Platform: Xbox 360
ERSB: E +10
Genre: Racing
Number of Players:
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 14th, 2007
Official Website
Writer: Cherith

Rating: 7.0
Rent

I have to be honest. I’m not a big fan of racing games; the only games I like that are similar are the SSX line of snowboarding games. I wasn’t always this way, back in the day, I was a huge fan of the Road Rash series by EA. But through the years, I just haven’t been a big fan of racing games, although occasionally I see the appeal. I did my best going into NFS: PS to be objective to the genre as a whole, and I think it paid off.

Graphics:
Beautiful. Seriously, this game has graphics that I would expect from cut scenes in an RPG. It’s not like this throughout all the different parts of the game; I’d say the garage itself where you can customize your cars isn’t as detailed or smooth. However, the graphics for the races themselves, and the opening sequences as the cars line up for a race are really beautiful.

Controls:
Normally these days, the only racing games I play are in the arcade. So I’m used to a wheel that swings left and right, and not always with a lot of control. Using an Xbox controller makes it feel like I have more control over my car and where it’s going. And I’m one of those racers who just puts the gas on and barrels through a course, none too delicately. That’s really easy to do here, and still keep control of your car, which is nice. But, there’s also more room for sophistication, if you want to keep a handle on how you take the turns.

Sound:
There’s a lot of hip-hop style music between races, which isn’t too loud or too repetitive to become obnoxious, and honestly, I didn’t really notice it most of the time. The only noise I got really tired of was the announcer’s voice, because there weren’t a lot of different lines for him to deliver during a race.

Flow:
There’s a map that shows you how the races are going to progress. And while the races do start to ratchet up as you make your way through the different places, the map is a pain to follow. It’s far too graphic to be helpful, and I often had to study it for far too long to figure out if I’d already done a race or not.

Fun Factor:
Even for a non-racing game person like me, there’s a lot of fun to be had for a competitive spirit. I definitely felt like I wanted to keep going to get the best scores, the best times in a race, or on a race day.

Is there a female playable character?
This is the one big disappointment for me. As much customization as you can do of your car, there’s absolutely no character customization. You play Ryan Cooper, newcomer to the scene, but there’s no option for changing that at all. At the very least, I would’ve liked to see a female option, even if there wasn’t any further customization.

Replay Value:
If you like racing games, this game will hold a lot of replay-ability. There�s just so much to do, and a lot of ways to win a race, that makes it easy to go back to win in other areas. If you’re not a fan of the racing genre, you may just want to make your way through the battle map and be done with it, but it’s still worth a little time.

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