Need for Speed Unbound Reviews
Need for Speed Unbound has a few original ideas, and though some aspects needed tweaking, the core racing gameplay and a focus on car customization help the franchise keep drifting onward.
Need for Speed Unbound is perhaps one of the franchise's last efforts to stay alive at a time when its glory years are behind it. In the end, it brings together various elements that the fans requested to combine and execute them in a good way, resulting in a fun experience that keeps calling you back.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Need For Speed Unbound shows that NFS series is on the right track. that being said, poor AI and lack of variety in content is noticable. If you're looking for exciting street races with nostalgic feeling, NFS Unbound is a must play game for you.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Need for Speed is back, and it's the best series entry in years. Fresh art style, fun police chases and enjoyable progression system make Unbound a great arcade racing game.
Review in Russian | Read full review
After so many years, the Need for Speed series has taken different forms. But now the series took one of the worst. There is a lack of new ideas and motivation. The story is really written very poorly, the interaction between the characters is often stupid, and the schematic career starts to bore you very soon. Add to all this the shallow online multiplayer. Unbound is an example of a game where form won out over function.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Need for Speed Unbound pushes the series forward in new ways with a change to the game’s economy and overall feel, and it’s primed to take big steps in the coming years.
Criterion has certainly made its mark with this latest entry in the Need for Speed series, injecting a bit more fun and polish into the template created by Ghost Games. The result is an arcade racer that truly stands out from the crowd thanks to its visual flair and thrilling police chases. Providing you take the time to tweak the handling to your preferences, and you don’t mind the hip hop-driven soundtrack, Need for Speed Unbound is likely to be the most entertaining racing game you’ll play this year.
Need for Speed Unbound is a pleasant surprise, one of the best releases of the year and also one of the best and boldest games in the series. It's an easy recommendation for any racing games fan and we hope that EA and Criterion continue to improve the formula delivered with this title.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I don’t know about you but Unbound feels precisely what the doctor ordered for the Need for Speed franchise. Heat has more or less left me hoping for more, and now that Unbound is built based on the success of its predecessor, it all feels like a complete game.
Need for Speed Unbound is a fun racer with some new event types and an unusual yet undeniably attractive visual style. However, it doesn't do a ton to set itself apart from other racers that are currently out there and its story mode can be quite limiting.
It is very hard to stand out in this much crowded racing genre, but Need For Speed Unbound pulls it off. The title is easily the best entry in years and sets a foundation that can easily be built upon. After many years of having an identity crisis, I can see the game evolving from here. With a consistent 4K resolution and 60fps framerate NFS Unbound showcases what could be the future of the series.
After several years, Criterion Games has successfully restored the Need for Speed franchise to its former glory, bringing renewed excitement to long-time fans and a promising future for this well-established series.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Need for Speed Unbound ended up feeling like a step sidewards for the franchise instead of forward. It’s still trailing behind other arcade racers in the genre despite having a strong, stylish presentation.
While the latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise is capable of presenting some great arcade racing thrills, NFS Unbound is an uneven experience that can often leave players feeling disappointed. Some may be able to overlook its flaws and enjoy what the game does well, but it still lives in the shadows of the best entries in the series. This paints a worrying picture for a franchise that already has been struggling to reclaim its glory days for years now.
The game works nicely and gets a little better as you get further in. The only real issue is that I, like many other old-school NFS fans, had high expectations from it, but in the end, we got a mediocre Need for Speed game and hands-down what I feel is the worst racing game Criterion made so far.
Need For Speed has found its identity, and while a few concepts require some finetuning, it’s the best episode in a long while and one of the most stylish and generally finest racers of the generation thus far.
NFS Unbound feels fresh thanks to the urban hip-hop blend of graphical style and soundtrack. If you enjoy your driving games then it is one to pick up and have a play with. Customisation options are off the scale which gives you the ability to feel unique as you drive around
I really hope we see more from Criterion and its take on the NFS franchise, because this just feels like the starting few laps rather than the full tour.
Multiplayer is also a fun addition to Need for Speed Unbound that allows players to bet other players and unlock cars that become available in both the game's story and multiplayer modes. Racing other players feels satisfying but would be more interesting if Unbound's world was more interactive and had a larger variety of activities. While Criterion has successfully returned to the genre, it feels like the developer is being held back from delivering a truly colorful and over-the-top experience it's previously achieved in games like the Burnout series. The team should take the driving mechanics and the cartoony visual flairs from Need for Speed Unbound and turn those features up to the next level in their next arcade racer.