Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4038 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2008-11-21
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Windows XP
• Format: DVD-ROM

Customer Reviews

Black Ice.
I've just bought this game and only barely played it, but already I can see issues that need addressing.

After starting up the game and loosing the cops in the opening chase, I was dropped into free roam in a Nissan 240SX a great car by any standards.

I use a Logitech G25 Racing Wheel which works great in every driving game I have - except this one. Trying to control the car was a nightmare, the wheel had zero feel to it, not even the tinyest bit of feedback making straight line driving impossible. This is not the case when you fire up a race, then it returns to what it should feel like. It causes another problem, when in free roam your best tactic is to reduce the Steering Sensitivity to below 15% so you can handle the car somewhat, you'll need to bring that up every time you race or you simply won't be able to run effectively.

I'm hoping that modding the car may help the handling, that and the bonuses you get to the car when you win races, but I'm not optimistic - we'll see. I've been a born again fan since NFS Most Wanted, I loved Pro Street but missed the story that usually comes with the game.

If you want a really fun game, buy Flatout Ultimate Carnage, it's destruction racing that's huge fun and very addictive. You won't be disappointed.

Much better as a frisbee.
I recieved this an unwanted birthday present. Great. So much for boycotting EA due to their attempts to kill the secondhand market, install stuff I don't want on my PC while only telling me about it in the depths of the EULA and only letting em rent games. Thank you EA, may you go bankrupt in this credit crunch.

Anyway, having this game gave me an excuse to pirate it legally. EA have managed to make it so you get a better deal taking their games off the internet and just forgetting about the online aspect, and as emulation is perfectly legal in the UK, it's all good for me. Thank god we don't have the DMCA here.

Now, 3 paragraphs in, for the review.

The main part of the game, the driving, is like trying to steer warm cheese through sludge. The cars feel completely unresponsive, and when you are near or at your top speeds in game then hitting other cars head on is almost impossible to avoid. You tend to lose about 60mph here, and not fling your car into a gratifying physics-fest of twisted metal and explosions. Shame. The damage on the cars is superficial only, but they can still end up pretty crumpled.

The plot is akin to having your ears attacked by a madman with a cheesegrater, and Maggie Q (of Die Hard 4.0 fame) seems to really not care about the plot. This is perfectly acceptable for Red Alert 3, as Red Alert is just meant to be silly. Need for Speed is meant to be about racing, not plot!

There are, surprisingly, some decent aspects of the game. The selection of cars is really good, including the Mclaren F1, the Mercedes Mclaren SLR, the new Nissan GTR, Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda etc. I was hoever dissapointed at the lack of the Aerial Atom. That would have been very fun.

Secondly, the graphics are fine. I'm running this game on an ATI 4870, AMD Athlon X2 6000+ and 6GB of RAM on Vista 64 bit. Absolutely no problems on maximum graphics.

Thirdly, it has a very good soundtrack. It has Pendulum in, enough said.

But these do not save it from being a surpirsingly poor game. The fact the driving is so bad, the main point of a driving game, mena that this is a completely unrecommendable game. Coupled with the SecuRom, this is a waste of £15. Go and buy Need for Speed Most Wanted, it's much better.

Shoddy effort, must try harder
My word, the games appear to be getting worse. Please don't buy this game it's shocking. EA really need to reboot the franchise, gameplay is being dumbed down more and more. Don't buy the game and more importantly don't obtain the game by other means. Send EA a message that enough is enough, that the NFS franchise isn't worth pirating never mind buying.

Buy this Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PC DVD) instead