Need for Speed ProStreet Impressions
We drift and drag our way through the latest build.
EA's Need for Speed franchise is constantly evolving, rarely keeping the same look and feel for more than a couple years. This year's take, dubbed
Need for Speed ProStreet, takes the series out of an open world and back onto closed-off race tracks designed specifically to test your racing abilities. With it comes a more controlled and centered sense of style, focus and even purpose.
On display at today's massive gaming event in its Redwood Shores office(s), EA showed off the newly-redesigned drag race and drift modes. While we'd seen these race types in the past few games in the series, ProStreet's change from an open city to closed circuits means that said events have changed a fair bit as well.
No pain, no gain.
With drag racing, the focus is no longer on weaving in and out of traffic but rather controlling your monstrously-powered vehicle down a straightaway. Driving straight sounds easy, but when you've got more than 700 horsepower thrusting a lightweight vehicle forward at blazing speeds, driving straight is anything
but straightforward.
Before each run, you'll partake in a mini-game that has you warm up your tires. A little green bar moves around your RPM gauge while you attempt to manage your throttle as best you can to keep your engine revs inside said green bar. The better you do in this short mini-game, the bigger your perfect start spot will be at the start of the race. When the mini-game is over and you hit the starting line, you'll find another green bar on your rev meter, though this one doesn't move. The goal here is to keep your revs in this section and then shift into first right when the "flag" lady drops her arms. After that, it's all about applying slight touches to keep your car going straight while timing your shifts and waiting for the perfect moment to kick in the nitrous.
Drifting has also returned, though its differences are found underneath the hood. The development team started from scratch with the game's physics engine so drifting feels a fair bit different than what we saw in Carbon. Cars feel much heavier and more powerful, giving you better feedback while also not feeling like they're sliding around on ice. Scoring is still on a speed vs. angle basis rather than the types of drift maneuvers you perform, though you do get bonuses if you begin a drift with nitrous or can manage to put a long string together.
To help newcomers with drifting, there will be multiple levels of assists for these race types. On the most basic level, all you need to do is steer and play with the gas while drifting. Correctional assists will keep your car from spinning out too much, though also limit how far sideways you can push your car. When you start taking these assists away, you'll be able to play with the clutch for more maneuverability and be able to get your car sliding at insane angles, though this'll obviously take much more skill behind the wheel.
Rubbin' is racin'.
The Wii version of the game obviously makes use of the system's unique control scheme, and for the most part its implementation is obvious. Holding the controller sideways, the face buttons act as gas and brake, the trigger activates nitrous and you tilt it left and right to steer. In line with its Family Play control scheme, ProStreet will offer three options - Family, Racer and King. On the Family setting, the game will take care of braking for you so you really only need to focus on steering. Racer will necessitate the use of the brake button but leave the physics at a very forgiving level, while King will use the full racing and physics engines found in the PS3 and 360 versions. The controls change a bit while drag racing, as instead of holding the remote sideways you'll hold it vertically and yank it towards you quickly when you want to shift.
Need for Speed ProStreet looks like an interesting and stylistic direction for the series. It seems more refined and focused, which is great. We'll have more on the game soon, so stay tuned.
Source
Linear Mode
