Need for Speed Unbound

The Criterion development team returns to work on Need For Speed ​​games after 9 years in which the Ghost Games development team worked on the series, with the level of releases fluctuating. Need For Speed ​​​​Unbound is the title of the game that witnesses the return of the beloved team that gave us one of the best versions of the series in Need. Will this be the expected return for Speed: Hot Pursuit?

Unfortunately, the game presents the story mode again, as has been the norm in recent versions of the series, and this time with a story that is possibly the worst of all recent stories, with annoying characters that seem to be inspired by the silliest social media seem personalities and with the use of phrases and sentences try to gain the greatest admiration of the Tik Tok generation. As much as possible!

The game’s story revolves around an illegal street racing tournament in the fictional town of Lakeshore City. This tournament takes place over a 4 week period during which you compete in races to collect money and modify your vehicle to bring it up to the level required for tournament racing. Luckily, you can take part in most of the races and challenges the game offers without worry. With the story only focusing on the races that take place every weekend.

Cartoon Effects and Artistic Direction

What sets this version apart is the introduction of cartoon effects that appear on the player’s vehicle and competitors’ vehicles during the race, such as: Such as smoke from tires or fenders that appear on your vehicle when you use Nitro and other effects that give the game its own identity. Your The characters and the characters in the game world also all have a cartoon design. Cel shading is important, while the design of the vehicles and the game world is rather realistic and has a good graphical level. Embrace this artistic trend that mixes The two sides may depend on the player’s taste, but we found it to be a nice mix. On the audio level, the game focuses more on presenting modern rap songs, and we personally wish there was an option to turn off playing songs or at least switch between them.

Improved Control System and Driving Experience

The control system is very similar to the previous version of Need For Speed ​​Heat. It takes some getting used to, but what sets this version apart is that it allows for smoother and freer drifting than the previous version, which had a kind of heaviness in controlling the vehicle. This time the modification system on the vehicle allows you to modify the suspension system more significantly, allowing you to customize your vehicle to best suit your drifting style. The game also provides you with multiple options to make sharp turns, unlike the previous version where proper practice was limited to just one method. The result is a more pleasant driving system. And smoothly.

Three Types of Missions

The game basically offers three types of missions. The first type is traditional racing, where you try to overtake your opponents. The second type is Drift Challenges, where you try to score the highest number of points possible. There is the third type, which is a new addition to the series called Takeover. These challenges are challenges. In them you try to drift and destroy some of the targets on the track, such as cones and paint cans, in order to collect points by drifting and driving fast and reach the storage location. The score counter is filled as quickly as possible with time, which doubles it unless a certain amount of time passes before the save points are exceeded. Otherwise, the counter will return to the original value, which means you can collect points without complications.

Side Missions and Content

The single player mode also features two types of side missions that the player can undertake between races. They are divided into missions where you deliver a vehicle within a certain time window and missions where you evade the police before delivering those vehicles. The nice thing is that these missions allow you to experience many things… super vehicles or superbly modified vehicles, which is good. It gives you an idea of ​​the best vehicles you can buy to modify and improve. It also gives you an idea of ​​which super vehicles suit your driving style more than others, giving you confidence in your purchasing decision without having to go through the hassle of spending the necessary funds.

Additional Features and Multiplayer Mode

Apart from the aspects that we have mentioned in the previous lines, we can say that Need For Speed ​​​​Unbound is different in terms of content and side activities that can be carried out, such as: Some features, such as breaking advertising regulations or recording, are similar and almost identical to the previous version at a certain speed on speed cameras, with a few simple additions here and there. The game features… racing during the day and evening, and there is a heat meter that fills up during the race, and the level of which determines the danger of police vehicles present on the streets.

The multiplayer mode in Need For Speed ​​​​Unbound seems incomplete as it does not include police chases and is limited only to traditional racing and does not offer the opportunity to participate in drift competitions or takeover challenges. In this mode it is easier to collect money than in single player mode with the separation between your wallet and your vehicles. Between the two phases, the two phases desperately need more content through future updates.

Disadvantages and Room for Improvement

As for the disadvantages of the game, there are three main disadvantages: The first is the difficulty of getting money in the first half of the game due to the inability to purchase highly efficient vehicles and settling for vehicles that need a lot There are many modifications and improvements to keep up with the level of opponents. What’s also annoying is that many races with big prizes require you to pay a commission for participation. For example, there may be a race where the first place winner wins $12,000 but pays $4,000 to enter, thus ultimately receiving $8,000! The game allows you to place a side bet against a competitor. The bet simply means that you can finish the race in a better position than the competitor, but these bets usually do not offer a high financial return unless you challenge an opponent with a vehicle of a much higher level than your own and the possibility of defeating this opponent does not exist. The game offers the same deep and excellent modification system as the previous version, but what good is that system if you’re spending most of your money on it? wasted on modifying vehicles and improving their performance?

The second disadvantage is the “wrong” level of difficulty in many races. You might develop your vehicle to be literally at the highest possible level in its class, and you might end up in first place with a gap of 400 meters between you and second place. But the competitor in second place is able to exceed the distance between you at the end of the race. He’s ahead of you in first place, even though his vehicle isn’t as good as yours, which was an annoying problem that existed in the previous version as well.

The third and final drawback lies in the police chases, as the artificial intelligence causes high-level police vehicles to appear as you run around the city or appear randomly and very close to the player during chases, making it difficult in many cases Avoiding Vehicles It can happen that the chases last a long time before you can escape. The police and the negative aspects that we have mentioned can be fixed with future updates by the development team, which can significantly improve the experience.

We spent more than 20 hours enjoying the experience of competing on the streets of Lakeshore City against artificial intelligence in single player mode and against other players in multiplayer mode. We have completed many challenges and side activities and we can say that Need For Speed ​​​​Unbound is not the return expected by Criterion, but it is an experience that has improved… It has some aspects of the last version and retained some of its shortcomings. It has also shown a nice artistic direction that gives it its own identity. The experience is fun, but Criterion needs to present a bolder experience next time and move away from some of the ideas we’ve grown tired of in recent releases, such as focusing on story. Note: This game contains some slogans that do not fit the teachings of our true religion for a group we all reject.