Carbon continues the story of last years Most Wanted as we find our protagonist returning to his hometown of Palmont City after escaping from the cops of Rockport. Upon entering the city limits, the player is taken down by Cross, the ex-Rockport cop turned bounty hunter. With your ride totaled and Cross breathing down your neck, you are taken in by Darius, an old friend with a hidden agenda. Darius gets you back on your feet and starts you on the path to unraveling the mystery of a red bag full of cash and a police sting operation on the night you left Palmont City. The story in Carbon is told through the same mixture of live action and CG found in Most Wanted. While most of the performances found in Carbon won't win any awards, it's passable enough to push the player forward to unlocking the next piece of the story's puzzle.

Starting off, you must choose your new ride from three classes. The tuner class, which most Need for Speed fans are familiar with, allows for decent speed and grip in the turns while sacrificing horsepower. The Exotic class is the opposite, providing max speeds but lacking the handling to conquer hairpin turns. The Muscle class does not strike a perfect medium between the other classes as it is sloppy in the turns but has the horsepower to quickly reach their top speeds. These three classes originally serve as an unintentional difficulty setting. The player will quickly find that the tuner class of vehicle is the best suited at handling the winding streets of both Palmont City and its surrounding canyons. Both the Muscle and Exotic class of vehicles make for more of a challenge due to their diminished handling. Players are not married to a particular class however, as dealerships allow you to use your winnings to purchase new rides.

Gangs and territories take main stage in Carbon's gameplay as Palton City is broken down into 4 main zones. Each zone is further divided into 3 or more districts. Taking control of a district is achieved by winning two events. Take control of each district in a zone and you are awarded a chance to take on a boss. After defeating the boss in their own territory, Carbon moves the final challenge to the canyons on the outskirts of the city. These canyon challenges are two stage races that follow a basic cat and mouse formula. The first stage starts out with the player following the boss, trying to keep as close to their bumper as possible. The second stage has the player in front, trying to return the favor by shaking the boss loose. If either player is able to pass the car in front or put enough distance between them, the race is automatically over. The canyon challenges are a true test of the racer's skill as you must barrel downhill at top speed while navigating hairpin turns that overlook deadly cliffs. Unlike the main street races, canyon challenges allow the player to break through the barriers on the side of the road, putting an end to your ride and hopes of glory.

The main events in Carbon follow the traditional Need for Speed formula of sprints, multiple lap circuit races, drifts, and speed traps. What makes these races different from the series past is the inclusion of wingmen. As you progress through the game you'll meet up with racers willing to join your crew. These wingmen fall into three categories, blockers, drafters, and scouts. Blockers don't mind messing up their car in order to send your competition spinning off the road. Drafters set up a slipstream, allowing you to use the speed you gain to slingshot ahead of the competition. Scouts drive ahead of you pointing out all available shortcuts with a trail of neon. Players can have a stable of up to 3 wingmen at any time, but only one can be active per race event. While having all these options to pick from is a bonus, most racers will find themselves choosing the latest blocker as their wingman. Scouts are only useful until you learn the tracks while drafters take too long to setup to be helpful in a tight race.

Carbon's core gameplay stays faithful to its roots while incorporating some of the best elements from previous console versions. Racers will find it relatively easy to pick up drifting around town no matter what car class they are racing. The learning curve is fairly low allowing any wannabe street racers to pick up a controller and burn rubber. Players will still have to shake the cops as they cruise through Palmont; just don't expect the heated battles found in Most Wanted. The police AI has been toned down since they no longer play a key role in this time around. The police still make for a fun experience, even if it feels more like a mini-game than a real challenge. The speedbreaker button that first appeared in Most Wanted returns giving the player a "bullet time" effect to pull off tough hairpin turns in slow motion. The only core Need for Speed element that took a step backwards in this title is the drift events. Unlike the drift events found in the Need for Speed: Underground games, the controls in the Carbon version are too loose to actually enjoy. Luckily, players can choose to ignore the drift events in favor of regular races.

No Need for Speed title would be complete without car customization, a feature that Carbon excels in. Performance upgrades can be applied to such categories as suspension, engine, nitrous, and even turbo. Visual upgrades come in many forms as well including vinyl, paint, rims, and countless body kits. For those players unsatisfied with picking from the body kits the developers provided, the new autosculpt feature is here to fill your creative needs. The autosculpt feature lets players take any of the visual upgrades and modify them, allowing for the creation of your own custom rims, spoilers, hoods, and more. While the autosculpt feature demands a great deal of time to fully utilize, it can result in a very unique car. Truly fanatical players will find themselves working hard to win each race in order to unlock all of the best kits for their ride.

Harnessing the graphical power of any new system has always proven difficult for even the most seasoned developers. Need for Speed: Carbon shows us this difficulty as it fails to compare to its Xbox 360 counterpart. Aliasing is still a problem in the next generation as jagged edges are found on almost every car or world object. Another issue is found in the game's portrayal of speed through the excessive use of motion blur and speed lines, making what should be a sharp experience a blurry one. Players will also notice that while the textures used on road surfaces are crisp, the textures found on the buildings throughout Palmont City are quite muddy. This is not to say that the game looks downright disappointing, just lacking the detail found in the 360 version.

The cars do most of the talking this time around, letting EA's collection of licensed music take the back seat. EA has seemingly done away with their hard hitting rap and hip-hop jams featured in past titles. Instead, they have chosen to stick with a licensed blend of dance and rock alternative for the most of the game. These stylish tunes become a natural fit to driving around a town of constant night and deserted roads. The subdued soundtrack also benefits Carbon by making the production work on vehicle sounds stand out. From the whistle of a vehicles turbo to the squeal of tires drifting around your rival, all of the games sound effects are reproduced with amazing clarity.

As a racing title, Carbon is all about competition: taking on the best and talking trash all the while. Going online allows competitors to challenge up to seven opponents in traditional races or pursuit modes. Pursuit modes spice things up by making the player take the role of a police officer in order to bust the top racer. Even though these modes are fun and add playtime to Carbon, the online play is undermined by a poor lobby system and severe latency issues. The lobby's main drawback is in its poor design and use of a countdown timer. Players are not given the option to select when they are ready, forcing them to make choices based on a timer started by the host. Once in a race, lag becomes an issue as racers will notice other cars "teleporting" around the road. Glitching through vehicles and objects is also a normal sight online; turning a normal race into a confusing situation.

As a single player experience, Carbon proves itself as a worthwhile title. Almost limitless customization coupled with the new wingman feature let Carbon stand out from other street racing titles. Minor graphics gripes aside, the poor online functionality does serve to handicap this title. An intuitive lobby system and latency-free online play are the only missing ingredients that keep Need for Speed: Carbon from being recognized as an excellent gaming package.