Review: Need for Speed 2015

After causing tremendous traffic chaos in the city of Fairhaven in Most Wanted, the series "need for speed” takes players to heat up the tires even more in Redview County in Rivals. However, here comes a new game, literally new. However, we cannot deny it: the new Need for Speed follows the source from which the most popular titles in the franchise, as the era underground and Carbon, between 2003 and 2006.

In other words: it could very well be called Need for Speed Underground 3, but for some unknown reason, the Ghost Games preferred to add the full responsibility of carrying the flag of “reboot” from the franchise. But, has the game really managed to deliver on what was promised a long time ago? Find out what I thought of the game!

The game brings back everything that consecrated the golden age of Need for Speed: a variety of car customization, an environment that exudes the illegality of street racing, uncompromising, fun and authentic gameplay and an interesting soundtrack. Add it all to a very well-crafted visual and a plot that, although be unnecessary, you have a title that has everything to please fans and bring that “good feeling” of being at home again.

One of the highlights of the new launch of Electronic Arts was, without a doubt, the return of cutscenes with real actors, which began with the Need for Speed Most Wanted, from 2005. At first, you are introduced to Spike, a super effusive guy who invites you to meet everyone just because you beat him in a street race.

This is the rhythm of the story: the group is receptive and open to the arrival of a complete stranger, blindly trusting you and giving the feeling that all of this is the “perfect environment” for a twist full of intrigue and betrayals.

In the Need for Speed universe, everyone is “fun” and loves to compliment each other. Oh, and no one can sit still: every cutscene consists of someone arriving or leaving doing something. Furthermore, they all love to call you, so be prepared to answer your phone several times, even in a race.

All of this ends up making the story a little shallow, without great emotions. On the other hand, you feel that it is just a backdrop for the action taking place in the streets: the plot is no longer the priority. An aggravating factor is that some dialogues, especially over the phone, are confusing and can leave the player lost.

One of the best ideas in the new Need for Speed is to bring back the roots of what was Need for Speed: Underground does something inevitable: customization of the vehicles that the new need for speed. While the performance changes are carried out in a very basic way, the visual modifications are extremely broad. Furthermore, most of the 51 vehicles available, divided into different segments, such as customization classics to super sports cars are available.

To give you an idea, in the game, it is possible to change wheel and tire options, change bumpers, headlights, taillights, spoilers, exhausts, among other items, in addition to possible adjustments to the height of the car. On the other hand, parts are released according to your level, which increases according to your reputation score, linked to the modules mentioned above.

In addition to power change visual aspects, the player can also make adjustments to his vehicle, which change the way it behaves on the track. It is possible to adjust the vehicle to glide around in style doing different drifts or leave it on the ground to make turns with more precision and, respectively, speed.

However, Need for Speed has a relatively negative point: precisely a contradiction to the extensive customization of cars and gameplay, mentioned previously. Firstly, it is not possible to define the game's difficulty level. With this in mind, to solve the problem, the Ghost Games made artificial intelligence tied to your performance during races.

In other words, if you're doing really well during the contest, there's a huge chance of a opponent outrun you like a rocket (literally), only to slow down in a bizarre way later on – this happens a lot on the last lap, for example. While this aspect can make things more challenging, at times it completely takes away from the purpose of the game.

Furthermore, the pursuits are far from being something really challenging or difficult. It is not difficult to escape from the police cars and you will only encounter problems if you decide to prolong the “game” with the police officers – even so, it is not very complicated to find a way to escape, something that in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005), it was technically difficult and fun.

The game is interesting in several aspects, the cars and the environment are well detailed. The effects of dirt resulting from rain and drops on the car's bodywork show the wide level of detail with which the Ghost has worked. A filter is used that leaves the image a little grainy, which serves as “finishing” and does not interfere with the experience of the match.

In some moments, when there are a large number of cars on the screen during the action and in places that end up framing several elements at the same time, it is possible to notice slight drops in frame rate. However, it's nothing that really impacts your game.

Another point is that, in the style underground, the new Need for Speed is the fact that all the action takes place at night – and only at night. The creators themselves explained that the game takes place from dusk until dawn. However, climatic variations are pre-established depending on the region of “Ventura Bay” where you are located.

Anyone who is a fan of the franchise knows, Need for Speed Underground brought an iconic soundtrack – everyone knows the intro song, right? The second title added spectacular sound effects, such as engine sounds. With that in mind, the new Need for Speed maintains this same success formula.

When the game was announced (E3 2015), the need to always be online has caused a lot of criticism for some reasons, such as: cases of instability problems that require instant connection to the internet and, if you want play Need for Speed in offline mode, you just can't play it.

This is one of the biggest criticisms: the impossibility of playing without internet. Let's face it, during the game, there is nothing that justifies constant connection, as it adds absolutely nothing to the game. Since our tests with the game on EA Access until the first hours of the final version, there was 9 cases in which a drop in connection with EA servers was witnessed.

Another side that may displease players is that this same functionality also prevents you from permanently pausing the game, which could be a problem if you need to interrupt a race. In other words, it will be necessary to leave the current dispute and start all over again, and hope that the connection remains.

However, the justification for the need of the internet was that “the experience with your friends would be deeper“. Well, actually, it's not. The participation of other players in the story is not essential, quite the opposite, as the story will not stop being told if you don't have someone with you.

And you, what do you think of Need for Speed?