Sunday 13 January, 2008

[ entry #1 ]

SUMMARY
Need for Speed ProStreet is the latest iteration of the Need for Speed series of racing games. It deviates from its three predecessors with the absence of the open-world city and police chases, but shows off an improved physics engine with real-time damage that affects the control of the car. It includes four primary modes of play called Drag, Drift, Grip, and Speed Challenge. The goal of the single-player mode is to dominate race days consisting of several events. In the end, the player must compete against the best racers in each event to become the street king.

GAMEPLAY
My career started during a race day, where I met my rival, Ryo, in the opening cinematic. He came off as pompous and antagonistic as he made a show of himself and talked down to me. I was winning one race after another with encouragement from the race day announcer. I was forced to race with cars provided by the event organizer, so I was not responsible for the damage accrued from bumping other cars and hitting walls. The story encourages me to keep progressing through the race days to face my rival. After the race day I was given a choice of two cars to begin my career, and of course, they were nothing special. I knew that I would be able to buy better parts for them, or just sell them to buy new cars.

The game was interesting to play because it was fun to use other cars as turning buffers by slamming into them at high speeds on a turn. This technique allowed me to get ahead of them and push them off of the track. The level of difficulty felt just right for the start of the game. The music is what kept the flow of the game going with a variety of rock, rap, and techno tracks. I was able to customize the playlist to my preferred genre of songs so that I would not be interrupted with a song I didn't like during a race.

I concur with the fact that you can use other cars as turning buffers, but while I was playing this game, I didn't like the fact that you couldn't really see too far ahead on the track, which often led to unexpected crashes. I'm sure you agree, I crashed into you a number of times.