In terms of gameplay, Need for Speed Carbon stays true to the open world framework of its predecessors but manages to trick it out considerably. The core experience has you traveling through the massive city that is the main stage for the game's action and challenging other crews for control of their territory. As you defeat them you'll take their 'hood and your rep will grow. Obviously taking on racing crews will present a sizeable challenge that is more than one man can handle. Fortunately you'll be able to recruit a posse of wingmen to help you out in your quest. The wingmen will present a unique new twist to the gameplay as each will offer unique abilities you can call on during a race to give you an edge. What we've heard of so far are blockers, scouts, and drafters. So, for example, you could call on a blocker wingman to help you get past or slow down an opponent. Where things get really interesting with the wingmen though are the abilities they'll have outside of a race. Though the team isn't giving up all the details on how this will all work just yet, they shared the different out of race abilities and offered some info on what to expect from them, mechanics and fabricators will affect how much you'll be able to customize the performance and visual aspects of your car while influencers will impact how you interact with groups such as the police in the game.

Another new twist to the gameplay in Need for Speed Carbon is the variety of car classes, which are being tweaked to have unique physics and handling. We were able to try out a canyon run with a car from each class and we liked how different each was. You'll actually have to become familiar with each of the classes in Need for Speed Carbon as, unlike previous games, you'll really have to master them all to some degree. The main reason to do so is that, when facing off against the various crews, you'll find that their individual turfs have been designed to play to the strengths of their vehicles. So tuner car areas will feature sharp turns, while muscle car areas will favor more linear open tracks, for example.