The Need for Speed ​​series is finally back after a long wait, and for the first time ever, the series is introducing a new sequel that's only available on current-gen hardware. NFS Unbound promised a lot and delivered a lot of content, but is it really a return to the series' roots?

NFS Unbound was developed by two of the biggest studios known for racing games, Criterion Games, the godfather of the series, and Codemasters, the king of rally games. Welcome to the review and evaluation of the highly anticipated game from publisher EA.

We will analyze each section of the game separately and give you a glimpse of what awaits you in this title, be it in terms of story, gameplay or even performance. So without further ado, let’s get started.

In its new version, Need For Speed ​​​​Unbound adopted a different system from the previous parts. The story, for example, revolves around revenge, redeeming honor and betrayal, and these elements represent an exciting aspect, without a doubt if it is well mastered. But the plot and the epic part were absent from it, so if you want my opinion on whether the game returned to providing strong stories as in the roots of the series, unfortunately I will say that no, it did not.

The most important element in this type of game is the gameplay component. This element has been significantly changed in the game and has brought it closer to realism. Previously, we used to control the vehicles smoothly and uniformly for all the vehicles. Now each vehicle has its own control mechanism and its own system. For example, when you buy a particular vehicle, you will get it without any modifications and therefore controlling it will be annoying and the vehicle will not be able to enter the races. But after the modification, the experience will be completely different, this includes all the vehicles.

Let's go back and talk about the characters, the idea of adding animations to the game is not bad. But for the characters to turn into cartoons, this was a bad idea from the developer, as the details we are looking for will disappear, as well as the seriousness of the serious scenes in the cinematic scenes. You will feel like you are watching a classic animated film.

The development team takes great care in customizing the character, you can choose and change clothes, shape, facial details and size at any time by entering your garage.

Among the new features that have been added is the ability for characters to perform interactive moves when winning or losing. These moves can also be unlocked and purchased in the garage. And of course, as the player progresses through the story, they will find new moves that can be added and customized.

On the other hand, the effects on the vehicles are very beautiful and not bad at all, as they make the game full of vivid colors, especially with its strong graphics. There are several things that EA has changed in this part, such as the system of collecting and earning money, purchasing vehicles and others.

Regarding the money making system in the game, it has become much more difficult than before, to the point that you will not be able to collect $ 100,000 in the first 5 hours of the game. You will find it very difficult to get money and will only be able to withdraw it properly after having spent more than 15 hours playing the campaign.

There are other things the team has added to NFS Unbound to make it easier to earn money, but they won't be useful at first. The most important of these is the ability to bet on another competitor in the same race, and if they win, they can earn an additional amount of money in addition to the prize for finishing the race.

Other ways to earn money are tasks such as delivering a specific vehicle or escaping from the police with a certain class, and much more. It is worth mentioning that the game has a day and night progression system, for example, you will compete in the morning and then enter the garage to switch to night mode. Where we do not know because the game was not developed to operate a day and night succession system and the weather dynamically, and this is a negative point, unfortunately.

Now let's talk about police chases. The game has managed to return to the difficult epic chases. Once you reach the fifth level of the chase, you won't be able to escape easily, and if you get caught, you will lose all the money you collected during this time.

The police chases are very difficult, even on easy mode, and they are very annoying. At one point, I finally managed to collect $ 30,000 and after that, there was a chase with the police, I was arrested, I couldn't escape and I lost all the money. The problem is that even when the police fail to arrest you, you will still be in a dangerous situation because the fifth level police will keep looking for you and when you are found, the chases will start again, and this in itself ruins the gameplay experience and makes you always cautious about your movements and hinders your progress in the game.

In terms of the number of vehicles available for purchase, I appreciate the team making as many available as possible, but the price is too high for the money that can be raised. The biggest problem is that there are 5 different classes of vehicles that you must acquire in order to compete and advance in the story, namely B, A, A+, then S, the fastest class of vehicles, and then the fastest class of all, S+. And they all differ in price, especially the fastest class, which is very expensive.

The safest way is to own a class B car and then modify it to reach the highest category. In fact, modifying the vehicle in all “mechanical” and general aspects is the best, and it is absolutely the best in this part compared to the parts of the previous series.

The activities within the game vary, as it is not based solely on racing, there are competitions for Drifting, beating a certain time, beating a certain score, and others. However, there is a limit to the number of tracks, and you will notice a lot of repetition in them, despite the size of the map and its open world type.

Unfortunately, there are 7 areas that you can access to keep everything you have earned in a night or in a day. But you cannot go to it quickly, but you will have to go to it, and this is a very negative and annoying point.

There is a separate cooperative game mode, the idea of which is simple: compete against other players or with other players. Of course, you can transfer your money from this stage to the campaign.

Graphically, it's the coolest I've seen from the series so far. The ray tracing and tire stability on the PlayStation 5 version and 4K technology were excellent. The vehicle designs are incredible, especially when modified.

The voices in NFS Unbound, and the fact that the characters are cartoons, mean that you can't judge the words coming out of them and match them to the movement of their lips. But the background music, especially the Arabic ones from Arabic artists, is beautiful. The sounds of the vehicles and how they differ from each other is amazing.

Positives

Negatives

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