Need for Speed ProStreet

Need for Speed ProStreet, the latest Need for Speed exploit, has had the whole team ‘working’ for once – by helping test the game. As soon as you flip the console on you realise that this Christmas, there is only one thing you want, and its got nothing to do with Led Zeppelin or the Spice Girls. It’s a copy of NfS Pro Street and some time, alone!

The idea with ProStreet is simply to dominate the race circuit on a global stage. You build the ultimate battle machine in order to be crowned the ultimate racer and take your vehicle to multi-disciplinary showdowns and pit your skills and reputation against the world’s best street racers.

To be the best you need to beat the best.

Need for Speed ProStreet brings a sense of chaos and unbridled adrenaline to the once fledgling game area of street racing.

Having created our very own student vehicle by sculpting our car inside a wind tunnel and choosing from hundreds of real-world parts to build our ultimate machine (much better than the Fiat Punto our web editor drives) we raced our baby in some of the most iconic racing locations including Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway, the Autobahn and the Nevada desert.

According to EA, there’s a brand new physics engine with an intuitively refined AI engine that smartly delivers on real driving behaviors. Whatever that means, we’re not too sure, but we certainly felt that the car was adapting to our crazy twists and turns. Albeit we had to take our vehicle for a couple of laps before we got the hang of things though!

Probably the best feature is the fact that there are four distinct styles of racing. There’s a reinvented Drag mode, Tandem drift, Grip Racing and Speed Challenge – the ultimate test of speed and control.

The photo-realistic cars add a certain depth to the 360 version of the game that was lacking on anything released on the PS2. We salute you EA, you’ve laid the smackdown with this one!

Quite simply the game is one of the best racing games on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The multiplayer version of the game on LIVE simply blew our ball bearings off – smooth and easy - making beating little 10 year old German kids online even better. EA say it best: “Need for Speed ProStreet is the realization of the raw power, visceral aggression and intense rivalry that embodies street racing culture.”.

Bluff your way through Need for Speed ProStreet

We spoke to Creative Director for Need For Speed ProStreet, Clay Jensen, who gave us the top 10 tips on how to bluff your way through the game…

1. Get a perfect launch.
Drag races can be won or lost in the first tenth of a second. To get the perfect launch you need two things: grip and timing. Practice warming your tyres for maximum grip before each run- it can shave a second or more off your time. As you come up to the line, get your revs into the green and hold them steady. Now you’re ready to launch- reaction time is crucial. A split second before the light turns green, or the flag girl drops her arms, slam the gearbox into 1st, mash the throttle, and hang on. But don’t launch too soon or your run is done.

2. Brake late, brake often.
Your brakes are your friends- use them. As you approach a corner make sure the wheels are straight, get smoothly into the brakes to keep the car steady, and then squeeze on more brake to get the car slowed up. This also shifts weight to the front of the car and helps you turn in more quickly. Passing cars under braking is also one of the best ways to get around them. Line up down the inside of your target and get as close as you can. Wait for them to start braking and then get into the brakes a tick after they do. They will slow down faster than you will and you can shoot past and take the inside line into the corner.

3. Steer with the throttle.
Handling in corners has a lot to do with tyres and suspension and weight balance. The other key to getting your car headed where you want to though is your throttle. Don’t be afraid to add gas or get off it a bit to help the car turn more once you’re in a corner. Letting off the gas will slow the car down and get it turning faster. Increasing throttle through the middle of the corner will start you accelerating and you’ll get a good run out onto the straight.

4. Upgrade your kit.
Body kits, spoilers, and hoods- they all matter. Your stock kit is fine for that sleeper look you’ve got going, but if you want to maximise downforce and get the best handling on the track you’ll need to upgrade. Once you get your kit on, be sure to adjust it with Autosculpt to get the most speed, or grip, out of it.

5. Tune your drive not your ride.
Tuning is racing. To get the most out of your ride you’ll need to work on the setup. There are a ton of options to mess with, but before you dive in too far experiment with getting the basics sorted. How does the car “feel”? Tuning the steering input, springs, and rollbars will go a long way towards making the car drive more like you do. Tune your car setup to “feel” right to you and your lap times will get faster- with or without any upgrades. The cams, camber, and caster can come later.

6. Power does not equal speed.
Slapping on loads of horsepower certainly helps get your top speed up, but if you can’t handle it in the corners then your points will plummet. You can’t land the hottest lap times if you’re constantly in the wall. The key to the fastest times is finding your driving limits and then upgrading your car only as much as you need to get ahead of the competition but still keep it on the road. If you’ve gone too far, don’t be afraid to take a few of those upgrades down a notch and try again.

7. Two cars go faster than one.
Learn to draft. Tucking in behind another car allows you to get some clean air and reduce drag on your car. This also reduces drag on the lead car and allows them to go faster. Together you can pull away from the competition. This is especially important on the fastest tracks where pushing through the air alone can leave you in the dust. If you time it right, you can also use the draft to sneak up on an opponent and give ‘em a salute as you slingshot past.

8. Every shift counts.
Whether you’re on the drag strip or the circuit, getting a handle on your gears will significantly reduce your times. Split-second accuracy is the key in Drags and can shave seconds off your time. Make sure that your revs are “in the green” to get a perfect shift- missing a shift will slow you down and lose you time. Learning to use the manual transmission in other races will ensure that you’re always in the right gear for your speed and give you extra throttle control in corners.

9. Obey the three laws of Drift: e-brake, clutch, and nitrous.
Car control is everything in Drift and learning to use these three tools will dramatically improve your scores. As you turn into a corner, tap the e-brake, or “kick” the clutch, to get the car rotating. As soon as the car starts to turn, get back into the throttle hard to get the rear wheels spinning. As you get further into the drift, hit the NOS for a burst of power to keep the drift going for big points. Experiment with all three of these to see how they affect the car at different speeds. The best drifters use all of them to get the most out of each run.

10. You have to go slow to go fast.
It’s a fairly Zen piece of racing wisdom, but it also happens to be true. Everything that happens in the car needs to be smooth- throttle, brake, and steering input. The smoother, or “slower”, you go, the faster you’ll be. The car likes to be balanced. When it is you’ll have all four tires working at their max to give you the best grip you can- and that always gets you around the track a bit quicker than the next guy. So take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the ride.

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