Retro Gaming 00’s- Need For Speed: Carbon: (2006)

The Need for Speed series has been around since ’94 and many people would argue that the game reached its peak in popularity during the 00’s decade. Despite, the popular games that came out during the 00’s decade like Gran Turismo 3 & 4, Forza Motorsport and Burnout Paradise titles like NFS: Carbon from ’06 stood out within that era. Almost everyone remembers Need For Speed: Carbon a game that came out the following year after the critically acclaimed NFS: Most Wanted title was released back in 2005. One of the few things that stood out in Need For Speed: Carbon for better or worst was the fact that only provided players with roughly around six different cars to choose from. Many people saw the limited car selection option in Need For Speed: Carbon as a negative mainly because NFS: Most Wanted gave players access to over 30 different cars. However, when it came down to game modes players had a variety of options to choose from including Career Mode, Quick Race, Challenge Series along with online multiplayer. The story for NFS: Carbon focused on illegal street racing in the fictional city Palmont with the main antagonist being a guy named Darius.

Not only did the main protagonist have to deal with a vengeful ex-police sergeant in Jonathan Cross but they also dealt with treachery from Darius who seemingly helped him and his girlfriend Nikki out towards the beginning of the game. Not only did the main protagonist have a bounty on his head but because of Darius everyone believed that the main character was a traitor and eventually got him to did his bidding in terms of acquiring boroughs. Players also discover over time that Darius was responsible for setting the main character up for prize money theft. Some might argue that the plot for NFS: Carbon was just as compelling as the Most Wanted game from ’05 but not necessarily better. While Need For Speed: Carbon was criticized for its lack of major improvements from its predecessor the game was still a commercial success reaching over three mill copies in sales in America across multiple game systems. Some would argue that Need For Speed: Carbon was one of Electronic Arts best racing titles of the mid 00’s with the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of the game standing out the most in terms of quality.