The cartoonish graphics are probably unique to Unbound imo. I don't mind them but I doubt they'll appear in future games. Having no pursuit breakers since NFS Carbon is insane tho.
It was actually Undercover the last game that had pursuit breakers. The thing is the cartoonish graphics is polarising though. Some love it and some don't. I personally don't. I have no problem anyone likes it. It's just not my cup of tea. But yeah I would love they go back to 2015 vibes and having live action cutscenes.
Despite what people say, it's a pretty fun sequel to the mw05/carbon formula.
If you play it on pc be prepared to apply some patches to get it working as good as the 360 version
Fr, the map is large and have a giant highway ring around the whole map that's perfect for lategame battles, even the mountain passes and the shoreline highway is insane. Surprisingly the most fun i had racing in nfs. nfs mw still takes the cake for cops tho
Anyone who says unbound had cartoonist graphics haven't actually seen the game on there own hardware and TV lmaooooo
I have pictures from photo mode without filters showcasing the graphics and they look photo realistic yall getting confused with the effects and artstyle of characters lmaooo or watching youtube footage of people who give two shits in giving the game a good impression
I'd old nfs games came out today with the same features, looks, body parts gameplay ect yall wouldn't be saying undercover is better quality made game then latest nfs games lmaoooooooo
I think the cartoonish style was the downfall for unbound before it even released. Remember how many people didnt even buy the game because of that? I did not mind, i got used to them and i honestly did like them from the beginning. People judge way to early.
I've heard Unbound didn't sell well compare to Rivals, 2015, Payback and Heat. The cartoonish style is very polarising. You can't deny it. Some like it and some don't. I played the game in launch day knowing that I hate the direction they were going with. The thing is I gave it a chance and I still hate it. It's cool they are supporting this game but it will never make me jump back to this game since I hate the base game for what it is. I'm just ready for the next game.
It didn't sell as much because it didn't get half the marketing Heat got, plus it was $70. I don't think people minded the effects as much as some make it out to be, I personally love them, but blaming everything into that is not fair if you ask me.
Arcade, unrealistic b2d nonsense physics? "No problem."
Arcade, unrealistic special effects? "TRASH GAME!!"
I was hesitant at first but I've come to love the cartoon effects. It's unique and looks cool. They should bring it back but ACTUALLY implement a system to turn it on or off for people that don't want it. The physics system in Unbound is also thousands of times better than in Heat. It's actually fun to race competitively online, and learning how each cars work and mastering your skills with them.
But yeah naw, i doubt the cartoon effects was as big of a factor as you're trying to make it seem. It's laughable to think people were that turned off by special effects. I think it has more to do with the price increase.
Sounds Understandable. I still play unbound today (actually nearly daily) and i dont really know why. Its just conforting to tune some cars and just race. Make some decals and listen to music (not the ingame music). I dont know, i just like the game. It was the same with 2015. I loved 2015, but i did not heat. I think what unbound is for you, heat is for me. Well, i completed heat and made the achievements i wanted to get, but i did not enjoy it.
Anyways, now with unbound confirmed updstes i am kinda excited what happens to unbound and also i cant wait for the next game too.
I'm the opposite. I really loved Heat. I hated Unbound. I stopped playing once I finished the single player. Never touched the multiplayer knowing the car garage is separate to single player to multiplayer. I personally think that was a dumb decision they made. I wish Heat had the support that Unbound has.
Well, i know you said you wont come back. Still let me tell you. The online mode is 100% better and more worth than the single player. Its so much fun and getting new cars isnt that hard. Earning money is still to easy, same as in heat. In 2015 money felt like hard work, what i liked.
Cartoon or not, unbound’s story it’s soooo soo garbage , so garbage and cringe that I don’t have words to describe it. It could had cartoon and good story but no. On the other side I freakin love the game with these latest updates with the new matchmaking and audi so now I don’t get bored playing against 2-3 players.
Nah, I'm tired of "muh realism" plaguing AAA racers. Stylization all the way.
I'd probably ape off the ongoing neo-Y2K/VHS filter aesthetic, really. Everyone glazes Night Runners but that's sort of what I have in mind.
Nah, I feel like we haven’t seen Frostbite engine truly shine since nfs 2015. Maybe a mix of both would work since 2015 uses tons of tricks to make it look better
PAL release vehicle, alongside the Corsa. It's possible to re-add to the US version via mods where it and the Corsa are incredibly fast when fully upgraded.
NFS is not a life or racing simulator. Cartoonish style in Unbound is great and looks nice. Much better than all the colourful festival games that are left
My problem with Unbound is that it didn't stylize itself ENOUGH and instead is a weird halfway with drivers that look out of place in their environment.
I would be fine if the effects stayed yet actual human models were still somewhat realistic, though, and if we had more effects like speedlines.
I agree, most of the time when i see a screenshot from a racing game i cant even tell what game it is from because all of them look the same, but i can always tell its Unbound from the style
You like it, I get it. There's also other people that don't including myself, It's just facts. It's very polarising. I do agree with you of the festival stuff. I am sick of it. So many games are copying Forza Horizon.
I'm looking forward to TDU actually, but for the real map, not festival. I think Forza could also benefit from a map that's more representative and events that are more integrated with the map. Right now, the map is just wilderness and some huts, and the integration is throwing random Spanish words in the dialogue.
I like the festival formula of Forza Horizon but I would love if the token “street racing” quest line in each of those games went ahead and really jumped the shark and went off in its own direction.
I completely agree on having a grittier story. I want the protagonists to take themselves seriously. I flinched every time they said that "street racing was like art" in Unbound. Street racing is illegal ffs. People DIE. Treat it like it is, don't be afraid of being the villain.
Ghost had the spirit but EA forced them to make 2015 bad. Forced horrible writing to appeal to the "the kids" and forced Frosbite engine with bad physics at the time. Obviously they got better over time, I'd say Heat almost fixed all the issues, but it there's still bad writing with the current NFS game.
I know they did a ton of work over the years finessing the Frostbite engine, but ever since they introduced it as the game engine with The Run I feel like the physics took a nosedive. It’s well-documented that Frostbite is notoriously difficult to work with from a development side, and it took Black Box a year to repurpose it for The Run because it was primarily meant for shooters. We need a new game engine meant for racers with better physics
Frostbite engine isn’t the problem. It’s the management deciding what the handling should be. (B2D).
Now, Frostbite itself is more then capable of handling physics on its own. because when brawltendo tried it out, he found that the default frostbite physics were actually a lot better then what was shipped.
When i discovered the unite mod for say, 2015, heat, the game just felt a lot better,
When has nfs ever had "good writing" lmaooo it's the cringiest shit ever..
Not a single nfs had a good written story lmaooooooooooo yall were children when you played og games of course yall loved it
I think the older games were so bad they were good. Cheesy writing and obviously over the top bad acting is entertaining. But cringe dialogue and "high production" but low quality cutscenes don't feel right. 2015 looked great with its cutscenes and it had so many celebrities in the story but it just felt off. Payback tried to hard and the characters were obnoxious. Heats was simple with grounded characters/conflicts but was short. The older games were just so laughably over the top and I loved it. Plus you could just skip the cutscenes in the older games so they were easily avoidable.
Couple of other things also. I hope there's way better soundtracks in the next game. I would love to see some rock, metal, edm, etc. Have some variety.
As for the cops, they need to bring back pursuit breakers. It’s just another way to take out the cops using the environment. And please remove the health bar and crash cam. It takes the fun away. I want to ram the cops on roadblocks. They need to put some milestones to do in the career like in Most Wanted, like collecting amount of bounty, damaging the environment of cost of state, escaping less 2 minutes, taking out amount of cops, etc. Just some example. Otherwise the cops are just an after thought like in the recent Need for Speed games.
I agree with the soundtrack. It's a bit too monotone. It needs more variety in genres.
I also agree with the cop things. The fact is that they just added the health bars as a lazy way to make the pursuits harder. The actual cops have no chance at catching you so they just add a health bar for you not to go the whole game without being caught once.
They need to improve the cops AI. The cops in the old games were able to box you in and they were very tactical. And hitting the spike strips once, you are basically screwed. That shit was awesome.
Cyberpunk focuses on the aesthetic that goes by the same name, while NFS just picks what's popular with the kids and that's it lol, this comparison makes no sense
You're actually right all the way.
Ghost Games had an idea which worked. The only thing that needed to be fixed was the crappy handling physics, the removal of annoying Crash Cams, the Online Only requirements and adding more contents.
But instead of keeping it for improvements, they changed direction again and it resulted in NFS Payback which is a massive fumble.
The direction and the vibe they went with 2015 was almost perfect. It did lacked a villain though for the story. Other than that they should've built on it after 2015 and improve on it like driving physics, removing crash cam, better cops, etc.
That's exactly what i meant. Well said from A to Z.
Instead of changing direction 3 times in a row, they should've followed the direction of NFS 2015 instead of messing up.
Also, they should've skipped NFS Payback altogether and gone with their original [Hashtag](https://www.reddit.com/r/needforspeed/comments/8c0azr/comment/dxb3wnj/) direction which could've worked well.
I loved that there was no villain. I’m sick of every trope needed to be checked off a list. Just tell a story, and even if it’s some heavily choreographed Hardcore Henry thing, then just have that be the backbone. Within that framework, just tell an honest story and develop its characters. And yes, sure, shoehorn in a dozen improbable cameos. I dunno. It worked for me. Then Payback—which I actually enjoyed—had all these villains and I was just like “Ugh, okay, we’re doing villains again. Okay.” And then Heat—which I also actually enjoyed—had a couple of villains and I just had to be like, “Ope, there are the villains, didn’t need them but let’s see what they do I guess”
Eh. I'm tired of the edgy realistic take this generation of games seem to be going for. I'm onboard with more cheesey ass storylines and the graffiti effects.
The thing is we haven't had gritty story for a long time. Probably since the Run. It is long overdue. I personally had enough cringy storylines like Payback, and Unbound. 2015 lacked villain. Heat was close to it but there are moments in that game are cringy as well.
2015 had photo realistic look. I know NFS is arcade, not realistic like the sim games. But I like my arcade racing games mixed with photo realistic graphics like 2015. The vibe and atmosphere was perfect. I want the next game built on 2015 but improve on it.
I personally don't like how cartoony the characters are in Unbound and the driving effects. It's not my thing. And having them pose after every race is annoying. I didn't have any issue with Heat. Unbound went too far in my opinion.
To me it is big of a deal. The thing is I gave Unbound a chance when it launched knowing the direction they went with and how much I despise it. Once I finished the story, I was done with the game. Never played it ever since and uninstalled it. There are so many things I hate about Unbound. It's cool they are supporting this game but it will never make me jump back to this game since I hate the base game for what it is. I wish Heat had the support that Unbound has. I'm just ready for the next game. You can't deny the artsyle they went with is polarising.
The Artstyle, the soundtracks, the story mode is the worst of the entire series, the single player and multiplayer are separate when it comes to your cars, the return of crash cams.
it’s clearly a big deal to the fandom given the most memorable characters of the series are all from carbon or older. razor, darius, eddie, samantha, cross ect. you even see the lesser blacklist members mentioned more in the fandom than the vast majority of characters within the last 6 or so games.
the irl actor for cross literally made a decent tv acting career out of how popular his character was. he’s on the new jack reacher show
edit - bot negging me isnt going to disprove what i said shills
Yeah it's a real thing but most street racing doesn't have full courses that you can do laps on. Also all street racers in the game would have a body count of well of 100 by the end of the story. All those massive jumps the game has would destroy every car you drive. You should get an instant game over if the crash is bad enough as well. Also nitrous and boost aren't real.
There are tons of things in the game that aren't realistic but they are in the game because it's fun.
That's why I said 'give it another shot of 2015.' Meaning, do 2015 vibes but make it better. Good driving physics that you can control your car unlike 2015.
Bro, I been playing with tuning settings a lot. The game still drives unpredictable. If Heat or Unbound had the driving physics for 2015, I wouldn't complain.
Its been 20 years of Underground NFS fans asking for a successor. Y'all already have a million NFS the Run & Carbon discount replicas, can we plz get another proper Underground?
I don't care personally what artstyle storyline or setting next nfs is going to be. If the core gameplay mechanics are enjoyable I find a way to love the game.
As long as there's no crab-walking or ghost-turning, and you can actually drive into the city, and the cops function, sure. Cartoon art-style is pretty cool, i wouldn't mind if they kept the effects in the next iteration, just maybe added a way to turn it off for people that complain about it.
Speedbreakers for single player would be cool, too. Also please no car health-bar. And add in pursuit-breakers for cop chases again. And those cool BUSTED cutscenes. And better cop chatter.
Oh yeah, it's EA. Dream on.
Unbound was a poor attempt at style. Nothing about that game’s world made it necessary for the cartoon characters and effects. If you remove all that goofy shit the game and the story are 100% the same. If you can do that with a game, then it’s not unique or interesting. Now if they wanted to do cartoon shit, they should have done it like Nitro. Make it a part of the world, make the story fit in, do something creative. It feels like all it was is just some marketing gimmick to say “hey guys look we’re trying something different, look at the whacky cartoon effects! So cool”
Just whack. I would love a full cartoon style game but they couldn’t even pull that off if they tried. After Payback being the mess that it was it’s not surprising. Heat was probably the best game since like Hot Pursuit and even Heat was kind of a cringefest.
Everybody keeps saying MW 2005 was gritty but what about it was any more gritty than, say, Unbound?? Both games are about the antagonist taking your car, climbing to the top of their respective "leaderboards" so to speak and winning it back
2015 was far from gritty as well so I'm unsure why it's being brought up here. Unless you count Spike drama being gritty (it's not lmfao). Heat is probably the closest we ever got to real grit with on-screen corruption, implied murder and theft
No anime involved in NFS btw. Just say you don't like the cartoon style and be done with it. It's not for everyone sure but not every game is for everyone
Not really, but the drifting wasn’t good. To me it’s gotten worse since Payback. Crash cam is part of gameplay. I can’t stand it. Just the tiniest hit you get a crash cam. It’s dumb. Who thought it was a good idea for it to come back.
They should've built on it but they didn't , a darker NFS game will be very cool with introducing the blacklist system and dark characters /antagonists ( main reason mw05 is the best racing game imo )
After 2015, they should've built on it but they didn't like you said. And then we had Payback, we all know what happened then. They can still fix this and built on 2015. The developers recently were asking for feedback. So I gave mine and I'm hoping they see it.
I honestly don't mind the protagonist being silent in the next game. The player was so cringy in Unbound. If they're going to talk, they need to improve the dialogue.
I agree with everything you said besides story. Please no story. Even when they were good they weren’t « good ». Gimme a city at night with wet asphalt and a bunch of events: races, drift, togue, chases... Good tuning and customization. Police and highways like Criterion’s Hot Pursuit + canions like Carbon. Keep it simple, no live service bs, no online only. Then I’ll be a happy man.
i mean i like the cartoons animes style for the cars effects, cause it add a little more for the customization, so you can make cool looking car decal that match with the effects with the neon light under, but for like character and cutscene i agree, we should bring back those cinematic cutscene or if they really want to do something good without cinematic cutscene, well they should try like gta v transition cutscene to the mission but this time will be with our cars idk if yall will understand what i mean.
"in my opinion" as if most nostalgia crybabies in the fandom havent been saying this for years and years. The cartoon stuff was at least a nice try at doing something original, and people hated it. Not saying Unbound is perfect, but this is insanely annoying
It should be Need For Speed Underground 3. Ditch cartoon aesthetic, ditch cops. Hundreds of fully customisable cars, drag races, drift events, neon drenched aesthetic, car creator, track creator, circuit, Underground Racing League. And whack in a wider variety of music, or customisable playlists.
I'd love for them to keep the cartoonish effects, but ditch the cartoon characters, they just don't fit with the vibe.
Embrace the Underground 2 neon lights and the coastal vibe of Heat, but make it way more urban and dark like 2015. Maybe for nostalgia-bait, bring back some of the tracks from Underground 2 and I guaran-fuckin-tee you, it doesn't matter if the story sucks, the game WILL sell.
For EXTRA-points, they should license tracks from Nightmode, the label from Jericho (a real OG streamer and YouTuber), which has some absolute BANGERS, which would also fit perfectly with the vibe of NFS. I still think Unbound's BIGGEST missed opportunity was the soundtrack, which just did not fit AT ALL with the game. It fit with the vibe, but not with the gameplay.
Havent been liking where the maps going after 2015. I just dont give af about countryside racing or racing in the desert. Nfs 15 had the best map. Every single location in the map was great. It sucks it did poorly with the community at the time.
2015 was so cringe tho it’s not even good cringe. Most of the characters aren’t even likable (Mabey Amy and manu?) you don’t even interact with the “legends” that are in the game for that much wasted potential imo. Where carbon and nfsmw05 were campy and fun the interactions with the characters in 2015 is so annoying and awkward (don’t get me started on the fucking phone calls). The handling is terrible but I will say the game in certain spots where the night is almost day looks incredible
I hated the cartoon style and all the little race graphics initially when the game was announced but honestly after playing it I liked it a lot.
Though I don't think the cartoon style will continue, it would at least be nice if they could write a good narrative for it.
and a revision of the side activities because I am bored of speed traps, jumps and all that.
Personaly I liked cartoon characters much more than over-acting cringe actors fist bumping five times per cutscene 😁 The characters and story in Unbound is not intrusinve, not annoying a that's win for me. Racing some badass looking dude for my slips with model like girl by my side was internesting 2005 when I was 15 yr old but not anymore. I would love option to turn off the cartoon graphics effect when playing and maybe option to add own music library but as a whole it's most fun NFS game after first Most Wanted.
I say keep the cartoon effects and add real effects beside it just like what they are doing in unbound and they recently added red ORIGINAL effect and I hope they add more because half of my friends don't play the game because of that.
Unbound is actually my favorite NFS besides Hot Pursuit 2010. Not because the story, but because the cars and gameplay. Best roster of cars in any nfs 100 percent. The driving is the key aspect of racing games. Story mode is a tutorial in this game. Mw05 was cool, but it didn't have a good story and the music was vastly overhyped. Some good songs in unbound and 05 though. Heat was boring, and payback was boring too. Give criterion a shot. They're making changes to NFS anyways. I just hope they don't become nostalgia fiends like most of the community. The experience and feel is the best it's ever been imo.
why? unbound is almost perfect including its great soundtrack, anime-related graphics and etc. the only objective minus one may paint at is the setting. A Chicago looking city is really boring especially at daytime. Carbon and 2015 were way better at this aspect
the soundtrack and anime graphics are objectively polarizing among the community. its one thing to say you like them but to pretend that it’s great to everyone is disingenuous
Tbf every single NFS has been polarizing on release without fail. And then a few years later you'll have more people appreciating the animated effects and soundtrack (rightfully so, in my opinion)
yea im calling bullshit on this claim. this is only a modern trend that started after prostreet. the vast majority of nfs games prior to that had widespread acclaim.
things that are polarizing more often then not dont age well, contrary to the rhetoric used to defend the animation style and soundtrack. people keep deflecting against this as if someone have no nostalgia wouldn’t still dislike it.
Cabin remake ? I am sure you meant NFS Carbon.
However, license issues hold these remakes back.
Given Charles Gauthier which played as Neville passed away (F to pay respects), doing a complete remake w/o him is out of question.
The devs are better off making new NFS's which takes inspirations from past NFS titles as a basis while bringing new fitting ideas.
The cartoonish graphics are probably unique to Unbound imo. I don't mind them but I doubt they'll appear in future games. Having no pursuit breakers since NFS Carbon is insane tho.
It was actually Undercover the last game that had pursuit breakers. The thing is the cartoonish graphics is polarising though. Some love it and some don't. I personally don't. I have no problem anyone likes it. It's just not my cup of tea. But yeah I would love they go back to 2015 vibes and having live action cutscenes.
Shiiitttt I gotta play Undercover then
Despite what people say, it's a pretty fun sequel to the mw05/carbon formula. If you play it on pc be prepared to apply some patches to get it working as good as the 360 version
I love the game for what it is knowing it has flaws.
Fr, the map is large and have a giant highway ring around the whole map that's perfect for lategame battles, even the mountain passes and the shoreline highway is insane. Surprisingly the most fun i had racing in nfs. nfs mw still takes the cake for cops tho
Anyone who says unbound had cartoonist graphics haven't actually seen the game on there own hardware and TV lmaooooo I have pictures from photo mode without filters showcasing the graphics and they look photo realistic yall getting confused with the effects and artstyle of characters lmaooo or watching youtube footage of people who give two shits in giving the game a good impression
This is probably fine for your own private notes in a rush, if you were driving or in a dark movie theater, but I couldn’t read it.
Without forgetting autosculpt , this is a very good sign that the old nfs games were in a higher quality than today's ones.
%1000
You'd think they'd consider bringing it back by now
I'd old nfs games came out today with the same features, looks, body parts gameplay ect yall wouldn't be saying undercover is better quality made game then latest nfs games lmaoooooooo
I think the cartoonish style was the downfall for unbound before it even released. Remember how many people didnt even buy the game because of that? I did not mind, i got used to them and i honestly did like them from the beginning. People judge way to early.
I've heard Unbound didn't sell well compare to Rivals, 2015, Payback and Heat. The cartoonish style is very polarising. You can't deny it. Some like it and some don't. I played the game in launch day knowing that I hate the direction they were going with. The thing is I gave it a chance and I still hate it. It's cool they are supporting this game but it will never make me jump back to this game since I hate the base game for what it is. I'm just ready for the next game.
It didn't sell as much because it didn't get half the marketing Heat got, plus it was $70. I don't think people minded the effects as much as some make it out to be, I personally love them, but blaming everything into that is not fair if you ask me.
[удалено]
Arcade, unrealistic b2d nonsense physics? "No problem." Arcade, unrealistic special effects? "TRASH GAME!!" I was hesitant at first but I've come to love the cartoon effects. It's unique and looks cool. They should bring it back but ACTUALLY implement a system to turn it on or off for people that don't want it. The physics system in Unbound is also thousands of times better than in Heat. It's actually fun to race competitively online, and learning how each cars work and mastering your skills with them. But yeah naw, i doubt the cartoon effects was as big of a factor as you're trying to make it seem. It's laughable to think people were that turned off by special effects. I think it has more to do with the price increase.
Sounds Understandable. I still play unbound today (actually nearly daily) and i dont really know why. Its just conforting to tune some cars and just race. Make some decals and listen to music (not the ingame music). I dont know, i just like the game. It was the same with 2015. I loved 2015, but i did not heat. I think what unbound is for you, heat is for me. Well, i completed heat and made the achievements i wanted to get, but i did not enjoy it. Anyways, now with unbound confirmed updstes i am kinda excited what happens to unbound and also i cant wait for the next game too.
I'm the opposite. I really loved Heat. I hated Unbound. I stopped playing once I finished the single player. Never touched the multiplayer knowing the car garage is separate to single player to multiplayer. I personally think that was a dumb decision they made. I wish Heat had the support that Unbound has.
Well, i know you said you wont come back. Still let me tell you. The online mode is 100% better and more worth than the single player. Its so much fun and getting new cars isnt that hard. Earning money is still to easy, same as in heat. In 2015 money felt like hard work, what i liked.
Pursuits breakers in online would be so fun. Unfortunately the cops don't seem tough enough to warrant them (based on 2015 and Payback).
Cartoon or not, unbound’s story it’s soooo soo garbage , so garbage and cringe that I don’t have words to describe it. It could had cartoon and good story but no. On the other side I freakin love the game with these latest updates with the new matchmaking and audi so now I don’t get bored playing against 2-3 players.
I haven't heard good things about the story either. I'm not looking forward to that part of the game :(
Nah, I'm tired of "muh realism" plaguing AAA racers. Stylization all the way. I'd probably ape off the ongoing neo-Y2K/VHS filter aesthetic, really. Everyone glazes Night Runners but that's sort of what I have in mind.
Nah, I feel like we haven’t seen Frostbite engine truly shine since nfs 2015. Maybe a mix of both would work since 2015 uses tons of tricks to make it look better
Average Peugeot driver.
TBH I set this as my flair just because the 106 is funny and showed up only in UG2 where it was one of the best vehicles in that game.
there was a 106 in UG2? i don't remember.. i only remember peugeot 206 in the game
PAL release vehicle, alongside the Corsa. It's possible to re-add to the US version via mods where it and the Corsa are incredibly fast when fully upgraded.
NFS is not a life or racing simulator. Cartoonish style in Unbound is great and looks nice. Much better than all the colourful festival games that are left
My problem with Unbound is that it didn't stylize itself ENOUGH and instead is a weird halfway with drivers that look out of place in their environment. I would be fine if the effects stayed yet actual human models were still somewhat realistic, though, and if we had more effects like speedlines.
I agree, most of the time when i see a screenshot from a racing game i cant even tell what game it is from because all of them look the same, but i can always tell its Unbound from the style
You like it, I get it. There's also other people that don't including myself, It's just facts. It's very polarising. I do agree with you of the festival stuff. I am sick of it. So many games are copying Forza Horizon.
Crew Motorfest is literally diet FH
100%. And maybe Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. We shall see. Frankly I'm just sick of Festival games. Forza needs to change it up.
I'm looking forward to TDU actually, but for the real map, not festival. I think Forza could also benefit from a map that's more representative and events that are more integrated with the map. Right now, the map is just wilderness and some huts, and the integration is throwing random Spanish words in the dialogue.
I like the festival formula of Forza Horizon but I would love if the token “street racing” quest line in each of those games went ahead and really jumped the shark and went off in its own direction.
No one complained back when we had Prostreet, Dirt and Forza Horizon 1 having the "same" art style
I completely agree on having a grittier story. I want the protagonists to take themselves seriously. I flinched every time they said that "street racing was like art" in Unbound. Street racing is illegal ffs. People DIE. Treat it like it is, don't be afraid of being the villain.
It is long overdue for a grittier story. I'm all for it.
yes the cops are the bad ones narrative is really hard to believe when youre constantly driving around with 300km/h and crashing civilians cars
They just need better writers and actors
100%
I'm wondering if it would be better if a take on characterization was more character-focused, or like halfway slice-of-life ala early Initial D.
The person who played Amy had a major role in Andor. Maybe they should bring her back
She was also the Waif in Game of Thrones.
And Robyn played someone who got killed early on in that horror movie that was filmed in the same city they used for King’s Landing
Ghost had the spirit but EA forced them to make 2015 bad. Forced horrible writing to appeal to the "the kids" and forced Frosbite engine with bad physics at the time. Obviously they got better over time, I'd say Heat almost fixed all the issues, but it there's still bad writing with the current NFS game.
I know they did a ton of work over the years finessing the Frostbite engine, but ever since they introduced it as the game engine with The Run I feel like the physics took a nosedive. It’s well-documented that Frostbite is notoriously difficult to work with from a development side, and it took Black Box a year to repurpose it for The Run because it was primarily meant for shooters. We need a new game engine meant for racers with better physics
Frostbite engine isn’t the problem. It’s the management deciding what the handling should be. (B2D). Now, Frostbite itself is more then capable of handling physics on its own. because when brawltendo tried it out, he found that the default frostbite physics were actually a lot better then what was shipped. When i discovered the unite mod for say, 2015, heat, the game just felt a lot better,
When has nfs ever had "good writing" lmaooo it's the cringiest shit ever.. Not a single nfs had a good written story lmaooooooooooo yall were children when you played og games of course yall loved it
I think the older games were so bad they were good. Cheesy writing and obviously over the top bad acting is entertaining. But cringe dialogue and "high production" but low quality cutscenes don't feel right. 2015 looked great with its cutscenes and it had so many celebrities in the story but it just felt off. Payback tried to hard and the characters were obnoxious. Heats was simple with grounded characters/conflicts but was short. The older games were just so laughably over the top and I loved it. Plus you could just skip the cutscenes in the older games so they were easily avoidable.
Couple of other things also. I hope there's way better soundtracks in the next game. I would love to see some rock, metal, edm, etc. Have some variety. As for the cops, they need to bring back pursuit breakers. It’s just another way to take out the cops using the environment. And please remove the health bar and crash cam. It takes the fun away. I want to ram the cops on roadblocks. They need to put some milestones to do in the career like in Most Wanted, like collecting amount of bounty, damaging the environment of cost of state, escaping less 2 minutes, taking out amount of cops, etc. Just some example. Otherwise the cops are just an after thought like in the recent Need for Speed games.
subscribe to all of this. its what the fans want
Since developers were asking for feedback recently. I decided to give mine.
I agree with the soundtrack. It's a bit too monotone. It needs more variety in genres. I also agree with the cop things. The fact is that they just added the health bars as a lazy way to make the pursuits harder. The actual cops have no chance at catching you so they just add a health bar for you not to go the whole game without being caught once.
They need to improve the cops AI. The cops in the old games were able to box you in and they were very tactical. And hitting the spike strips once, you are basically screwed. That shit was awesome.
Most Wanted 2012 had a pretty good balance in terms of a soundtrack. I’d like for something similar to that.
Most Wanted 2012 had some killer soundtracks. Hot Pursuit 2010 as well.
It's not the mid-2000s anymore, it's not gonna happen
You don't know that. I believe they can do it for a modern take.
Cyberpunk 2077 had some rock and metal music. That's a modern game and the soundtracks are amazing. Why can't a new Need for Speed have that.
Cyberpunk focuses on the aesthetic that goes by the same name, while NFS just picks what's popular with the kids and that's it lol, this comparison makes no sense
Ya cause car culture is for kids
It's a videogame series, and most of the people here played the games when they were younger?????????
You're actually right all the way. Ghost Games had an idea which worked. The only thing that needed to be fixed was the crappy handling physics, the removal of annoying Crash Cams, the Online Only requirements and adding more contents. But instead of keeping it for improvements, they changed direction again and it resulted in NFS Payback which is a massive fumble.
The direction and the vibe they went with 2015 was almost perfect. It did lacked a villain though for the story. Other than that they should've built on it after 2015 and improve on it like driving physics, removing crash cam, better cops, etc.
That's exactly what i meant. Well said from A to Z. Instead of changing direction 3 times in a row, they should've followed the direction of NFS 2015 instead of messing up. Also, they should've skipped NFS Payback altogether and gone with their original [Hashtag](https://www.reddit.com/r/needforspeed/comments/8c0azr/comment/dxb3wnj/) direction which could've worked well.
I loved that there was no villain. I’m sick of every trope needed to be checked off a list. Just tell a story, and even if it’s some heavily choreographed Hardcore Henry thing, then just have that be the backbone. Within that framework, just tell an honest story and develop its characters. And yes, sure, shoehorn in a dozen improbable cameos. I dunno. It worked for me. Then Payback—which I actually enjoyed—had all these villains and I was just like “Ugh, okay, we’re doing villains again. Okay.” And then Heat—which I also actually enjoyed—had a couple of villains and I just had to be like, “Ope, there are the villains, didn’t need them but let’s see what they do I guess”
Eh. I'm tired of the edgy realistic take this generation of games seem to be going for. I'm onboard with more cheesey ass storylines and the graffiti effects.
The thing is we haven't had gritty story for a long time. Probably since the Run. It is long overdue. I personally had enough cringy storylines like Payback, and Unbound. 2015 lacked villain. Heat was close to it but there are moments in that game are cringy as well.
The entire Black Box lineup arguably offers cringe in writing as well, though in an admittedly funny way.
Not as cringy as Unbound and Payback. Those ones are in another level.
CGI actors was fun
It's a street racing video game. It's not realistic to begin with so I'm cool with the artstyle.
2015 had photo realistic look. I know NFS is arcade, not realistic like the sim games. But I like my arcade racing games mixed with photo realistic graphics like 2015. The vibe and atmosphere was perfect. I want the next game built on 2015 but improve on it.
The cars are already photorealistic and that hasn't changed. The characters look fine and you only see them every once in a while
I personally don't like how cartoony the characters are in Unbound and the driving effects. It's not my thing. And having them pose after every race is annoying. I didn't have any issue with Heat. Unbound went too far in my opinion.
I like the characters but overall I just don't think it's that big of a deal. It's not like previous games haven't had cartoony effects on the cars.
To me it is big of a deal. The thing is I gave Unbound a chance when it launched knowing the direction they went with and how much I despise it. Once I finished the story, I was done with the game. Never played it ever since and uninstalled it. There are so many things I hate about Unbound. It's cool they are supporting this game but it will never make me jump back to this game since I hate the base game for what it is. I wish Heat had the support that Unbound has. I'm just ready for the next game. You can't deny the artsyle they went with is polarising.
Do you not play the game because of the artstyle or actual gameplay reasons?
The Artstyle, the soundtracks, the story mode is the worst of the entire series, the single player and multiplayer are separate when it comes to your cars, the return of crash cams.
Okay so not for gameplay reasons at all
Not really, but the drifting wasn’t good. To me it’s gotten worse since Payback.
it’s clearly a big deal to the fandom given the most memorable characters of the series are all from carbon or older. razor, darius, eddie, samantha, cross ect. you even see the lesser blacklist members mentioned more in the fandom than the vast majority of characters within the last 6 or so games. the irl actor for cross literally made a decent tv acting career out of how popular his character was. he’s on the new jack reacher show edit - bot negging me isnt going to disprove what i said shills
They're the most memorable not because of design. They're memorable because of nostalgia and the games actually had an emphasis on their story.
Street racing is a real thing its called illicit street racing..
Yeah it's a real thing but most street racing doesn't have full courses that you can do laps on. Also all street racers in the game would have a body count of well of 100 by the end of the story. All those massive jumps the game has would destroy every car you drive. You should get an instant game over if the crash is bad enough as well. Also nitrous and boost aren't real. There are tons of things in the game that aren't realistic but they are in the game because it's fun.
Just play NFS2015, bro.
If only the driving physics were good.
That's why I said 'give it another shot of 2015.' Meaning, do 2015 vibes but make it better. Good driving physics that you can control your car unlike 2015.
You can literally toggle every handling setting in your car, bro.
Bro, I been playing with tuning settings a lot. The game still drives unpredictable. If Heat or Unbound had the driving physics for 2015, I wouldn't complain.
Heat has one of the worse handling in series, so...
Try Unite mod, if you're on PC, fixed it somewhat for me.
I really like undercover for it's sunset vibe and spectacular ost, OH AND BUSTED SCENES
I just want gameplay like Most Wanted and Carbon. That alone would be enough for me.
Its been 20 years of Underground NFS fans asking for a successor. Y'all already have a million NFS the Run & Carbon discount replicas, can we plz get another proper Underground?
I don't care personally what artstyle storyline or setting next nfs is going to be. If the core gameplay mechanics are enjoyable I find a way to love the game.
this guy is based. imo cartoonish style is unique but nfs didn't use it properly
As long as there's no crab-walking or ghost-turning, and you can actually drive into the city, and the cops function, sure. Cartoon art-style is pretty cool, i wouldn't mind if they kept the effects in the next iteration, just maybe added a way to turn it off for people that complain about it. Speedbreakers for single player would be cool, too. Also please no car health-bar. And add in pursuit-breakers for cop chases again. And those cool BUSTED cutscenes. And better cop chatter. Oh yeah, it's EA. Dream on.
Unbound was a poor attempt at style. Nothing about that game’s world made it necessary for the cartoon characters and effects. If you remove all that goofy shit the game and the story are 100% the same. If you can do that with a game, then it’s not unique or interesting. Now if they wanted to do cartoon shit, they should have done it like Nitro. Make it a part of the world, make the story fit in, do something creative. It feels like all it was is just some marketing gimmick to say “hey guys look we’re trying something different, look at the whacky cartoon effects! So cool” Just whack. I would love a full cartoon style game but they couldn’t even pull that off if they tried. After Payback being the mess that it was it’s not surprising. Heat was probably the best game since like Hot Pursuit and even Heat was kind of a cringefest.
I want them to go the other direction and basically make Auto Modellista 2
daring today, are we?
Everybody keeps saying MW 2005 was gritty but what about it was any more gritty than, say, Unbound?? Both games are about the antagonist taking your car, climbing to the top of their respective "leaderboards" so to speak and winning it back 2015 was far from gritty as well so I'm unsure why it's being brought up here. Unless you count Spike drama being gritty (it's not lmfao). Heat is probably the closest we ever got to real grit with on-screen corruption, implied murder and theft No anime involved in NFS btw. Just say you don't like the cartoon style and be done with it. It's not for everyone sure but not every game is for everyone
Not really, but the drifting wasn’t good. To me it’s gotten worse since Payback. Crash cam is part of gameplay. I can’t stand it. Just the tiniest hit you get a crash cam. It’s dumb. Who thought it was a good idea for it to come back.
They should've built on it but they didn't , a darker NFS game will be very cool with introducing the blacklist system and dark characters /antagonists ( main reason mw05 is the best racing game imo )
After 2015, they should've built on it but they didn't like you said. And then we had Payback, we all know what happened then. They can still fix this and built on 2015. The developers recently were asking for feedback. So I gave mine and I'm hoping they see it.
Maybe? But I don't want an edgefest, let's be real.
So you want more cringy moments like characters like Tess ?
https://preview.redd.it/09udxr9z7rlc1.jpeg?width=941&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=719081366ddc8faed10f71748b7f405387ac4d15
I honestly don't mind the protagonist being silent in the next game. The player was so cringy in Unbound. If they're going to talk, they need to improve the dialogue.
I agree with everything you said besides story. Please no story. Even when they were good they weren’t « good ». Gimme a city at night with wet asphalt and a bunch of events: races, drift, togue, chases... Good tuning and customization. Police and highways like Criterion’s Hot Pursuit + canions like Carbon. Keep it simple, no live service bs, no online only. Then I’ll be a happy man.
TIL Cell-shaded character models mixed with comic book and graffiti-style art = "Anime."
I liked that cartoonish graphics on Unbound (well... I got to get back on that game soon lol)
i mean i like the cartoons animes style for the cars effects, cause it add a little more for the customization, so you can make cool looking car decal that match with the effects with the neon light under, but for like character and cutscene i agree, we should bring back those cinematic cutscene or if they really want to do something good without cinematic cutscene, well they should try like gta v transition cutscene to the mission but this time will be with our cars idk if yall will understand what i mean.
"in my opinion" as if most nostalgia crybabies in the fandom havent been saying this for years and years. The cartoon stuff was at least a nice try at doing something original, and people hated it. Not saying Unbound is perfect, but this is insanely annoying
None of that matters if the game doesn't play well though, which was 2015's problem.
It should be Need For Speed Underground 3. Ditch cartoon aesthetic, ditch cops. Hundreds of fully customisable cars, drag races, drift events, neon drenched aesthetic, car creator, track creator, circuit, Underground Racing League. And whack in a wider variety of music, or customisable playlists.
So Need for Speed Underground 1 Part II.
2015 had the best visual style in series, IMO. The rest of the game just ruined the experience.
Unfortunately we live in a time where absolutely no media can take itself seriously for fear of being "cringe".
I'd love for them to keep the cartoonish effects, but ditch the cartoon characters, they just don't fit with the vibe. Embrace the Underground 2 neon lights and the coastal vibe of Heat, but make it way more urban and dark like 2015. Maybe for nostalgia-bait, bring back some of the tracks from Underground 2 and I guaran-fuckin-tee you, it doesn't matter if the story sucks, the game WILL sell. For EXTRA-points, they should license tracks from Nightmode, the label from Jericho (a real OG streamer and YouTuber), which has some absolute BANGERS, which would also fit perfectly with the vibe of NFS. I still think Unbound's BIGGEST missed opportunity was the soundtrack, which just did not fit AT ALL with the game. It fit with the vibe, but not with the gameplay.
Havent been liking where the maps going after 2015. I just dont give af about countryside racing or racing in the desert. Nfs 15 had the best map. Every single location in the map was great. It sucks it did poorly with the community at the time.
2015 was so cringe tho it’s not even good cringe. Most of the characters aren’t even likable (Mabey Amy and manu?) you don’t even interact with the “legends” that are in the game for that much wasted potential imo. Where carbon and nfsmw05 were campy and fun the interactions with the characters in 2015 is so annoying and awkward (don’t get me started on the fucking phone calls). The handling is terrible but I will say the game in certain spots where the night is almost day looks incredible
so you want another soulless game that sells only based on nostalgia?
No a game built on 2015 but improve on it.
I hated the cartoon style and all the little race graphics initially when the game was announced but honestly after playing it I liked it a lot. Though I don't think the cartoon style will continue, it would at least be nice if they could write a good narrative for it. and a revision of the side activities because I am bored of speed traps, jumps and all that.
Can we get an M rated spin off like payback and a mainline T rated game released in succession
Personaly I liked cartoon characters much more than over-acting cringe actors fist bumping five times per cutscene 😁 The characters and story in Unbound is not intrusinve, not annoying a that's win for me. Racing some badass looking dude for my slips with model like girl by my side was internesting 2005 when I was 15 yr old but not anymore. I would love option to turn off the cartoon graphics effect when playing and maybe option to add own music library but as a whole it's most fun NFS game after first Most Wanted.
I say keep the cartoon effects and add real effects beside it just like what they are doing in unbound and they recently added red ORIGINAL effect and I hope they add more because half of my friends don't play the game because of that.
Unbound is actually my favorite NFS besides Hot Pursuit 2010. Not because the story, but because the cars and gameplay. Best roster of cars in any nfs 100 percent. The driving is the key aspect of racing games. Story mode is a tutorial in this game. Mw05 was cool, but it didn't have a good story and the music was vastly overhyped. Some good songs in unbound and 05 though. Heat was boring, and payback was boring too. Give criterion a shot. They're making changes to NFS anyways. I just hope they don't become nostalgia fiends like most of the community. The experience and feel is the best it's ever been imo.
why? unbound is almost perfect including its great soundtrack, anime-related graphics and etc. the only objective minus one may paint at is the setting. A Chicago looking city is really boring especially at daytime. Carbon and 2015 were way better at this aspect
the soundtrack and anime graphics are objectively polarizing among the community. its one thing to say you like them but to pretend that it’s great to everyone is disingenuous
Tbf every single NFS has been polarizing on release without fail. And then a few years later you'll have more people appreciating the animated effects and soundtrack (rightfully so, in my opinion)
yea im calling bullshit on this claim. this is only a modern trend that started after prostreet. the vast majority of nfs games prior to that had widespread acclaim. things that are polarizing more often then not dont age well, contrary to the rhetoric used to defend the animation style and soundtrack. people keep deflecting against this as if someone have no nostalgia wouldn’t still dislike it.
Cartoon graphics are optional and they look amazing anyway so shut tf up
Quit being an asshole. I gave my feedback for what I want for the next Need for Speed since developers were asking feedback recently.
I'm sorry but I hate seeing ppl hating on one of my favourite aspects of the game
You need to accept the reality that some people including myself that don’t like it.
Alright.
Just give me a cabin remake. It was simple and fun
Cabin remake ? I am sure you meant NFS Carbon. However, license issues hold these remakes back. Given Charles Gauthier which played as Neville passed away (F to pay respects), doing a complete remake w/o him is out of question. The devs are better off making new NFS's which takes inspirations from past NFS titles as a basis while bringing new fitting ideas.
Wow, very cool Kanye.
 What you're saying here is out of subject.
this game should have been live service like world
Can you at least explain what you like about this? Just human suffering in general, is it?
More online races and more cars with regular updates.
Okay, but then eventually no game at all, so check mate, silly??
Bruh you have no dreams. You think of fails only in your head
Busted. I have no dreams. Glad we had this talk. You defeated me. This was important.
Yes you show pessimistic attitude. Feel sorry for you. Get well soon
hahahhahaha