We were given exclusive access to an early build of the new game, which takes the principles behind the Underground series - customisation and tuning culture - and wraps them up in an all-new experience

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EA has today announced the racing game we’ve all been waiting for. The newest game in the NFS franchise will simply be called ‘Need For Speed’, and will be centred around “deep customisation [and] authentic urban car culture.” Best of all, we’ve seen the game in action, and it’s going to be so awesome…

We spent a couple of days in Gothenburg, Sweden, hanging out at the Ghost Games studio where the new Need For Speed is currently undergoing development, and the team were keen to point out that this is not a sequel, but a complete reboot of the franchise. We got the opportunity to see the early ideas behind the game, as well as getting to chat to some of the people responsible for making the game. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and let me assure you, this is the NFS you’ve wanted EA to make ever since Underground 2.

The whole game centres around ‘car culture’, with EA-owned Speedhunters used to help ensure the cars and modifications will appeal to proper petrolheads. The NFS team have been reading the comments made about the past few games, and freely admit they needed to take a step back and re-evaluate the kind of racing games they were making. As such, Ghost Games took a year out to make “the game we’ve always wanted to.”

You’ll have the opportunity to customise your car, and although I’m not allowed to tell you specifics - trust me, I hate that fact as much as you do - from what we’ve seen so far the level of modifications available should keep everyone happy.

One of the cool things the guys acknowledge is that car culture is wide and varied, and as you can see from the early screenshots, which feature a Ford Mustang, Porsche 911 and Nissan 180SX, the selection of cars will reflect this.

The game world takes place in the middle of a city, solely at night, so there are lots of cool lighting and reflection effects, and as you can see from the trailer, you’ll share the world with cops and civilians. On the story front, again, EA’s lawyers are breathing down my neck as I type, so about as much as I can reveal is that there are lots of different things and stuff…