Need For Speed: Pro Street
Goodbye Neon, Hello Grit It's still Need for Speed, so feel free to liberally apply body decals The game's realism factor is bolstered by an impressive damage system. In the past, body panels were replaced with pre-rendered damaged panels when struck. This is acceptable when the selection of available body modifications is relatively low. But in Pro Street, the potential for large-scale customization is mind-bending. Rather than model tens of thousands of stock parts in various states of damage, EA opted for vastly improved damage modeling. The forces of impacts – scrapes, bumps, and full-on collisions – are processed in real-time. EA claims that Pro Street boasts the most realistic damage system ever seen in a racing game, where scrapes, dents and catastrophic body damage are all the result of precise mathematical calculations. Forget automatic repairs between races; you'll have to spend cash between heats to fix your car, or at least bring it to a drivable state. To top it off, damage even affects a handling. A damaged spoiler, for instance, will accurately reduce the downforce on a car; a severely dented hood will alter a vehicle's aerodynamic characteristics. If the damage features are as in-depth as EA says they are, then other games will be scrambling to emulate them. Need for Speed games are generally great-looking, and Pro Street looks to be no different. This time around, though, there's less bling and more grit. As with the racing itself, the visual theme is shifted towards the more refined. It's Need for Speed, the Adult Years. Gone are super-shiny exotic showroom whips; in their place are detailed models of real vehicles (EA says there will be a total of 25 manufacturers to choose from). The environments are highly detailed (if quite static), but perhaps the most talked-about visual element is the addition of a very convincing particle system. Smoke and dirt thrown from tires is uncannily real, and even serves the practical purpose of obscuring opponents' view.
Need for Speed: Pro Street has the potential to bring the series back to its pre-Underground roots. Except for the handful of people who live and die by attitude espoused in The Fast and the Furious, very few gamers will likely miss the visual stylings of the past five years of Need for Speed titles. The less-exaggerated driving model and structured race mode are sure to bring in fans who abandoned the game when it went neon. Throw in a ground breaking damage system and more customization options than the series has even seen, and things are looking good for the granddaddy of PC racing games.
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