Need for Speed: Carbon

The game that worked so well on Xbox 360 is less impressive on the Wii, if only because the gesture control feels bolted on rather than being integral to how the game works. For example the use of conventional button controls to select areas of a map in which you wish to race – a clear opportunity for the Remote to just point and click. Clumsy menu screens are just awkward and irritating, and could be overlooked had the driving experience felt believable. Instead we just couldn’t trust the wobbly on-screen indicator of where our imaginary driver’s wheel was supposed to be settled. As a result we span out of control more times than pride will let us mention.

On the few occasions that we held the wheel steady, the sensation was of being oddly detached from the action. Basically our experience with NFS was the opposite of a Wii game where controls are managed properly. Some concessions to more ambitious drivers are found in the option menu – use of the Remote as accelerator/brake while the Nunchuck controls steering. A great game on other platforms, NFS: Carbon is not happy on the Wii

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