Need for Speed Unbound Reviews
Despite its flaws, I found myself always craving one more race; I could drive faster, customize my car better, and drift in even cooler ways than before. While not perfect, Need for Speed Unbound is the best the franchise has been and years — and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.
For a game with very little fanfare and seemingly no confidence on EA’s behalf, Need for Speed: Unbound is actually an excellent surprise.
Need for Speed Unbound sees Criterion put its spin on the formula laid down by its predecessor and the result is a stylish racer that is mostly fun but sometimes frustrating.
Minor gameplay tweaks and some cool visuals are introduced, but that's hardly enough to keep any part of the game above average. Not great but also not terrible.
Need For Speed Unbound is undoubtedly a good game, but it is sad to note that it could have been more. Criterion relies, perhaps a bit lazily, on the seeded Ghost Games, rehashing what is the skeleton (and little more) of the previous Heat. After 3 years of development, the result is almost inexplicable, and indeed it is unfortunate that a team like Criterion, which has rewritten the rules of the game at least a couple of times, now finds itself in the position of tracing the work of those who preceded it (as well as rehashing part of its past).
Review in Italian | Read full review
A decent effort but one that doesn't offer anything new or novel. The developer might have changed but the game is still living under the shadow cast by them.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Need for Speed Unbound is a finely crafted ride that's great when running well.
On the flip side, NFS Unbound fails to take advantage of its open-world setting in multiplayer. The absence of police online particularly hurts. The way music works in the game is also infuriating. All these shortcomings bring Unbound a few pegs down, in what is otherwise a solid entry in the NFS franchise. If you're on PC, I suggest you opt for the EA Play Pro subscription, complete the Story mode (and skip its abysmal multiplayer), and unsubscribe.
It may not revolutionise the licence, certainly not, but we have to admit that Criterion has done a nice job with this Need for Speed Unbound. The game is beautiful, generous and fills all the boxes of a good arcade game. The racing is exhilarating and the difficulty is there.
Review in French | Read full review
'Need for Speed Unbound' is a refreshing entry in the franchise, with new visual effects that enhance its sense of style. But for all the good that it does, it commits the cardinal racing game sin by periodically forcing the player to slow down, resulting in a fun, but mixed gameplay experience.
Need for Speed Unbound proves that having a distinct style and cool premise does a lot to elevate a game.
Put that unfairness together with the annoying tendencies of the cops in Need for Speed Unbound, and the entire experience is full of peaks and valleys that curtail the progress that this game is supposed to be making. Beyond its art style that stands tall on its own, Need for Speed Unbound feels less like an innovation and more like a new body kit installed on an old engine. When the competition is already miles ahead, what this series needed was a nitrous boost of epic proportions, but sadly, it doesn’t seem like it will ever catch up.
Criterion has managed to create a vibrant, beautiful, high octane Need for Speed entry that dares to breathe new life into a franchise that desperately needed it.
Need for Speed Unbound delights with a vibrant new art style and some exciting arcade racing, but familiar issues are as frustrating as an inopportune oil slick
Need for Speed Unbound hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses.
Need for Speed Unbound is the best new Need for Speed in recent years - which means it is a solid, yet not great arcade racing game.
Review in German | Read full review
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.
There's no split-screen competitive mode, there's no just sitting and customizing cars outside of career mode, and there's only the one career mode file. Accessibility options don't include button mapping, though that can be done from the Xbox itself. It's a step in the right direction, narratively and visually more interesting than Need for Speed has often been in the past, and a satisfactory if not mind-blowing driving experience.
With a distinct and interesting artstyle, which mixes a realistic car and city with streetart cartoon drawings for special effects, NFS Unbound definitely sets itself apart from the rest. The game sports a Souls-like mechanism of risk vs reward and a day-night cycle that work, but also hinders progress through the storyline. the races are fun and the many collectibles are well integrated. The near-mandatory police chases quickly become a nuisance and we wouldn't mind if those didn't make a return.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Need for Speed Unbound isn't flawless, but it's close to the standard set by the best games in the series. Criterion Games has differentiated itself from other studios by providing a unique creative approach. Regrettably, Heat's irritating framework, rigorous day-night changes, and the presence of too violent cops make it a bit less fun. Modifying the game's difficulty might just make things better for the newcomers.