By Robb Dolen - Columnist This year, Electronic Arts decided that the popular but stale, “Need For Speed” series needed a full reboot. It’s a classic case of two steps forward and three steps back for the iconic racing franchise.
“Need For Speed” is an open world, arcade racing game that takes place in the fictional city of Ventura Bay, a Los Angeles lookalike. The map is huge and varied, ranging from cramped city streets to long stretches of open highway.
The world doesn’t feel like just a backdrop either, it looks borderline photorealistic. The environments are fleshed out with proper structures – the weather effects, like rain and mist, add an extra layer of reality and other cars are just as detailed as your own.
The player assumes the role of the new no-name protagonist looking to make a splash in the street-racing scene. “Need For Speed” features live-action cut scenes where the camera is the first-person view of your character.
“He” is completely silent all the time and rarely exerts any emotion at all, while the rest of the cast speaks to “him.” Your character feels like a lifeless robot-camera, only taking the time to awkwardly acknowledge fist bumps and sip energy drinks with his new friends.
These actors are extremely cheesy; it gets to the point where their outlandish acting goes beyond a reasonable suspension of belief. The characters they portray resemble perfect stereotypes of car enthusiasts invented by those disconnected from any form of automotive culture. Even the special guests, who actually are motorsports icons, act awkwardly on camera as if they were told to embrace the ridiculous stereotypical atmosphere.
“Need For Speed” embraces the arcade racing style it’s known for while also refining the game play with a proper dose of limited realism. The game gives you the option to tweak your driving experience from a drifty build to a build with heavier traction, depending on your play style. Along with tweaking handling, the player can customize parts for performance, appearance and even create complex paint wraps on all 51 cars in the game to give them extra individual flair.
One huge omission of the game is the option to choose between manual and automatic transmission, a very important option for racing game enthusiasts who want better control of their car. You also cannot pause the game at any moment because it is always online and needs a constant connection.
Sometimes controls can also be a little unbearable, meaning the tiniest wrong input or mistake will probably be detrimental to your race.
“Need For Speed” has been revamped to appeal to casual gamers and would have been a welcome rebirth for series veterans, but feels like an incomplete game missing features that are commonplace in past entries and other games.