The latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise has sped racing onto PC, and manages to impress with slick and smooth driving mechanics, as well as impressive visuals to boot. Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of NFS 2015 is the live action FMV cut-scenes, reminiscent of games in the early 90's and 80's, and previous iterations in the Need for Speed series. These elements of the title really help the aesthetic to pop, and add to the overall experience. The game harkens back to older titles, with the customisation of the vehicles and the street racing mechanics taking centre stage. Overall, the title is enjoyable and the port is excellent, but it does lack in other departments.
An Impressive Comeback
The protagonist in Need For Speed is a fist bumping mute, who travels his way through the bright neon city of Los Angeles taking over the street racing scene. Something that is immediately apparent is the lack of traffic in the city, as well as the always night-time setting that looms over the characters. Product placement is a plenty, in and helps to make the world feel more realistic, but the absence of pedestrians or a large amount of cars makes the title feel empty in comparison to something like Burnout Paradise or Test Drive Unlimited. However, one of the more cheesy aspects of the game helps to make it unique and interesting, and this comes in the place of live action cut-scenes.
Almost set up in a similar style to B movies from the early 2000's, Need for Speed takes pride in the awkward actors and the mechanical sets that never cease to make me smile in delight. Similar to that of 2015's Guitar Hero reboot, it uses the live action scenes as a tongue-in-cheek reference to that of older games, and is quite special in comparison to the majority of story driven games released today. What pedals the story along is the impressive racing, which manages to be fast and furious, whilst giving the player a fair amount of control over the movement and placement of the vehicle. The PC Port also manages to be a doozy, with plenty of options and optimisations sure to impress PC users.
One of these is an unlimited frame rate, unlike 2013's Need for Speed Rivals. Support for accessories such as racing wheels is also included, as well as providing players with manual gear support, something that the console players were clamouring for. This will appeal to the more hard-core racing fans, as well as the more casual players who happen to have a driving wheel on hand. Also, the game is gorgeous. Running the title at 1440P at 60FPS on our office gaming rig managed to be a treat, and a stand-out is most definitely the rain particles and physics which manage to leave me gob-smacked every time I see them on the screen. An interesting design choice is the always night aesthetic, which was disappointing as I would have liked to have seen the world during the sunset or early morning.
The Driving
Now, let’s focus on the real meat of the game, the racing. Need for Speed is an always online title, and in certain aspects manages to seamlessly cross between singe player and the multiplayer through the crew and free-roam systems. As we were playing the game however, it was before the official release date, so we didn't get to fully experience the multiplayer aspects of it. Some more articles will be uploaded after the release, to give an update on these experiences. The AI of the other drivers during street races is mediocre, but competent on the higher difficulties. The co-op missions are enjoyable with other members of your crew, but it the AI is especially noticeable in these races. Drifting and Grip makes a comeback to the series, and are slippy and responsive, which helps you bend around corners like a breeze.
We have always been fans of more arcade style racers, and Need for Speed impresses on these fronts. Police are evident in the cities murky streets, but are not as much of a threat as in previous games. Lowering your wanted level is phenomenally easy to do, as the police cars travel at the speed of a slug, and in some cases, I managed to escape in under a minute. It is especially difficult in segments/missions where you have to stay wanted, as the difficulty just wasn't there. Hopefully the strength and speed of the police cars will be addressed in further updates.
One portion of the game that really shines is the incredibly detailed and impressive customisation. The majority of cars can be tuned and changed to your delight, switching out headlights, bodies, different skirts, wheels and whatnot. Disappointing however are the restrictions of specific vehicles that cannot be heavily customised. More of the upmarket vehicles suffer this issue, providing little to no physical customisation options. Previous games in the serious such as Most Wanted or Underground had more options to the player than in this title.
Final Thoughts and Issues
In our build of the game, there were occasional bugs such as the game crashing, as well as one instance of a heavy frame drop, but this was most likely due to our internet connection. A issue that annoyed us was the lack of an actual pause button, like in previous titles. Something that this game did also not adopt from the series is the 2000's punk rock soundtrack, which never ceased to impress back in the day. Instead are a collection of songs from more modern artists, and I promptly muted them over the course of my 14 hour play-through.
In conclusion, Need for Speed manages to be a fairly solid trip back to the street racing arcade genre, which impresses due to its smooth driving mechanics, and solid graphics. Whilst there are problems when it comes to AI and the police aspects of the title, the positives outweigh the negatives in this case. The port work is also excellent, a lovely change from other games in the series.
Positives
-Reactive and smooth driving mechanics
-Well realised version of Los Angeles
-Great port, pretty graphics
-Multiplayer implemented well
Negatives
-Always online aspect occasional hinders gameplay
-Police and AI have some problems
SCORE: 78/100