted) has arrived at Palmont City. As he arrives, a bounty hunter named Cross chases after you and tries to ram you off the road. Before Cross is able to take you in, Darius drives up and saves you. Once again, you begin in a big city as a nobody and you'll need to work your way up to eventually "own" Palmont City.
How exactly do you own Palmont City? Well Carbon's career mode is divided up into four regions which are each dominated by different crews. You'll start from the beginning with no turf and with a mountain of challenges. Winning challenges will acquire a certain part of the territory. If you win enough races then eventually you'll be challenged to a boss race to acquire the territory.
Boss races have two parts. First you値l need to beat the boss in a basic event, all you値l need to do is come first and in doing so you値l be able to face off in one of the canyon courses. The canyon races have two parts, first you値l need to chase the boss down the canyon and stay as close as possible, the second time around the boss will be chasing you down the canyon and you値l need to try and stay as far away from the boss as possible. The game awards points for how close the cars get to each other. If you get ahead of the boss for more than ten seconds then you automatically win, however if the boss gets ahead of you for more than ten seconds then they値l win. The canyon races are also quite dangerous, so if you fall off the cliff then the race ends automatically. This makes for races that are rather intense.
Side by side here..
In terms of race types, a lot of the same race options have been recycled from Most Wanted, so Carbon should be instantly familiar to previous fans of the Need for Speed series. Need for Speed Carbon also lets you hire wingmen to help you out in a race. As you progress through the career mode you'll unlock wingmen which carry out different tasks for you, blockers will block the cars in front of you, scouts will hunt out the best shortcuts and drafters will let you slide behind them gaining slipstream. However, the crew members aren't particularly helpful, more often than not they'll get in your way during a race or they'll sit back for far too long. So when you want them to block they're nowhere to be seen.
The car selection in the Need for Speed titles has always been rather impressive and Carbon is no different. There are more than thirty licensed cars and they're divided up into three groups; tuners, muscles and exotics. All three groups feel different to each other. If you're after a new car then you may win the pink slip to a bosses car or you can go to the car dealer and purchase one with the money you've earnt from winning races in the career mode. Just purchasing a car is only the tip of the iceberg though, as Carbon features a large range of upgrades, some performance, some visual. Visual upgrades like decals, spoilers and body kits are all available for purchase and and performance upgrades gradually become unlocked as you progress through the career mode. The game also includes an autosculpt system. Using autosculpt allows you to modify your parts a lot more accurately, unless you're really dedicated you're more likely to just purchase a part and install it.
The career mode for Carbon can be quite lengthy, but unlike the Xbox 360 version of Carbon there is no online play at all to keep you coming back to the game, once you've finished the career mode there is no reason at all to want to play again. The online play was very addictive in the Xbox 360 version and it's omission is sorely noted here.
Slide away, come slide and slide away.
Graphically Carbon looks pretty impressive. Palmont City is quite impressive and there is a lot going on during a race. The audio appears to have been recycled from Most Wanted, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The voice acting is okay, but the wingmen do become a little bit repetitive.
Need for Speed: Carbon on the Wii feels like a quick port (which it actually was so there you go). Using the Wii remote to steer your vehicle doesn't feel intuitive and the game doesn't include online support. Carbon is a fun arcade racing title but ultimately the game is more fun when you're using a controller to control your turns.
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