Our first question is: Where're the streets? But, wait, this is about professional street racers - not your  baseball cap-wearing boy racers spinning their poor Novas around a deserted supermarket car park. Need For Speed is now a serious racer. Who saw that one coming?

But it's a development we're sure to welcome. Not only does ProStreet look far better than any other NFS game, it's also promising handling and race gameplay, as it positions itself to take on the might of Gran Turismo. Just have a peek at these lush new screens.

ProStreet sees you hitting a series of festivals based at closed race circuits around the US. There's a leaderboard to climb, face-offs to prepare for and all manner of fiddly bits to fit to your sleek vehicle and then tinker with endlessly in search of those extra horses and torques.

Like other NFS racers, ProStreet is split into separate disciplines. Grip racing is your traditional track action. Speed racing relocates the whole shebang to stretches of highway, while Drag races are the crude straight-line sprints so beloved of motorheads. Finally, Drift events echo the hugely popular Japan-based fervor for going as far as you can while sideways.

The more serious tone is obvious in the less mainstream handling - this isn't a game to be grabbed off the shelf and mastered in a casual hour of play. It's a real driving test. Though, hopefully, the festival-style atmosphere should stop ProStreet falling into the horribly dry rut that seems to have swallowed Gran Turismo's none-more-earnest racing.

To get a look at all of the new screens we have for NFS ProStreet, click on the Images tab at the top of the page.

June 22, 2007