Need for Speed: Carbon

Need for Speed: Carbon was released in 2006 and on PC built on the success of Most Wanted with a return to nighttime streets, this time enriched with control over the territory of individual districts of the fictional city of Palmont City. The player leads their own crew, fights for control of canyon roads and city districts against rival gangs, and gradually faces the bosses of individual areas in intense duels on winding mountain roads, which became one of the most distinctive new features of this installment. Alongside classic body tuning, the game also introduced assembling a crew of wingmen with their own abilities, such as blocking opponents, navigation, or mechanical repair of the car on the fly, in the middle of a race against rivals and the police.

On PC, the game ran on an engine that, even a year later, retained cinematic handling of police chases, striking night lighting of the streets, and smooth transitions between driving and camera sequences when catching up to opponents on highways and in city streets. Canyon duels, with their own scoring system for proximity to the opponent and safely taking corners, brought a new adrenaline element to the series, distinct from straight sprints down flat streets and highways. The music selection again combined electronic and rock music and completed the nighttime, competitive atmosphere of streets full of rivals, police patrols, and competing gangs vying for their own territory.

Carbon was received as a solid, if less groundbreaking, sequel to the successful Most Wanted, with canyon races and the territory-control mechanic among the most frequently praised new features of this installment even among fans of the series. Within the series' history, Carbon remains remembered as the last major entry of the classic era of street tuning before the brand headed in a different direction, with a different setting and a different narrative tone, for several years.

Why play it: Fans of the series will enjoy the canyon races and territory-control mechanic as the last major entry of the classic era of Need for Speed street tuning.