Need for Speed: Carbon [GC]

You've called for back-up plenty of times in your favorite squad-based tactical shooter and your mage or priest has saved your butt more than you'd like to admit in all those RPGs you've dungeon-crawled through. So why shouldn't you be able to get by with a little help from your friends on the open road? EA's Need for Speed Carbon, the latest in its street racing series, lets you do just that. You now have wingmen helping you out when things get nasty. It's an interesting concept and it shows development's dedication to the evolution of the franchise, but it's one that may have been let out of the box a bit too early.

In last year's Need for Speed Most Wanted, your job was to creep up the Black List by taking out your enemies one at a time. This time, it's more of a territorial thing. Defeat the gang that controls a territory and it becomes yours. Of course, once you take over a place, it's ripe for a challenge from another gang. Think of NFSC as being like playing the board game Risk -- only with spoilers and nitrous. The game's setting has shifted, too, and it's a better fit this time around. Racing is done in mainly urban settings, with the occasional scary and winding canyon road thrown in to keep things interesting. (The "Carbon" of the title refers to Carbon Canyon, the setting for the game.) Too much of Most Wanted was spent on rural roadways. There was something incongruous about trying to live the outlaw lifestyle while driving around in what looked like a quaint New England town.

What hasn't changed is the size and scope of the playing field. The story and the racing unfold over a vast interconnected map of roads and highways. You can jump from event to event and to the car dealer and your garage from an onscreen menu, but if you plan on knowing the roads well enough to lose the cops on the many pursuits you'll be involved in, you'll want to spend plenty of time just driving around in the Free Roam mode.

Just as in Most Wanted, the story is pushed along with FMV sequences -- creepy FMV sequences. At first, you'll think you're looking at some incredibly sharp CG cutscenes, until you realize that what you're looking at are real actors tweaked to look somewhat computer-generated. It's a weird effect and it makes the hokey and clichéd script seem even more goofy, knowing that an actual human being is saying the lines.

The major addition in NFSC is your crew of wingmen -- teammates that watch your back and help you out during races. Wingmen come in three flavors -- blockers, drafters and scouts. Blockers are the hockey goons of the road. Single out an enemy target, hit the Y button, and out of nowhere, your blocker will zip out and slam into your rival. If you find yourself behind your drafter, activate him and you'll be able to whip along at lightning speed in his draft. The scouts don't need to be activated, but keeping an eye on them will show you where all the shortcuts are in any given race.