Need For Speed: The Run review (PC)

Adrenaline-pumping and death-defying races is what Need for Speed (NFS) is all about; coupling that with strong cinematic storytelling and stunning visuals, makes The Run a game that defibrillates and energizes a rather stayed franchise.

Get set…Go!

The game starts you off as Jack Rourke, who has landed in some hot water with the mob – and the only way out is racing across the USA from San Francisco to New York, beating over 200 competitors along the real-life-based 3000 mile journey.

Add $25 million in prize money and this becomes a high-stakes, all-or-nothing adrenaline rush. This style of racing is exciting and refreshingly different – comparable to a Cannonball run of sorts; and if you feel like the game could get monotonous over time, there are added special challenge events unlockable during the course of the game.

Another aspect that adds to the overall ‘blockbuster-styled’ NFS, is the addition of a star cast. Voices by Sean Faris (Never back down); Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as well as two Sports Illustrated models, Irina Shayk and Christy Teigen were included, just to complete the polished feel.

In cinematic sequences, you have to engage in the action with required gestures shown on-screen – these quick-time events are similar to games like Heavy rain, SAW or God of War, but it fails to capture the true impact of the scene. So getting through the cinematics can get repetitive. Having this addition to the game is a welcome change for the series, but can definitely be improved on.

 Catching Frostbite

An inevitable direction for NFS was adopting the accomplished Frostbite 2 engine (seen in Battlefield 3) which takes the game to all-new ground, visually.  Visuals are vastly improved and quite exquisite;  the lighting system is more realistic and realistically portrays elements such as time of day as well as weather phenomena like sand storms.

Maps give the true sense of vast landscapes, and capture the enormity and scale of game.  Frostbite 2 brings great improvements to damage and destruction for both vehicles and environments, as well.

Game on!

The Run sees vast arrays of vehicles – anything from American Muscle cars, to light-weight supercars. Handling is fairly good for an arcade racer, but at times unrealistic breaking and steering can leave you feeling cheated.  Traffic and speed are never going to be a good mix, and sometimes coming across the line first feels like a case of luck outweighing skill.

Luckily, you have 5 Resets per race – where deviating from track, or wrecking your car, sees you cashing in a ‘reset’ and returning to your last known safe point.

You’ll also see the return of the ever-popular cop-chases – armed cops in fact – chasing you with their suped-up cars, SUV’s and Helicopters, which adds more excitement to the already nerve-shattering races.  The game does bring in some elements of split-second decisions, with explosions and detailed environmental destruction to contend with.

Multi-player modes now include 16-player online events, and opts for a “Lobby-free” approach.  Players have hosts of different game modes – such as Supercar Challenge, The Underground & Exotic sprints. Each mode features cars suited to that specific race, and rewards are random – making use of “The Bonus Wheel” rewarding system.

Another returning feature is the Autolog – where keeping up to date with friends’ progress throughout the game are made easy; and you can check where you rank between them.

But…

Whilst thoroughly entertaining, the game isn’t without a few gripes.

For one, loading times seem way too long and detract from fast-paced action. Hopefully this can be fixed with later updates.

Another niggle is the management of cars; choosing a car from a menu has been ditched, and now changing a car requires you to pull into a filling garage – more often than not, during a race. These garages can be missed easily and are near-impossible to return to. A major disappointment for me was the lack of car customisation and modifications that NFS fans have come to love – leaving you with that “something-is-missing” feeling when choosing your next ride.

The words that count

Aesthetically being a hybrid of both Arcade & Simulator driving, The Run is a real ground breaker for the series but remains no more than an Arcade game at the end of the day. If you enjoy technical skill-based driving like what simulators have to offer then you might get bored or even irate halfway through game.

Underground, Carbon or Most Wanted fans will welcome the improvements tenfold. And if you don’t take yourself too seriously and enjoy the simplicity of pure arcade-styled racing then The Run is a must-have!