Ryan Cooper is an up-and-coming road warrior, one of those who craves and embraces speed like some do candy. He thrives on it, but in the world of street racers, there are the elite and those who wish they were. To reach that upper echelon, you have to take down the ones at the top.

Need for Speed is the franchise that has been the frontrunner of video-game racing titles since it began in 1992. But in the effort to create a racer that was new and different, some missteps have been taken in recent years. The dev teams got caught up in that whole illegal street racing and drifting phase and the emphasis seemed to slide away from what truly made the franchise great – speed.

Need for Speed ProStreet is a return to what matters the most in a racing game – speed and steering prowess. It is a challenge to work both into a winning proposition, but that is the task that faces Ryan Cooper as he attempts to make his way from the bottom, running cars that are given to racers without consequence (meaning if you rip them up, it doesn’t hit you in the wallet) to building a stable and running against the Kings.

And if the lure of being in first place isn’t enough, just wait until you see how they (the elite racers) treat you. They have attitude and are just begging to be taken down several notches.

NFS ProStreet is from EA Black Box and it is about legal racing on courses comprised of city streets. This is still peddle to the metal racing on street courses, but rather that being illegal, ProStreet buckles players into the driver’ seat with the simple goal of winning races and working up the ladder. You can follow the main course through the career path (and the game will allow players to create two careers but no more than that) or you can take side trips to other races.

The game does have the usual suspects when it comes to game modes – online is supported (though unavailable at this time), and you also have the quick race and career modes. The latter will have you enter a Race Day schedule that includes ¼ mile drag racing, the aforementioned grip race (as well as a multiclass grip race in which all cars are on the course but you only compete against those in your class) and a time trial. The goal is to garner enough points to boost your reputation and advance. But don’t think that you can just jump up and repeat the same event over and over to garner the points. Nope, this is a challenge that requires you to place high in all of the events.

Three difficulty levels allow you to gear up in the manner most suitable. The low end will do all the shifting for you and help you through the corners while the hardest setting simply let’s you do all the work. Where this comes into play is in how you see corners and shifting. The game will give you a line at the gentler settings and show you how your speed relates to that line through the turns. Too hot and the green markers will go red. Tap the brakes and they will back down to yellow or back to green, which means you have the right speed for the corner.

The drag race, though, is a bit of a different beast. You begin by “warming” your tires. This is a revving exercise that asks you to try to keep the RPMs in a certain range. The warmer your tires, the more grip you will have when you race. It also shows off the great next-gen smoke effects.

Once you get the green light to go, you tromp on the gas, watch your RPMs and when it hits the right zone, you shift. R2 is the accelerator, L2 is the brake, L1 is the clutch and you change gears using the right thumbstick. Up shifts up and down shifts down. It all works rather well.

As for the rest of the controls, the dev team has done a solid job of making certain that this is an extremely accessible title. It does not take much to get up and moving. You can switch camera views as well to get the perspective that is right for you.

Winning races can have other rewards as well, though these are hidden rewards. There are five boxes and you pick one to have the reward revealed. You might get a bit more cash, or you might get an upgrade for your ride, like a forced induction package.

When it comes to customizing your vehicle, this title plays out a bit like EA’s online racer Motor City Madness. You can tweak almost every aspect of your ride or rides and gear them for different courses. If you have one that handles in lieu of all out speed, then taking it out on a course that is mostly cutbacks and sharp corners is the way to go. A course with straight-aways means raw power is needed most.

Of course, there are consequences for errant driving. Damage accumulates and will start to affect your vehicle in a variety of ways. And as you progress, the challenge will ramp up.

When it comes to the graphical elements of this title, Black Box did a first-rate job. The graphics are superb, ranging from vehicle damage to the smoke effects from burning tires. The sound is handled well, but can be a bit repetitious. You have an announcer at the Race Day events that is loose and casual, but can repeat himself. The engine noises dominate the audio, and the music is understated.

NFS ProStreet is a one of those racing games that brings back the challenge and fun to a genre that was pumping out too many clones and thus becoming a bit stale. The graphics are top notch, and the customization features give this game a lot of life. It might have been nice to have a few different avatars, in addition to Cooper, to choose from, and in that sense, this game can be a bit limiting. But the Need for Speed franchise should be about velocity and handling and, drag racing aside, that is what is delivered with ProStreet.

Gameplay: 8.8
Expect load times. The controls are pretty fundamental but that merely puts the emphasis on where it needs to be – the game’s speed and handling.

Graphics: 9.2
This game is a visual treat on many levels.  

Sound: 8.6
The narrative can be a bit repetitive and EA Trax boasts some artists that many may not have heard of, but it all works here. The pre-eminent sound, though, is the roar of the engines. That is par for the course.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Concept: 9.0
There are only so many ideas when it comes to racing, but it is the package that matters most. For the most part, ProStreet is packaged well. Not really sure how drag racing figures into the grip and time attack races, but it does work here.

Multiplayer: N/A
There will be the ability to share videos and blueprints online, but as this was code that was also sent for preview purposes, the online portion was not available at the time of the review.  

Overall: 9.0
This is a top-notch racer that is both challenging and a lot of fun. Hats off to EA and Black Box for re-energizing the franchise with a solid next-gen outing.