Need for Speed Reviews
This latest entry in the Need for Speed series seems to be a reboot in name only. It neither feels like a reimagining of earlier ideas or a refining of the series' roots, but more of a mishmash of parts from the franchise's long history. As such, it lacks any sense of real identity. Ventura Bay often feels empty, the story is inconsequential, and the AI opponents are infuriating at times. That said, vehicle handling is quick and responsive and makes driving a real joy, while performance upgrades and customisation gives players an almost unlimited number of ways to make their cars their own. Those looking for a racing title to surpass all others should look elsewhere, but fans of the series' earlier street racing scene won't be disappointed.
When the pedal is to the floor, its a great experience. However as soon as you let up and are left to explore the other aspects of the game, things start leaving a lot to be desired. The new direction of the franchise shows promise, but there is still a ton of room to grow.
Without much new, Need for Speed is less of a "reboot" and more of a "rehash."
A slightly disappointing return for EA's racing franchise, Need for Speed doesn't do anything to push things forward. You'd think that a hiatus might have given Ghost Games time to inject a little extra vigour into Need for Speed, but the overall result is falls woefully short of expectations. Still, the racing part remains good, clean fun, which is what really matters.
Despite its less impressive iterations over the years, the Need for Speed name has delivered some truly excellent games - from Underground's street racing to Shift's wannabe-simulation, all the way to Hot Pursuit's absurd action. But rather than build upon this rich diverse history of fun, Ghost Games has sucked the fun out of a game that should epitomise the outlandishness of going really bloody fast. When you could be playing Driveclub, or Forza Horizon 2, or Project Cars, or even the beautiful and superiorly quick Forza Motorsport 6, offering a racer without speed? That's suicide.
My eightsix hovered between control and chaos, ready to spin out on every oversteer. The atmosphere was there, the game was there, the history was there, in that moment. Yet in Need for Speed the handling, the fun, the art, all of this, they are so stacked under layer after layer of meaninglessness, multi-faceted surfaces that gesture at everything and deliver nothing.
What Need for Speed has done spectacularly is put the focus on the car. In every opportunity possible the game showcases these machines, almost fetishising them. And that's great, but in achieving this, Need for Speed has left behind what makes players stay for these games. Not matter how great my car is, if I'm not driving down interesting streets, or being able to compete in diverse challenges, then slowly the thrill of the car will fade.
Not the best of reboots, but certainly not the worst, the latest Need For Speed plays it safe with a reborn franchise that is focused on finding the lust for momentum that it had lost in previous instalments. A solid start, even if it doesn't finish ahead of the pack.
With strong arcade-style racing, great visuals and sounds, Need for Speed looks the part, but falls short in other areas such as poor A.I., limited body part options and lack of incentives to keep you motivated to race.
Need for Speed's got many of the parts required of a great racer, but it's lacking a mechanic to assemble them and apply a lick of paint. The cutscenes, as obnoxious as they may be, are the real stars here, which may just be an indictment of the game as a whole. Sure, the handling's good, but the events are insipid – and the visuals may sparkle, but Ventura Bay is as vanilla as open worlds come. For as pumped-up as its excitable cast of characters are, this reboot quite simply lacks energy. Now, has anybody got any Monster?
Need For Speed feels like a plucky contender, that is close to greatness but tragically falters at number of key moments. There is genuinely plenty of fun to be had in its world, and the return to the themes of Need For Speed: Underground are welcome. However, there simply isn't the level of consistent quality that the franchise has had during Criterion's stewardship, despite a large number of their staff moving to Ghost Games, and indeed in a number of ways it feels like a step back from 2013's Rivals. This year's Need For Speed is close to greatness, but it doesn't quite make the podium.
Despite a few redeeming qualities, Need for Speed is a lackluster reboot that fails to reinvent the franchise, or live up to the name of the original game.
Instead of exciting racing, Need for Speed seems more focussed on tapping into trends and desperately trying to stay relevant. Instead of bringing something new to the table, it aims to recycle ideas from its peers.
The live action cutscenes make Need for Speed painful to witness and the bland events and dull tracks mean you'll soon tire of hanging out in Ventura Bay. It's a shame, as the graphics are fantastic and the customisation options are top quality. If EA continue with the Need for Speed brand, they need to focus more on what's under the hood.
The biggest shame about Need for Speed is that the driving is so satisfying that it makes the fact that the rest of it is so throwaway stand out that much more. This game would have benefited greatly from a mode where you can just get matched with other players and do a bunch of different race types back to back. Instead you're stuck in an online only game with other players who you won't actually be doing any races with. It's got a damn good soundtrack though.
While Need for Speed may look and sound great from afar, it's sadly little more than a mostly empty box wrapped in shiny wrapping paper (and one which you can only open when connected to the internet to boot). If you're desperate for a new racing game experience, you could do worse, just bear in mind that your mileage will definitely vary.
Even with its missteps, I really enjoyed Need for Speed. It tried to return to form in some aspects and it really scratched that itch I was looking for with a car customization game. It handles how the player wants it to, and while performance can be spotty in some instances, it's still a great looking and playing racing game.
The best thing I can recommend is take it for a test drive and see how it fits for you. It definitely has the Need For Speed ebb and flow, which is good, but there are also a few takeaways that keep it from peak performance.
Need for Speed is a fun, accessible racer that's both aesthetically impressive and technically stable. The always-online requirement means server problems can affect your game and oh yeah, you can't pause, either. I'm sorry but it just wasn't necessary.
A tragically misjudged series reboot that gets all of the fundamentals wrong, while adding absolutely nothing new to the franchise except flashier graphics.