Need for Speed Payback Reviews
Need for Speed Payback with its gambling system based on speed cards instead of real car parts is pure Pay2Win. In addition the open world is empty and lifeless though there is a lot to discover in terms of racing events. The rubber band effect is really bad in this game and cops are as unrealistic as ever in the Need for Speed franchise. Last but not least is the grind which you will have to do if you want to proceed in the game. Don't touch this game – ever!
Review in German | Read full review
Boring free-to-play grindfest which for some reason costs $60. There are much better alternatives on the market.
Review in Russian | Read full review
You have no reason to buy this game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Need for Speed Payback is a real-world example of microtransactions gone wrong. As an open world racer, the game's inoffensively average – but when paired with its bafflingly bad progression system, it's frankly an embarrassment. It's scary to think that publishers are quite literally sabotaging their own games in pursuit of a bonus buck or two these days.
Once the servers for this game inevitably go offline, with no way to obtain loot boxes, earn speed cards or trade tokens, I can't help but wonder if the casual consumer would genuinely ever have the patience to fully complete this game. Need for Speed Payback is another result of EA meddling in the concept of "games as a service" and taking an otherwise mediocre entry in the series and completely butchering it in the process to achieve this goal.
The worst Need For Speed game of the modern era, that leaves no stone unturned in its attempts to make itself as boring, repetitive, and exploitative as possible.
Need for Speed Payback is a grind to play both figuratively and literally. Even if you like the arcade racing on offer, it's not worth slogging through the amateur presentation, repetitive missions and microtransaction hooks.
Need for Speed Payback is a travesty of a game. Between 9 minute cycles of waiting at a vendor refreshing so I could buy better parts for my car, flying about a map populated with enough meaningless activities acting as filler, and the atrocious ending, it’s hard to pick out a point where I could say genuinely say the experience was fun.
The game sacrifices specificity of environment, story, and characterization so as to ensure that the car is king.
Need for Speed Payback might be a new low point for the franchise. A horrendous progression system compounded by uninteresting characters and terrible AI only illustrates how far behind this series has fallen compared to the other arcade racers out there. The multiplayer is solid, but that's like saying at least the car wreck didn't cause a fire, too.
Yet another attempt by EA to make the series relevant, Need for Speed Payback does few things right while doing so much wrong. From the dull and cliché story to the straight and narrow police chases, there's just nothing with this game that brings out any sort of excitement. The game looks nice and drives well, but it just isn't much fun which is the worst thing a video game can be.
Pay-to-Win and Wait-to-Play do not a Triple-A title make. Final rating: $$$ out of 10
Payback is good – assuming you're talking about the 1999 film.
Need For Speed Payback is the perfect example of one step forward, two steps back. While the world is more beautiful than any of its predecessors, it feels empty in much the same way that the game does. All of the systems seem to be their own worst enemy. Want to build a car? How are you going to upgrade it? Want to customize its looks? You've got to complete unnecessary challenges. Want to progress the story just to see if it gets better? You've got to make sure your car is the appropriate level. All of these things, combined with an unimaginative and frankly boring story result in a racing game that makes it frustrating to race. While there's still the rush of pushing past second place a few meters before the finish line, that rewarding experience is not due to any innovations that the series has made here and the innovations that make this entry in the series unmemorable and unattractive.
Need for Speed Payback just reuses its predecessors' formula. Despite having a very weak storyline, it kept me entertained for a few hours with its varied tests and missions.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Downfall of the Need for Speed franchise continues. Payback isn't a long awaited return to form and although developers fixed some of the predecessor's issues, the overall impression is even worse. They added microtransactions, loot boxes, card upgrades, and the story is also quite silly. The resulting game has some qualities, but they are buried under a pile of rubbish.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Need For Speed Payback offers a variety of content along with amazing graphic that serves every single detail in cars and epic cutscene. However, the constant grinding and random speed cards upgrade takes away from our experience.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Nostalgia alone can’t keep this game afloat and it’s loot crate-like, monotonous system makes Need for Speed Payback feel stale.
Despite righting some wrongs of its predecessor, Need for Speed Payback fails to capitalise on the opportunity to put the franchise back on the podium