After waiting nearly a month, the press embargoes have lifted and PSU can report our first-hand account of Need for Speed Pro Street. Today at 8 AM EST, EA Canada lifted the veil and released the first media assets for their upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 racer.

Outside of the basic fact sheet, we here at PSU would like to share with you our impressions of the title and what we thought of the game when it was first shown to us almost a month ago.

Before beginning the demo, the EA producers introduced themselves and talked a little about the direction they were taking the Need for Speed franchise this year. Instead of your regular "underground" street racing, EA wants to take gamers somewhere new, providing new experiences and a fresh feel for the series. This year gamers will be taken to the raceways where players will drive muscle and show their scares instead of flashing bling and furnishing stylish imports.

The new title will feature real cars of the raceways including the Mazda RX-7, Aston Martin DB9, Audi S4, Dodge Challenger (1971), and the SEAT Leon Cupra. Also EA has gone to great lengths to provide this year’s edition of Need for Speed with a photo-realistic look instead of the more arcade style of the past. One of the newest eye candies would be the volumetric smoke that gamers get when burning rubber on the track. Clouds will form and sway in the wind and move from the rush of the air as your car speeds off.

Although new smoke effects are great, nothing compares to the amount of destructibility gamers can ensue when bashing into enemy cars or flying off track into the walls of concrete. EA stated that they designed the cars piece by piece instead of one model so that your car can literally break into millions of pieces. Everything from window glass to your entire engine breaking into soaring debris, Need for Speed this year could give Burnout a run for its money.

The video that was shown at the EA Open House Event was a trailer similar to the teaser released last week. The video portrayed the Mazda RX-7 tearing up the asphalt and speeding down the raceway. Then the clip moved to (something I'll never forget) the crash sequence where the whole front of the car smashed into the concrete sidewall flipping the soon to be junk car on to its top, skidding and sparking as it slowly came to a dead halt.

After the trailer clapping and whistling began and the presentation finished with some quick details on the title as well as a quick playable demo run of someone from the EA team driving to show that the graphics were not "pre-rendered."

Here are the quick details: * Updated throughout today

- Race modes include: Tandem drift, Drag, Grip and Speed Challenge
- Release date is set for Fall 2007

In the end, Need for Speed Pro Street looks to be one of the most promising racing titles to appear this year. Then again it should with titles like DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road and Gran Turismo 5 around the corner.

Be sure to check back in with PSU.com as we'll keep you updated on further information for Need for Speed Pro Street.

Media:





HD Trailer:  Link
Youtube Trailer: Link