So another year, another Need for Speed game although this time it isn’t your ordinary pimp-your-car-out-game. EA have taken street racing to the next level, circuit racing and realistic circuit racing at that.Last year’s edition, Carbon provided you with mountains, tight corners and of course was the normal arcade racer this series has always been, this year is the total opposite. ProStreet is based on real places around the numerous real circuits in America and you might be surprised to know this isn’t the only thing that has gotten ‘real’. That’s right they’ve ditched the arcade style game of previous years and gone with a realistic approach. Game play wise, it works surprisingly well even with the Wii Wheel. The controls were actually easy to get to grips with.
The Remote works like a real car wheel as you steer by tilting the remote/wheel, while pressing 2 to accelerate and 1 to brake. Although steering with the remote is ok, the wheel attachment for it is like steering a real car, which gives a nice realistic feel when playing the game.
The other NFS games have had very similar ‘over-hyped’ career stories. As you might have guessed so far this one is a lot different and stands out from the rest because the story is basically you racing to the top like the others; except you have to beat five main racers each with their own style of racing. You’ll work your way through Drag, Grip, Speed and Drift events and then eventually become the King of everything. The customizing section has tons of mechanics that you can fiddle with, customizing each car for a certain style of race is vital because any minor adjustments can affect your ride. Like previous installments you can pimp your car out with fat-off wide-body kit or a wacky custom paint job. It’s a big game and it’s got some skill behind it, especially when you max out your speed.
There are also added modes, like Wheelie mode which is like drag racing but you have to keep your wheelie as long as possible, this is particularly good in some spilt screen multi-player.
The graphics are nothing terrible but are a bit substandard, but this is expectable from the Wii. There is a lot of product placement so get ready to be burnt with ‘coca-cola’ advertisements from the beginning. Damage is a big part in the game because it’s quite a disappointment. The reason being, when you’re going at well over 100 mph you can clip a measly cone and lose control. If you’ve lost control you will normally flip for a few rotations and then after you’ve lost momentum you are left with a car with only a few scratches on it. This would make sense if it was more like its arcade predecessors but it’s not and it nearly ruins the whole realistic feel.Basically Need for Speed ProStreet for the Wii is pretty good. The sound and graphics are a bit off, but the game will provide you will an interesting racing experience.
7.5 / 10
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