Need for Speed: ProStreet

Need for Speed: ProStreet is a racing video game released in 2007 as the eleventh installment of the Need for Speed series and the sequel to Need for Speed: Carbon.[1] ProStreet took a radical departure from the previous Need for Speed games, as instead of the illegal open-world street racing formula found in the previous games, ProStreet focuses on legal closed-track racing, with the developers saying "street racers are moving off the street and onto the track".[3] It was followed by Need for Speed: Undercover in 2008, which returned to the formula defined by the previous games, but received lukewarm reception, due to its bad gameplay. Need for Speed: ProStreet is generally classified as a "Simcade", a mix of realistic and arcade gameplay.

Need for Speed: ProStreet
European cover art featuring a Nissan GT-R
Developer(s)EA Black Box
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
EA Mobile
Artist(s)
  • Wilson Tang
  • Eduardo Agostini
Composer(s)Junkie XL
SeriesNeed for Speed
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS
PlayStation Portable
  • NA: February 18, 2008
  • EU: February 22, 2008
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The Need for Speed franchise would again try with the Simcade genre of racing games, in 2009, with the release of Need for Speed: Shift, developed by Slightly Mad Studios.

ProStreet was the first game on the PlayStation 3 with DualShock 3 rumble support.

Gameplay

Need for Speed: ProStreet has taken the series in a different direction of gameplay. All racing in ProStreet takes place solely on closed tracks, making ProStreet the first game in the series since Need for Speed II that does not animate illegal racing. The performance tuning feature is enhanced, compared to previous versions, especially Autosculpt. Unlike Carbon, where only certain body kits can be autosculpted, this can now be applied to all body kits, including stock bumpers and wide body kits. Furthermore, some adjustments through autosculpt impact the car's aerodynamics.[4]

There are four different game modes in ProStreet: Drag (a race in a drag strip, point to point), Grip (similar to Circuit races but with four different types of Grip races available), Speed (similar to a Sprint race) and Drift.

  • Drag race is a simple straight away race that has two types, 1/4 and 1/2 mile drag races where the fastest time, out of three runs, wins. There is also a wheelie competition where the longest wheelie on the 1/4 mile track wins.
  • In Grip races, there are four different modes (Normal Grip, Grip Class (all versions except for the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions), Sector Shootout and Time Attack). Normal Grip races feature 2 to 4 laps around a circuit track with up to 7 other racers. First driver to cross the finish line wins. Grip Class races take 8 racers and divide them into two even groups. The racers are placed into the groups based on their vehicles performance potential. Group A starts about 10 seconds ahead of group B, both groups race on the same course but are only competing against the three drivers in their group. In Time Attack, the driver with the fastest overall single lap time wins the event. In Sector Shootout the track is divided into several segments, with drivers attempting to complete these sectors in the shortest possible time. Extra points are awarded to drivers who 'dominate' the course by holding the fastest time for every segment of the track.
  • In Speed Challenge races, players must cross the finish line first to win the race. Players have to be cautious in Speed Challenge at speeds exceeding 200 mph.
  • In Top Speed Run races, there are 3 to 9 checkpoints and at the instant a player crosses a checkpoint their speed is clocked and added to that player's score, the player with the highest cumulative speed wins. This is similar to the Speedtrap events in Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
  • In Drift, players drift to emerge as the driver with the most points scored in the event. Points are scored based on speed, angle, and how long the drift is held.

Other than game play itself, ProStreet features detailed damage modeling, unlike previous Need for Speed games (except for High Stakes and Porsche Unleashed) where damage is relatively little or non-existent altogether. The new damage system introduces more depth of damage (except on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Wii versions, where the damage modeling has been scaled down due to the limited processing power, so the damage is similar to the previous titles) where any object in the game world has the potential to inflict cosmetic damage breaking off pieces of the car such as the hood, bumpers, side view mirrors, light damage, or heavy damage which reduces performance of a car, and even has the potential to total a car immediately after impact.[4]

The Speedbreaker does not return for ProStreet (as the game lacks a police presence; the Speedbreaker was mostly intended for police evasion, however it returns for the Nintendo DS version of the game).

Customization

Players have a wide variety of decals, vinyls, and paint colors, all very similar to the previous games in the series. Additional extras have been added as well. Players have a huge variety of body modifications, such as rims, hoods, body kits, exhaust tips, spoilers and roof scoops.

The Autosculpt feature, which was first introduced in Need for Speed: Carbon, is featured in ProStreet and plays a significant role in terms of car performance. Although there are more parts to autosculpt in the car, the autosculpting method is for the most part the same. The hood, roof scoop, front bumper and spoiler can all change how a car performs in a race. Autosculpt can affect everything, from a car's handling to its downforce. ProStreet now allows the player to modify stock and wide body kits as well as hoods, roof scoops, wheels, spoilers etc. A new feature called the Windtunnel is introduced on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. It is not available on Wii and PlayStation 2 versions. The Windtunnel, along with Autosculpt, can affect a car's performance.

Locations

Many of the races take place on well-known roads. Locations include Chicago (Meigs Field Airport; now disused), Nevada, Europe, Tokyo Dockyard (Daikoku Futo parking area), and the Autobahn (A100 Berlin ring road). The Texas World Speedway, a real track in Texas used by the SCCA and in the 70s NASCAR, and also the Infineon Raceway, available in the NASCAR configuration as "GP Circuit" and AMA configuration as "Long Circuit". The game also includes many other real world tracks such as Portland International Raceway and Willow Springs International Motorsports Park in the US, Autopolis and Ebisu Circuit in Japan, and Mondello Park in Ireland. The tracks are the same in all versions of ProStreet.

Online

Online modes are not featured in the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions. However the PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC versions feature online mode. Unlike previous Need for Speed titles, it is much more integrated into the game; as long as a player is connected to the Internet and logged in, his/her in-game progress is recorded for the purpose of online leaderboards. A player's custom-built car can also be shared online via blueprints, with the creator being given credit whenever their car setup is used for a leaderboard.[5] Online features have been discontinued on the 19th of March 2012[6]

Synopsis

The player, former street racer Ryan Cooper, enters the world of professional street racing with his Nissan 240SX, aiming to defeat Ryo Watanabe, the "Showdown King", who drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Ryan first becomes the champion of Battle Machine, then Showdown Chicago, and finally, React Team Sessions. After proving himself at a series of Showdown events run by racing organization Super Promotion, Ryan receives invites to events by Noisebomb from Drift King Aki Kimura, G Effect from Grip King Ray Krieger, Rogue Speed from Drag King Karol Monroe, and Nitrocide from Speed King Nate Denver. Each organization has a top racing team, Touge Union, Grip Runners, Aftermix, and Boxcut, respectively. Ryan defeats each of the Kings and moves on to face Ryo Watanabe and his Apex Glide team at a Super Promotion event, defeating them and earning the respect of Apex Glide, who abandons Ryo to join Ryan, the new Street King.

Development and release
Promotion at Games Convention 2007

The official title was leaked several months before the official announcement. Soft Club, the Russian distributor of the game, unveiled the name and release date of the game in February 2007.[7] EA had not until the official announcement on May 31, 2007, given any clue about the game's title.

Soundtrack

On September 7, 2007 Junkie XL released a single entitled "More" in conjunction with Need for Speed: ProStreet.[8] JXL was asked to compose the score of the game, the game also included 34 songs as part of its soundtrack.[9]

Expansions

The Collector's Edition is available at the EA Store for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 unlocking 5 more cars and 4 more career race days.[10]

On December 18, 2007, an expansion pack branded by Energizer Lithium in the US and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in Europe was made available, along with version 1.1 of ProStreet for the PC, which disabled cheat codes, capped the framerate at 30fps and, curiously, made the game crash when run under Wine in Linux and macOS,[11] possibly attributed to the introduction of LAN play. It adds 16 cars (2 free and 14 for purchase) and 2 tracks, those being Porsche's Leipzig Test Track, where the game's physics where developed and a custom track called Tokyo Expressway.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
DSPCPS2PS3PSPWiiXbox 360
1Up.com
B+
A-
C+
A-
Eurogamer
5/10
5/10
GameSpot
6.5/10
6.5/10
7/10
4/10
6.5/10
7/10
GameTrailers
7.7/10
7.7/10
7.7/10
IGN
7.9/10
6.9/10
6.2/10
6.8/10
5/10
6.2/10
6.8/10
Aggregate scores
GameRankings
74.83%[12]
69.12%[13]
60.64%[14]
72.87%[15]
60.38%[16]
64.18%[17]
72.17%[18]
Metacritic
74/100
70/100
62/100
73/100
57/100
61/100
72/100

Need for Speed: ProStreet received mixed reviews and has sold 2.4 million copies in the United States.[19] The game had good to lukewarm reception, with its main point of criticism being its gameplay, specifically its physics, which were described as "boaty" and "unrealistic", while the damage model and engine sounds of the cars were praised for being "realistic" and "on par with their real life counterparts" respectively. The PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[20] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[21]

The advertisement of the game was met with criticism for featuring topless models in certain advertisements. UK promotional material for the game featured in The Sun advertised the game with its Page Three Girls Becky Rule and Amii Grove posing topless.[22] Electronic Arts claims that the advertisements "slipped through the proper EA approval process." As a result, the advertisements have been removed.[23]

References
  1. "New website". Electronic Arts. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  2. "IGN: Need for Speed: ProStreet". IGN. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  3. The Birth of Need For Speed Prostreet - Youtube
  4. "EA Shifts Gears with Need for Speed ProStreet". Electronic Arts. 2007-05-31. Archived from the original on 2007-06-02. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  5. "GameSpot Video: Need for Speed ProStreet Official Movie 10". Electronic Arts. 2007-10-08. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  6. METRO.co.uk EA closes Online Pass servers: MMA and ProStreet gone forever. Retrieved 26-05-2019
  7. "Soft Club leaks about EA releases" (in Russian). AG. 2007-02-07. Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
  8. Junkie XL Archived 2007-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
  9. EA Details Soundtrack, Junkie XL Score for "Need for Speed ProStreet" | Digital Media Wire Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "EA Store: Prostreet Collector's Edition". Electronic Arts. 2008-03-16. Archived from the original on 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  11. WineHQ - Need for Speed: ProStreet. Retrieved 26-05-2019
  12. "Need for Speed ProStreet for DS Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  13. "Need for Speed ProStreet for PC Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  14. "Need for Speed ProStreet for PlayStation 2 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  15. "Need for Speed ProStreet for PlayStation 3 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  16. "Need for Speed ProStreet for PSP Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  17. "Need for Speed ProStreet for Wii Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  18. "Need for Speed ProStreet for Xbox 360 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  19. Totu, Florian (22 October 2009). "100 million Need for Speed Games Have Been Sold to This Day". Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  20. "ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
  21. Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
  22. N4G.com : Topless girls used to promote The Need For Speed Pro Street in the UK
  23. "EA repents use of topless models in Need for Speed ads". Joystiq. 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
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