Need for Speed ProStreet review

Races fizz with menace, amplified by foggy knots of smoke, chunky car models and twitchy steering. The Autobahn section is almost too fast, easily a match for Burnout 2, or Wipeout’s giddying highs, as one false move will see you plough into the central reservation and ignite one of ProStreet’s new features - slow-mo crashes. If you total your car - and you will at high speeds - the action slows as your vehicle flies through the air and comes apart in tiny details. Yup, there’s certainly far more realistic and exciting handling than in NFS Carbon. Squealing into corners in a Lamborghini Murcielago at 170mph will see your wheels puff out more smoke than a power plant as you desperately flick between gas and brakes. A four-wheel drive powerhouse like a Subaru Impreza feels like it’s glued to the asphalt and you’ll easily take bends at speed, but try the same trick in a rear-wheel drive BMW and you’ll oversteer and flip like an eel out of water. It really pays dividends to know your car’s limits before getting behind the wheel in NFS ProStreet.

Damage is governed by real-word physics. Stove your motor headlong into a wall and its bodywork will fold like an accordion. There are two types of damage - ‘light,’ which means your side mirror or bumper might fall off and pose a hazard to other drivers for the rest of the race, or ‘heavy.' That - after a nasty prang - will see your roof fly off into the distance and your speedometer flash red. Thankfully, it only looks horrific and barely affects the steering or engine, because we’ve had a few nasty smashes and still easily blew the opposition away.