Need For Speed

Over the years, Electronic Arts' Need For Speed series took different routes, from underground racing to full-on cross-country competition to high-speed police pursuits. With its new self-titled entry, the company focused on the street racing culture, similar to the Underground games, but with more contemporary themes and characters as you attempt to take over the city. This is a welcome relief for longtime fans, since they can get right back to what they do best – achieving top speed and showing off. However, there are a couple of interesting changes to make note of, including one that allows you to challenge online players directly.

That's the racing spirit

The single player campaign for Need For Speed revolves around a group of characters heavily involved in underground racing, including mechanics and racing deviants. It's all presented in classic full-motion video cut scenes from a first-person perspective. It works for the most part, but some characters will likely get on your nerves with their overacting.

The presentation is a bit extreme, but not overkill. The soundtrack was clearly inspired by the Fast and Furious series, and the audio effects, including the revving of car engines, are true to their source.

On top of that, the city is fantastic, especially at night, when you can see the lights shining on your ride, or the way everything looks during a rainstorm. The developers at Ghost Games went all out with the visual design. Overall it's a sweet looking ride, showing signs of improvement over 2013's Need For Speed: Rivals.

Everything ties into the central hub, the garage. Here, you can make car selections and tweak rides however you please via an intuitive menu system. You can easily maintain various parts of your vehicle by simply working your way around the car, doing everything from adding rims to modifying your engine for a better speed. Of course, it helps if you have the cash to get it done, but you'll earn plenty of dough during races.

Gearing up

When it comes to gameplay, Need For Speed nails the basics. Vehicle handling isn't overly complicated, and you'll soon be able to master drifts, speed jumps and other cool stunts with a few practice laps. The ability to challenge others on the fly and find various events simply by pulling up or warping to them represent the finer aspects of the open world.

Most importantly, the game is always online. In previous entries you could race offline with little problem and still get the most from the campaign. In Need For Speed, whether you're going solo or looking for competition, you always need a connection.

The online competition does factor into the gameplay, since you can challenge other players after finishing a majority of the in-game events. It's easy to do, and a competitive race provides a welcome side activity as you complete the campaign.

Pedal to the medal

Despite the need for an online connection, as well as some choices made with the in-game cinemas and music selection, Need For Speed delivers. The racing is about as good as it gets, and the satisfying visual presentation pulls you into the world. If you're looking for a quality racer, drive this one off the lot.

GAME's Verdict: 8/10

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