Speed. It makes for great movies (as long as they don't involve a boat but rather buses) and it also makes for some high adrenaline racing games as well. One of the most established racing franchises to date – Need for Speed – is set to unleash its newest high-octane ride into retail stores everywhere, but first Need for Speed: Carbon is making a pit stop here so we can give you a preview.

As any racing fan will tell you, it is all about the cars, and Need for Speed: Carbon doesn't look to disappoint. From the preview, there were only three different cars to choose from, one from each of the three categories: Muscle, Exotic, and Tuner. Muscle cars are all about the huge, powerhouses of the 70s; Exotic are the fancy Italian numbers and other such sleek lined cars you'd expect some tricked out doors on; and Tuner cars are the popular drift cars you'd see in any given drift race.

Though you'll get to select from a huge array of real life cars, your ownership goes way beyond that, as you can tweak your cars to make them look like you'd want to design a car (just don't design The Homer and ruin your twin brother Herb's life). If you wanted, you can leave the car factory standard as it is presented in the game, but depending on what type of car you select, you'll be able to not only change the paint, but also things like the wheels, front bumper, rear bumper, skirt, hood, exhaust tips, chop top, etc. It is also important to note these aren't a few selections of pre-determined mods, but rather imagine the character creation sliders of a Tiger Woods. Many of the parts are also broken down into various zones, meaning that instead of simply extending the spoiler outwards, you can tune other things like the various angles as well. As mentioned, it is possible to really screw up the natural beauty of these speed machines, but if you have the right eye and artistic skill, you can create some really fine rides as well.

In the preview, three modes were available for play, including circuit racing, drift racing, and duels. Circuit racing acts like you'd expect, with cars racing a predetermined amount of laps around a course, while trying to hold their lead while depending competitors looking to dethrone you. If you looked at the normal gameplay applied to these courses, it all worked well, but Need for Speed: Carbon isn't satisfied with normal, as it included several added touches to make the circuit races much more. You of course have your nitrous (who doesn't nowadays?) but you've also got crewmembers and the Speedbrake. Once your crewmember member has filled up, you can unleash your crew on your opposing racers, and they can do everything from knocking out cars in front of you by ramming them into oncoming cars or blocking for you when you are in the lead. The Speedbrake is also unique as it fills up gradually over time, and it acts like the bullet time from The Matrix, and it is used mainly for when you are about to take a turn too fast, and throwing the game into this mode will allow your car to work under normal conditions while the action slows, helping you better steer to go around.

Another mode was the drift mode, where you race upon short closed circuit courses, where you are the only car on the course, and the name of the game is throwing your car quick around corners, making your car slide and skid. While drifting, you get points for skidding close to walls, maintaining skids for long periods of time, going at high speeds, and chaining together skid drifts; the ideal drift run would be one in which you make the required laps and never once break your chain combo. Besides going straight, the only other thing that will break your drift is slamming against the wall. I'm not a real drift fan, but I loved throwing my tuner car around some of these tight turns, and listening as the tires squealed.

The other mode available was a duel, which plays like the duels you see at some of these Formula D races. In duel mode, you'll start off by chasing a car on a course, and you rack up points based on how close you maintain the distance between you and the other car. Once you get done playing follow the leader, you'll then switch places, where the opposing car will try to see how many points he can get on you. At the end, point totals are looked at, and whoever has the most points win. The duel of the preview was really intense, as it took place on a very tight, winding road, where fear of slamming up against the wall or falling off the mountain were real concerns.

The visual style of the game was very strong, looking like the cars and atmosphere were ripped straight out of The Fast and the Furious movies. Even while racing at night, the cars and lights of the big city were full of exuberance and brightly lit colors that popped off the night sky. As for the cars, they are gorgeous, and you hate finishing a race, only to see that you cracked the windshield of your nice ride. The visual effects are also really well done, such as when your car gets some speed from the nitrous, as the screen blurs over, and many of the moments have a shaky cam feel to make you feel like these cars are packing some power. The character models are also unique, as it appears that they have been CG rotoscoped, where they filmed live actors, then did some computer work over them.

The sound of Need for Speed: Carbon also excelled, as it features your expected rap and punk numbers, but what sold the game was the sound work, such as the tires squealing, slamming into others, or blasting off with your nitrous.