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Need For Speed ProStreet

Racing and More Racing

In fact, ProStreet's gameplay reminds me of another pretty racing game - the Gran Turismo series. Complete races in different classes and venues, earn money, buy and tune up multiple different cars, tweak settings to improve performance. ProStreet even has a physics model that beats the average arcade racer. It's still not a simulation and there is a definite arcade-style feeling to the driving, but it's as realistic as it needs to be for a game designed to be played on a gamepad. Driving lines matter, and going just flat out won't get you the win - except in drag racing. Just don't forget to turn off the silly "helper" features such as auto-braking - they are there so that a three-year old could get around the track holding down one button.

The main thing - career mode - is split into Racing Day events. Racing Days pit you against a varying field of AI drivers competing in different types of races for fame and fortune. The normal race is called "Grip", and it's your bog-standard 8-car race for 2-4 laps around the circuit, with several variants. One adds cars of another performance group to the track - you still race only against your own group, but the other group acts as a distraction on the track. Another sets you racing against the clock, but with other competitors also on the track trying to nail one fast lap. A further variant of this mode sets you racing for best sector times, with points awarded for each sector where you make a new record.

"Grip" is ProStreetSpeak for the standard 8-car race around the track.

Some competitions even up the field by providing everyone with a identical cars and free repairs.

The second competition mode is Drag - simply a straight-line, full-throttle race on 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile track, where you get three chances to set the best time. You always race against one other racer, but final standings are determined only by your time. Before a drag race, there is a very simple mini-game requiring you to warm up your tires. Do a perfect burnout and you get extra grip for the race. A variant of Drag is a "Wheelie" race - a drag run with the front wheels off the ground - but only rear wheel drive cars with tons of excess horsepower need to apply.

A third type of race is labelled Speed and again, there are two variants - the base type is a race from A to B over a fairly straight track at breakneck speed, and at over 300km/h the possibility of totalling your car by clipping that smallest extra bump of the road at a wrong angle is a real risk. The alternative to this mode of play is a race for cumulative top speed over a number of checkpoints.

Warming up the tires for a Drag race.

Drifting - the art of driving sideways.

Then there is Drift - the art of driving with your door handle pointing towards the direction of travel. You race alone on a short strip of track, trying to drive sideways as fast as you can while trying to stay on track. The score is awarded based on how well you drift, with extra points awarded for drifting at high speed, or completing sections of the track while actually staying on the track at all times.

Just like in Gran Turismo, between races all you do is navigate in complex menus to choose your next race or to buy and tweak cars. You need to own separate cars for each of the four race types - you start out with a Grip and a Drag car, and by the time you run into first Drift races, you end up winning a Drift car as well; once you encounter your first Speed race, you'll have enough funds to buy a car for it. The system works, as you obviously need completely different setups for each type of racing, and your first set of wheels for each type is pretty much handed out as freebies. Nothing prevents you from using the same model across different race types, but you need separate copy of a car, as each car is designated for a race type when you obtain it.

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: Racing Modes & EventsPage 3: Gameplay problemsPage 4: Performance and VisualsPage 5: Final Thoughts and Scoring

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