Need for Speed ProStreet Review

BY Soheil Sadeghi | POSTED: 25 March 2008

Look for your needs somewhere else.



Need For Speed the EA's yearly driving title has landed on almost every running game platform available these days. Now the Playstation Portable version -although with a little delay than the others- is here for all the racing fans on the move. While other console owners and fans of the series can close their eyes on the shortcomings of their console versions, the PSP's game is so full of these problems that make it hard to ignore.

The game is a straight-forward racing game. You are limited to a few gaming options and the focus is mainly on quick races. Although there is a carrier mode present in the game, you will not find anything special in it more than simple racing events. You can choose your car from a list of 32 cars and while the variety of the cars is welcome, the lack of any special factor in them is a letdown. The only noticeable difference between the cars is in their handling, and not hard to guess, the more expensive the car the easier it gets to control. In the flow of the game you will unlock more cars to purchase and continue your carrier with them. While other platform versions are focused on customizing your car and adding extra features to your ride, here you will not put a lot of time on those enhancements.

The game has gone from the sandbox driving game to the old single track racing mode. You choose the track and then you find yourself at the starting-line waiting for the race to begin against the other opponents. The AI is at the lowest possible in a driving game and the tracks designs are nothing worth mentioning. The number of the opponents is fixed and in any race you will go head to head with just another 3 drivers. The prize of each race is money. The money you can spend later on repairing your damaged car - which by the mediocre controlling implemented in the game, you would spend a lot there- or buying a new car. In order to get more money you have to try the same track again and again in higher difficulties. Other customizations are also available in the game; you can change the color of your car or upgrade your engines. All of these modifications play a very little role and they don't satisfy you at all. By upgrading your engine or other vital parts of the car, you will not find the races any easier; you will lose all those races again. And not very long, your options would narrow down to buying a new car instead of spending your prize money on useless modifications.

The graphics are average everywhere you look. There is absolutely no sense of speed in the game. The developers have tried to give this sense with the addition of motion blurring. Not only this technique never gives any sense of speed, it also takes away the only notable part of the game which is the car graphics and models away from the screen. The great amount of on-screen driving aides have crowded the screen in a way you cannot see the road itself and in times you just try to drive on the green guide lines on the screen. The sounds and the music are forgettable. We have seen so many better graphics and sounds in driving games on a PSP handheld console.

The addition of the Driver Intuition feature is the only plus in this disappointing game. This feature gives you the ability to spend the points gathered during the races on your chosen character for a little bit of improvements in his/her skills. These experience points are dependable on the difficulty of the race you've participated in and your overall standing. These skills are the ones needed for you to control your car and drive better and their presence in the game has made it depart from the old conception of just modifying the car and not gaining skills like a RPG game for the character (in this case the driver) in a driving simulation.

The game features the Ad hoc and also the online modes. The online mode in a handheld system is really a great option but not when you try to find another opponent and after several hours you come empty handed. That was the case I experienced, whenever I tried to find an online game to play I got disappointed by the number of sessions and the players available.

Overall, this game is not worth your money at all. You get mediocre graphics, bad controls, poor AI and almost no online multiplayer competition. All in one package! I just wish EA and other companies notice that they should not make a title available on every gaming system if they cannot make a decent game worth playing.