Need For Speed: Unbound

[ajprice]

There's a 10 hour trial available for this through EA Play, the link on here goes to the Game Pass trial download https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/you-can-play-10-h.... I'm giving it a go, installing it now. From what I've seen of it on Jimmy Broadbent and Failrace, it's similar to NFS Heat, with a graphics style that's a little bit different - the characters a D the effects like tyre smoke etc are done as a cell shaded 2D drawn effect, something like the Arcane series, or Spiderverse movie. The rest of the environment and the cars are realistic style. It's a choice, and apparently it can be turned off. A modern version of the Auto Modellista cell completely cell shaded graphics might have been a good option. Car customisation seems a bit more free than something like Forza Horizon games.

NFS: Unbound (2022)



Auto Modellista (2002)



I'll give it a go over the 10 hour trial, I won't buy it full price but I'll probably keep an eye on CD Keys or pre owned prices.

[smithyithy]

I had EA Play Pro not long ago, so got the this on release and have put about 20 hours into it so far I think. General thoughts are:

The city / map is okay for blasting around, it's not really anything new or innovative, but it looks okay and there's a nice mix of fast highways and twisty drifting roads.

The plot / storyline is as deep as a puddle, it's never been an NFS strongpoint, but it feels really lazy this time. The script and character acting is dull at best, cringey and irritating at worse.

Car selection is generally good, nice mix of JDM, American Muscle, European sports and super cars. Modification is good although I feel a little less extensive than previous titles, eg. the wheel selection isn't great and the bodykits are mostly the same. Although the decal / wrap options are quite broad.

General gameplay is standard NFS, day / night 'sessions', mix of races, crazy cop chases. The 'garage' from Heat, where you could view your car collection together is gone, you now only see one car and switch between them. Feels odd to have removed that aspect given the general focus on having and sharing a garage as part of the game...

Cell shading and art style, I wasn't too sure about at first but it's fine now I'm used to it. With the characters it doesn't really add anything beneficial (although it's better than the real life 'acting' in the NFS 2015 cut scenes), but the car and racing effects are quite fun, it adds to the arcadey feel of the game, so no real complaints.

The soundtrack is hot garbage. I know this is subjective, but it's genuinely ste. Mute it and have Spotify in the background if you want to keep your sanity. This will also drown out the characters general chatting, so double bonus.

Overall, same basic game, slightly new skin, but pretty generic. It's fun for a blast and for some car collecting and customising. It's worth playing if you have EA Play but I certainly wouldn't pay full price for it.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

It should have been a free NFS: Heat update. Game is absolutely not worth the asking price. It's almost the same as heat in many areas, in the areas it's not the same it's actually worse.

• Car selection is good but customisation is not that great, basically same as Heat
• Car handling is same as heat, very few cars capable of grip and almost everything oversteers at will and understeers at every other opportunity
• Soundtrack is...not my style, I don't want to say it's st but it's not far off
• Clarity is poor, far too many effects going on and imo it makes it hard to actually focus on the race
• fk EA

[ZedLeg]

I finished the trial and quite liked it, not enough to buy it but I'll definitely play more when it turns up on gamepass.

I hadn't really clicked with a NFS game for a long time but I think this one is a definite improvement.

[ajprice]

I've played a few hours of the trial now, and as a game it's very similar to Heat. The 'prologue' part with the story you don't care about is way too long before you get to have your own car that you keep (pick a junk car that gets magically restored, do races, story happens, drive the taxi car, do stuff, then get to choose a car). To me, the lighting of the city looks very similar to the Matrix demo game from earlier this year, no idea if it's the same graphics engine or tech. I won't buy the game full price, maybe when it's cheap or on Game Pass. Once I've finished the trial time, I'll keep to playing Heat, and Forza, and Grid Legends.