So, what's new and enticing in this game that makes it worthy of gracing your game collection? Almost everything in NFS: Carbon is new and improved. And that's just the beginning of the good news. The graphics are as detailed and as fluid as ever and the game play is extremely engaging. But what really made us sit up and take notice first off was the storyline and the supporting cut scenes. Who would have thought that a racing game could actually have an interesting storyline?

Need for Speed: Carbon looks exceptionally polished and you can tell that a lot of development work went into the cut scenes. EA didn't waste any time acquiring some pretty awesome talent to be involved in the development process for this game. Emmanuelle Vaugier, the gorgeous brunette that walks in front of the camera within the first few minutes of the game, certainly had her work cut out for her.

Working with esteemed Hollywood director David Footman (from Xmen 3 and iRobot fame), Vaugier plays the character Nikki, ex-girlfriend of the main character and the 'good guy' in the game (the character you get to play). That in itself was kind of weird for yours truly (being a woman) but nevertheless, the cut scenes still proved to be so well done, we decided to put aside the fact that the game was obviously created for boys to play.

The whole computer-generated look and feel of the cut scenes is done exceptionally well. If you take notice of the detail of the characters, you can see that the extensive use of CGI blends in really well with real life actors and looks great in High Definition. Although the dialogue seemed a tad overdone in some interactions between the characters, this was a minor hitch.

Getting down to the game play of NFS: Carbon is pretty easily done. The single-player game is set up like a competition where the ultimate objective is to own as much of the map as you can whilst taking out the opposing gangs in various types of racing competitions. As you take out each opponent, you gain more cash to spend on two things: you can either enhance your vehicle or you can purchase crew members.