There are definitely things that this Ghost Games developed Need for Speed gets right. The ability to easily tune your vehicle for drifting or racing, the so bad they?re good FMV cutscenes, and the constant stream of upgrades purchasable by completing events and leveling up are a few of those things. But unfortunately these aren?t the defining features you might be looking for out of a brand-new racing game this season, and in Need for Speed the lows outweigh the highs.
This entry into the long-running EA franchise features an online enabled world wherein you?ll join other players as you run around a fairly expansive (yet sparse) city completing a series of events based around a few simple disciplines. Speed, Style, Crew, Outlaw, and Build. Speed and Style are pretty self-explanatory, whereas Crew and Build might sound a little more nebulous. Outlaw revolves around the police chases that you?ll occasionally stumble into, and ends up being one of the tougher sets of events to complete simply because the police are barely a threat in Need for Speed. The other four styles mentioned will feature a number of race types, ranging from simple Sprint and Circuit Races, to more challenging Drift events like Drift Trains or Gymkhana inspired races.
The controls are more or less up to the player. As mentioned above, you can make your car handle as loose or as tight as you want, and often it?ll be a good idea to change up your handling between events. Drifting is easy enough and arcade-like to pull off, and feels exactly like what I?d want out of any game that features drifting events. Overall, the controls are probably the best thing about this Need for Speed, making it relatively easy to pick up and play for just about anyone.
While always billed as a ?nocturnal racer?, the constant sunset to night cycle in the game makes for a fairly bland visual experience after just a few hours. We?ve grown so accustomed to day and night racing in just about every modern day racer, that whatever effect Need for Speed is going for here feels like a step back. Add in the copious amounts of neverending rain, which I imagine is done to mask some other deficiencies, and you?ve got a dark, dingy city without much charm or character being exuded. The world feels remarkably plain and unexciting, which seems to be the opposite of how the game is trying to present itself.
Speaking of the map, there are a couple of issues. The events are pretty well scattered about, and there?s some mild incentive to move from one event to the next without using the fast travel option. In between events you can locate hidden parts, snapshots, and places to perform a donut. And while those are things to look for when moving from point A to point B, the only one of any real value is the hidden parts, and by the time you locate them all, you?ll likely be a high enough level that the parts found are subpar compared to what you can buy.
Other, more minor issues, are the incessant phone calls you get from your in-game pals every time they have an event available that you haven?t completed. Constant reminders, which are skippable (and can be ignored) still pipe in a slightly annoying cell phone buzz every 5 to 10 minutes. There?s no real easy way to restart a race immediately after the race is finished. If you want to challenge an event again, you?ll need to pull up the map, choose the location, hit right or left on the analog stick to choose teleport, wait while the game loads you into the location, then hit RB or R1 to initiate the event. You can restart while in an event, but even then the game won?t start at the beginning of the event, it?ll just dump you on the event location and then you?ll need to initiate the start of the event yourself.
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