360-ing

Bought two new games for the 360, Need for Speed: Pro Street and Ace Combat 6: The Fires of War. Two very good buys if i might add, real good for keeping the boredom at bay when I'm stuck at home. First up is Need for Speed, and like all car enthusiasts and players of driving simulators i have to admit that i had very low expectations for it. After having played games like Gran Turismo and Forza which are two very superb driving simulators i have to say that the Need for Speed series is sorely lacking in terms of realism, challenge and detail when compared with these two games, until now. Pro Street is by far the most impressive Need for Speed title in this long series, it certainly trumps Carbon and Most Wanted in terms of detail, challenge and realism. When played in "King Mode" you almost feel like you're playing Forza instead of NFS where you have to actually brake into corners. Gone are the days where you can take a corner at over 100, now the standard is a more realistic 60 odd. And no more reckless driving by those unskilled drivers who only depend on speed to win a race. Crash into a wall or another car? There goes your body panels and windscreens, dented and shattered. Miss a turn and go over a curb? If you're lucky you get away with some dents and scrapes on your bodywork, if not your car flips and it's all over. And whats more the car doesn't "auto-repair" at the end of each race, either you pay for it with cash or trade in a marker. The price you pay usually depends on how badly you messed up, total your car and you usually have to foot a hefty some to get it fixed, usually almost costing as much as a new one. So how good is the new Pro Street? Well driving simulator purists will still say nothing comes close to Gran Turismo in terms of realism and challenge, but for the everyday casual gamer or beginner i say it's good enough. The only fault i can find with the game is that it does not offer the free garage anymore where you can select 20 cars and modify them to your liking, which i have to say was one of the main factors why people purchased the last two NFS games in the first place. Another point is that it's hood designs are rather limited this time around with those which they have offered being rather repulsive. Next up is Ace Combat 6, a classic amongst console fighter simulators. While not being the best one out there it has a nice and simple game play and a good collection of fighters. While it's storyline is as good as redundant it tries to make the game have more dept than your usual "shoot em' all down" kind of simulator. In terms of realism it's as real as pirated DVDs which already speaks volumes, graphics wise it's quite OK except for the part when you fire off a missile which looks very distorted. A decent game for the casual gamer but don't expect much more than that.