While usually seen as a third-party publisher forever willing to throttle a profit-making franchise for all it’s worth, Need for Speed: ProStreet screams onto the Xbox 360 as somewhat of a surprising departure for Electronic Arts. More pointedly, while driving at breakneck speed remains the name of the game in ProStreet, gone are the sandbox city environments and frantic police chases, and in come decidedly more organised (and less socially frowned upon) races that unfold through a wide variety of licensed track locations.
EA's Need for Speed: ProStreet takes to the review grid in its attempt to win us over. Credit: Electronic Arts.
The Career mode’s bare bones narrative structure, so prevalent throughout the hit series, remains unchanged however. In a nutshell, the player’s character, Ryan Cooper, enters the ProStreet circuit with little more than raw driving talent and a desire to win his way to the top – while a selection of reigning ProStreet racing champions stand in the way of his progression. The resulting gameplay is pure Need for Speed in every way: drive fast, win, gain cash, buy better cars, gain performance upgrades, tune, enhance, test, win again, gain cash, buy better cars, etc., etc.
Where ProStreet differs most from other Need for Speed entrants is that its races attempt to deliver a more tangible sense of variety. Race categories the player will experience in ProStreet include the following:
Grip and Grip Class are flat-out speed races decided on the track with the former a come-one-come-all race while Grip Class splits the field (of 8) into two groups of four based on their relative performance. Time Attack sees a full complement of cars (again 8) simultaneously racing against the clock while competing to record the fastest track time. Sector Shootout is similar to Time Attack but sees racers awarded points for recording and beating the quickest race times posted through four separate sectors on the track. Top Speed Run is again similar to Sector Shootout but with checkpoint top speeds amassed to decide the overall winner. And then there’s Drift, which is fairly self-explanatory and challenges drivers to execute long, stylish, and fast drift turns across short tracks with awarded points deciding the victor.
While the above race styles will likely arrive as familiar to established Need for Speed fans, the inclusion of dual distance Drag races and the new Wheelie Competition probably won’t be. The former is a brief straight-line speed race driven over a quarter mile or a half-mile strip, while the latter involves monstrous drag vehicles competing for the most ‘nose air’ while thundering away from the start line.
Although ProStreet does try its best to inject the series with something new – at least in terms of staging and events – the majority of race categories are tried and tested Need for Speed winners, which somehow fall short here because being restricted to the organised constraints of track racing detracts significantly from the white-knuckle unpredictability experienced in prior road-based iterations. Also, while Drag racing and Wheelie Competitions are moderately compelling at the outset, they soon become little more than upgrade-reliant filler where perfect launches, seamless gearshifts, and opportunistic nitrous boosts set winners apart from losers and racing ability is never a deciding factor.
Beyond the central draw of the Career mode, which pans out across a multitude of high-profile events containing some, or all, of the game’s racing categories, ProStreet also offers up Quick Match racing for swift one-off races against Xbox Live opponents, and also the Race Day mode, which allows players to create their own Solo, Split-Screen, or Live Multiplayer race event. Custom Race Days can be structured completely by the player, giving them control over everything, from which race disciplines are included throughout the day and the strength of A.I. opponents, to which cars are available for specific races. It’s here, with the Race Day elements, where ProStreet does start to deliver on its promise, but only when played through Xbox Live.
Sadly, computer A.I. is disappointing in ProStreet’s single-player Career, and races are won far too easily as a result – indeed, default cars can be relied upon for far too long without having to expend race winnings to invest in more powerful rides. But, when live drivers are brought into play, the game’s otherwise mundane and by-the-numbers progression is suddenly changed out in favour of races laced with excitement and suspense. It’s worth noting that this should perhaps be seen as an A.I. shortfall rather than a plus point for Xbox Live. Multiplayer participation through Live is all-but guaranteed to raise the heartbeat while screaming around the racetrack (in almost any racing game), which is a sensation that could have been matched in the single-player Career had EA strived to do so. As it is, unless playing online, ProStreet doesn’t quite manage to accentuate the trademark Need for Speed driving mechanics – which are typically responsive – with the true thrill of racing.
Aesthetically, ProStreet exudes all the usual EA qualities that we’ve come to expect over the years. Its graphics are tight and appealing, its environments are well detailed and varied, its frame rate is reliable, its car models are impressive and accurate, its engine and peripheral sounds are, by turns, powerful and subtle, its crash effects are detailed and exuberant, its upgrade and customisation options are vast, and its overall presentation is just about as slick as slick can be. But, for all that, without the invaluable and intangible feeling that’s provided by genuine white-knuckle racing – which the series was closer to attaining while still positioned ‘on the street’ – Need for Speed: ProStreet isn’t a particularly convincing addition to Electronic Arts’ bulging portfolio of high-octane racers.
Those Xbox 360 owners hoping for racing evolution through Need for Speed: ProStreet might want to look towards the likes of Project Gotham Racing 4 or Forza Motorsport 2, while those wanting a breathless fix of arcade driving action would be well advised to await for the tyre-shredding arrival of EA’s Burnout Paradise.
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