Games

Need for Speed: Carbon

EA Black Box, EA Canada, TransGaming Inc.

2006•Racing•PEGI 12

Taste attributes: detectivesportsvehiclesfasttried & testedsimplelinearglossybig & variedall consuming questfighting evilgame/competitionrescue/escape/jeopardyself destruction/implosion

See which match your taste

Boxlist takeConventional and fast: a sweeping racing game, glossy rather than gritty. Best if you like pace over patience.

Pace: fast · Originality: tried and tested · Tone: balanced · Weight: balanced · Realism: balanced · Story: balanced · Structure: linear · Look: glossy · Scale: big and varied · Emotional punch: balancedHow we score

IGDB rating

72 / 100

573 ratings

Your matchTake the taste test to see your match

Based on your film and TV taste: games are matched on the same ten characteristics, with your own match bands.

About This Game

Need for Speed: Carbon is an arcade-style street racing game set in an open-world city. Players compete in illegal night races across different event types, including circuits, sprints, drifting, and canyon duels on winding mountain roads, while evading police pursuits. Cars are drawn from licensed real-world models across tuner, muscle, and exotic classes, and can be heavily tuned and visually customized. A key feature is the crew system, in which players recruit AI wingmen with specialized roles to assist during races and take over rival-controlled territories.

Summary: IGDB

Story

The player returns to Palmont City, where years earlier a major street race ended in a police ambush and they were blamed for making off with the prize money. Back in the city and hunted by a bounty hunter, the player builds a racing crew and challenges the gangs that control Palmont's neighborhoods, competing for territory while trying to learn who was really behind the setup that forced them to flee.

Characteristics

Where this game sits on each taste spectrum

SlowPACEFast

FamiliarORIGINALITYOriginal

DarkTONEWholesome

LightWEIGHTINESSHeavy

FantasyREALISMRealistic

SimpleINTRICACYIntricate

Non-LinearLINEARITYLinear

UnderstatedSTYLEStylised

IntimateSCALEEpic

RestrainedEMOTIONIntense

Genres and themes

DetectiveSportsVehiclesAll consuming questFighting evilGame/competitionRescue/escape/jeopardySelf destruction/implosion

Keywords

CarsBurnoutStreet racingKing of the hillDriftingLevel selectionHigh scoreSplit-screen multiplayer

Details

Developers: EA Black Box, EA Canada, TransGaming Inc.
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: 31 October 2006
Series: Need for Speed
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox 360
Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Split screen
Perspective: First person, Third person
Age rating: PEGI 12
Taste scores: How we score
Source: IGDB

How game matches work

Games are scored on the same ten characteristics as films and matched with the same formula and your own match bands, from your film and TV taste. Game scores are estimates, made by fixed rules from IGDB genres, themes, keywords and descriptions.