Well, having played all the recent NFS's (Most Wanted, Carbon and ProStreet) I would have to say that Carbon is the least of my favorites.
Although graphically stunning, and, having vehicles that are AS customizable, if not more, than the ones in Most Wanted, the game is more difficult.
I found that even though I had the controls setup the same way as MW, the response time was either too quick, or toooooooooo slow. This became a MASSIVE factor when I hit the Canyon races, which are cool, but IMO, very annoying.
Just my opinion. Best of Luck to you,
~Slayton