AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
ProStreet is the latest iteration of EA's long running Need for Speed franchise. Abandoning the underground street racing theme of the last few games, ProStreet opts for a more traditional approach to racing.

As a new upstart racing contender, you are immediately insulted and dismissed by the current champ during your first tournament introduction. While not really particularly motivating, this poorly acted cut-scene serves as impetus to win each challenge and win the crown.

You follow your career through several race days. Winning each event brings you one step closer to winning that race day. Once you win enough race days, you move closer to being able to silence the naysayers and win the respect of everyone.

What's Hot
The graphics in ProStreet are definitely an improvement over Need for Speed: Carbon. Limiting races to a specific track has given the developers an opportunity to let the PS3 concentrate on texture work and anti-aliasing. The game looks gorgeous. In a generation where colors are generally drab and dull, ProStreet offers a pretty lively atmosphere.

In adopting a less arcade-like take on its racing, ProStreet's physics required being greatly upgraded in comparison to the last Need for Speed game. While not reaching as far as to try to compete with one of the pillars of the racing genre such as Gran Turismo, ProStreet offers an intermediary step between the arcade racing genre and the simulation genre.

Learning from Carbon's shortcomings, ProStreet's customization options actually directly affect your performance and appearance. Luckily, adjusting your car's settings is not vital to your success. Each car is more than capable of being competitive, but it is a very nice touch to have the option to adjust your car for added turn stability, maximum speed or acceleration.

They say that a racing game is only as good as its A.I.. ProStreet thankfully holds its own. You will fight for each fraction of a second in drag events. You will battle each curve as you fight to get ahead of the pack. Your rival racers are not perfect, but that's exactly why ProStreet works. You feel more like you are actually competing with opponents concerned with winning and not a bunch of moving obstacles. The A.I. doesn't necessarily deliver an especially daunting challenge, but what it does offer is a more natural-feeling race.

ProStreet's online options are robust as well. You can compete against opponents head to head, or you can set up optional race day events so that your friends can compete on their own time. The leaderboards and statistics are very thorough, evidence that time and effort went into the online component; it's not just an afterthought.

What's Not
The acting and plot in Need for Speed games have never been known for being Oscar-worthy. Some would say that losing the story aspect enables you to concentrate on the game and the racing itself. Unfortunately, what little plot and acting that is left in ProStreet is even worse than any of its predecessors. The introductory cinematic that should inspire you to win the race king title fails miserably. Coming across like a poor man's cross between the worst moments in The Fast and the Furious and You Got Served, ProStreet false-starts from the very first screen.


The racing itself is as top-notch as you'd expect from a Need for Speed game. However, a few missteps deride an otherwise straightforward and fun racing game.

Attempting to properly heat your tires before each drag race is novel at first. However, the mini-game becomes repetitive and monotonous because you have to repeat the process before each of the three legs of every single drag race event.

By abandoning free-roaming cityscapes and adopting traditional closed circuit tracks, ProStreet loses a large portion of what has been keeping the series interesting and relevant. Instead of presenting a relatively unique take on the racing genre, ProStreet leans further towards franchises like Project Gotham or Forza Motorsport. While not necessarily a bad thing, ProStreet is not quite what fans of the Need for Speed series might expect.

Due to the presentation, after each race you get dumped back at the race selection screen. This screen is very active and looks like what you'd expect during a race day, but it works against ProStreet, because the backgrounds end up being too interesting. The menus themselves have a bit too many nested levels, but overall they are well laid out. However, watching the goings on in the background, you wish that you could actually interact with the announcer, the cars on display, vendors or the race-models instead of the actual text menu.

The announcer gets annoying quickly. Granted, his character is supposed to be an amateur, but the problem is that the actor does his job too well. After the opening cinematic, you will soon start searching the menu for a "mute announcer" option.



Final Word
Need for Speed: ProStreet may not be what fans of the franchise have come to expect. Gone are the free-roaming underground races, wingmen, poorly told story and police chases. But the racing in ProStreet is solid and fun. While definitely not as intensive as to replace Forza or Gran Turismo, ProStreet takes the Need for Speed engine and shows that it is a solid competitor against even more traditional racing titles.