PSP hasn’t had a vast racing game library to draw from. So when Need for Speed: Carbon was announced for the PSP, it gave hope to the racing game fans stuck in the pits. Even though the PSP game shares the same name as the console version, don’t expect a watered down port, it boasts a different story and gameplay suited better for handheld digestion.

Story
It all happened that one fateful day… Your brother got killed in a car crash that also sent you to the hospital and gave you a nasty case of amnesia. What happened? That’s up to you to figure out through a series of races through the city streets as you try and piece together what happened. Looking at the skeleton of the story, it is not anything new, the “someone died doing [something] and you can’t remember why because [something related]” angle has been done to death but the way the story is delivered is sure to grab some attention.

The story is told in a graphic novel setup. Much like the Metal Gear and Silent Hill digital graphic novels have hit the PSP, Own The City blends that type of story telling with the races you must win to find out what truly happened to your dear brother. If you still have no clue what a digital graphic novel is, think of comic books. The characters all have a different flare and style about them as you seem them in all their 2D glory. There is a distinct difference in the story delivery of NFS: Carbon and most other racing games out there, and that difference is personality. While some gamers might get turned off by the “hip-hop” characters, it is undeniable that you’ll get sucked into their world of high stakes racing and want to find out what happens next, like any good comic.


Sound
The EA Trax system is hard to beat. You’ll find plenty of tracks you’ll enjoy listening to and there are enough songs for the game not to sound like a broken record. You can still add some personal songs off a memory stick if you wish but it might seem like overkill for most gamers to mess with an already upbeat mix of tunes.

Own The City’s story has some solid voice acting behind it as well. Perhaps it is the comic book look that lets you forgive some of the more cheesey lines but whatever it is, it works. In game, the cars sound anemic but there are some nice touches of the valves blowing off and the tires squealing around corners.