Need for Speed: ProStreet

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Need for Speed: ProStreet
Aside from having a good concept, this game wasn't very well executed.
Protagonist(s): Ryan Cooper (can be renamed using mods) Genre(s): Racing Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Mobile Nintendo DS PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable Wii Xbox 360 Release Date: November 14, 2007 Engine: Speed EAGL 4.0 (graphics engine) Developer(s): EA Black Box Firemonkeys Studios (mobile) Exient Entertainment (DS) EA Canada (PSP) Publisher(s): Electronic Arts Country: Canada United Kingdom Australia Series: Need for Speed Predecessor: Need for Speed: Carbon Successor: Need for Speed: Undercover

Need for Speed: ProStreet is a racing video game, the eleventh installment of the Need for Speed series. It was released worldwide in November 2007 and was the first title to not involve illegal street racing; instead, it involves legalized, closed-track racing. It includes more than 40 cars including a few from American Le Mans Series, it was the first PlayStation 3 game with DualShock 3 rumble support.

TOTALED! Qualities

Overall

1. This extremely rushed game was made at the same time as when Black Box was making Skate and Undercover, forcing the team to divide its resources to develop multiple games simultaneously, which probably lead to the first nail being put in the franchise's coffin.
   • By the way, Undercover is even more rushed than this game.
2. Unrealistic and rather wonky car handling, in which you're prone to understeering, no matter the car's drivetrain. Also, cars tend to wildly bounce for unknown reasons, whether you're driving or not.
3. Some of the cars are not represented well. For example, the Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero (S15) is naturally aspirated and has a 5-speed gearbox, contrary to the real life counterpart being turbocharged and having a 6-speed gearbox. Also, it uses a right-hand drive "hood" camera even though it was only sold in left-hand drive countries.
4. Some of the cars unfinished in the PC version include the Dodge Challenger Concept's body kits being invisible and the McLaren F1 having its engine sounds missing (thankfully, all of these can be fixed with mods). Not to mention, countless broken textures are on just about every single car (most notably grille textures).
5. The DLCs are already in the game files (most notably the PC version). In other words, On-Disc DLC.
6. The PS2 and Wii versions suffer from lack of content, downgraded visuals, framerate issues, and reuse engine and transmission sounds from Most Wanted and Carbon. Some cars such as the Acura Integra Type R (DC2), Honda Civic Si (FG2), and the Porsche 911 GT2 (997) are missing from the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions, likely due to console limitations.
7. The game adds a Damage System that shows you the car's damage. There are three Damage Statuses: Minor, Major, and Total, all of which affect your car's performance based on severity (ending at totaled). Not taking damage in a race grants you additional bonus points at the end of it. However, if your car is totaled (either by excessive damage or flipping it over), you are disqualified from the current event and the car cannot be used until it's repaired with a Total Repair Marker. Even though it's a pretty cool concept, you can run out of these Markers, thereby running into problems during events, especially if a really good car in your garage gets totaled, forcing the use of another car.
   • Also, the damage model is odd. Although new features like parts falling off is cool, the wheels will always be untouched, which look very odd beside the rest of the car.
8. The chase camera's angle is terrible and the screen vibration is way too much and can distract you if you're slipstreaming behind an opponent or driving at high speed (though you can reduce or outright remove it via modding).
9. Nitrous is suddenly a fixed time boost instead of the normal boost that you can turn on and off at will as long as your Nitrous has not run out.
10. The drift scoring system is very inconsistent and buggy.
11. The PSP and DS versions are a total mess, though the DS version is way better (in terms of gameplay).
12. Since the servers were shut down in 2012, the Continue button at the race results screen became completely broken and requires unofficial fixes in order to avoid crashing.
13. This game hosted ads featuring live British nude/topless girls, which is not only inappropriate but completely out of place for an ESRB E10+/PEGI 3-rated game.
14. The PS2 and PS3 versions are prone to data corruption.
15. A bit of false advertising: despite being heavily promoted, the Battle Machine livery on the Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) doesn't exist anywhere in the game. Also, the Nissan GT-R Proto can't be visually customized in the actual game, even though it wears a livery in promotional material. (There's even at least one AI opponent driving a modified GT-R Proto; these can be seen in elite races).
16. The PC version constantly crashes, usually at the moment you started/finished a race, entered a race day, and even, selecting cars.
17. The announcer is a massive meat rider of Ryan Cooper, the main protagonist. Every time Ryan is on the track, he would praise him to annoyance, saying things about Ryan to the audience, even if you do things very badly.

PlayStation Portable version

1. The number of cars is more limited than in other releases, with about 35 of them to drive.
2. The damage system is terrible and poorly scripted. For example: If you simply just scrape to a wall, it will destroy your car regardless if you're driving fast or slow.
3. Not only that mentioned above, if you touch a wall, your car will end up sticking to it like a glued paper!
4. The PSP release itself is a reskin of Need for Speed: Underground Rivals and an attempt to cash in on the series. Even though featuring content and assets from the original release of ProStreet.
5. The chase camera is just nausea-inducing, rendering the game unplayable. Unless if you switch to the bumper camera, though. Just like in all versions of the game.
6. The driving aids just literally cover a huge chunk of your screen, making it harder to see the road while you're racing.
7. Awful handling and physics compared to their counterpart from Need for Speed: Undercover.
8. Brain-dead AI, in which they'll end up ramming each other including you.
9. Horrible graphics, controls, sound design and too much motion blur.
10. The customization is very limited. Which it means you can only change your car's paint, rims, window tint, adding window stickers or numbers.
11. This version plays much more like Race Driver: GRID or Need for Speed: Shift (excluding the PSP release). Also, it lacks the Street Kings including Ryo Watanabe himself in this release! Unsurprisingly, they only return in Shift's PSP release for unknown reasons.
12. Limited amount of tracks (12), and both the Drift and Drag race modes were omitted for unknown reasons, even though they were both present in Underground Rivals. Maybe because the aforementioned fact that this port itself was a reskin and EA wants to sweep that issue under the carpet.
13. It's possible to beat the whole game just in several hours.

STREET KING! Qualities

Overall

1. Looking back more than a decade later, despite being barely playable without fixes, this game has aged quite well.
   • The atmosphere and the whole "legal street racing" idea is actually executed brilliantly. It somehow makes driving on racetracks really fun. Even totaled cutscenes (especially in Nevada) are strangely satisfying to watch. Not even some Sim racing games can brag about this.
     • The brilliant original score definitely adds up to it, courtesy of Junkie XL (who composed the soundtracks of Deadpool, Tomb Raider (2018 movie), and Mad Max: Fury Road). The licensed soundtrack is also excellent. Some examples are Wiley's Bow E3, Junkie XL's More and Avenged Sevenfold's Almost Easy.
   • This game will instantly become very engaging to play once you fix those fatal issues and get the hang of it.
   • By far, this is the only game in the franchise to have wheelie competition.
   • Awesome graphics by 2007 standards. It looks beautiful even years later. The smoke effect in particular is largely praised by everyone.
   • This is one of the few games that make manual transmission, clutch, and tuning actually game-changing factors. If one is to beat the game (at least smoothly), they will have to learn how to use clutch and tune their cars properly. Again, even some Sim racing games can't do this. Maybe a bit too demanding for an arcade game, though.
   • Without the cameras being modded, you can get a lot of sense of speed, usually during grip races in straight lines and speed races.
2. There are many cars returning from previous NFS games, including Hondas and Acuras (because this game features legally sanctioned street racing and Honda didn't want their cars to be involved in police chases, but eventually coming back and stayed during Ghost Games era, in which it had police chases). Also, the car list is vastly expanded, including the Nissan GT-R (R35), its prototype variant, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X (CZ4A), BMW M3 (E92), the Lancia Delta Integrale HF Evo II, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and the SEAT León Cupra as DLC.
3. Car customization and Autosculpt have been enhanced (when they are actually finished).
4. The game handled the notorious motion blur way better and in a more realistic manner than in previous games, in which it was exaggerated.
5. Like most other NFS games, ProStreet has mod support.
   • One of the major mods is the Overhaul Mod, which fixes most of the game's bad qualities, adds new cars from previous games, as well as removing DLC restrictions from all DLC/Collector's Edition cars. Also, the "Sharp Driving Mod" improves the handling while toning down the understeer substantially.
   • More of that, there is also game-changing mods like Handling Overhaul Mod, which contains all the mods said in GQ#5a, plus some vehicle model fixes and more. There is also (the now defunct or maybe M.I.A) Need For Memes PogStreet, a meme mod for ProStreet, which should not be confused with Pepega Mod. You can play the game with these mods while waiting for the real ProStreet Pepega Edition to come out this year (which was released on April 1, 2023). Do not forget there is also Xanvier's NFS ProStreet MultiFix , which fixes many issues including the infamous "Post-race Continue Button" glitch.
6. Features many real-life tracks, such as Ebisu Circuit, Mondello Park, Infineon (now Sonoma Raceway), and Texas World Speedway.
   • Speaking of tracks, in the PSP port, when you play at a track for the first time, it had an intro sequence which tells the track's detailed history.
7. Even though the announcer was a fan turned meat rider, he had some iconic lines like the large-ham "OH YEAH RYAN COOOOOOOPEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR" line, and there is a moment where he warns a "blue car" (Darius' Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80)) with a "NFSCARBN" license plate to move away from parking in front of a stall, a clear reference to the previous game.

Trivia

• In the 2014 Need for Speed movie, the Marshall Performance Shop crew are seen playing a split screen session of ProStreet.
• One of the lines that the announcer said during drag races are a reference to Apocalypse Now.

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