Starting off, a little history: I am a huge Need for Speed fan going all the way back to the 1994 Motor Trend Need for Speed for PS1 which all but defined the genre at the time offering awesome point to point tracks and a commendable car selection for the time. From there, my favorites were Hot Pursuit and followed by the Underground series until the last playable Need for Speed game which was Most Wanted '05. Since then I have played Carbon, Shift, Hot Pursuit 2010, Most Wanted '12, and Rivals and they all were terrible. I have been waiting for a good feeling race game with great car customization and this game does not disappoint.



Actual Review:

When playing a great racing game the main thing I am looking for is re-playablity. This game excels at that. The factors that make this game so fun are the game play and the customization. I really like the drift inspired control, while by no means a simulator like the Gran Tourismo series, this game is great fun in its own way, drifting at night time, around blind corners neck and neck in a Porsche. this feeling really hearkens back to the Underground days and for me was just as nostalgia inducing as it was a new exploration. While I admit, the control does take some getting used to, once you get it, it is extremely satisfying.



Now a bit on the customization. I really like the fact that you can edit and rotate and extend the decals in seemingly limitless ways, which really allows the players creativity to be the limit in how your car visually turns out. That being said, if you are looking for hundreds of different body kits and head light combinations, this game does not offer as many choices as some would like. There are not a ton of actual visual parts to add to each car and some cars seem destined to remain mostly stock for eternity. All in all though I would rate the customization aspect of this game as 9 of 10 and I spend almost as much time tweaking the cars looks as I do playing the game (but that is fun for me).



Now game play. While cruising through the story mode you are a first person racer who is seemingly thrust into this new boy-racer world where you are confronted with a group of associates who help you learn the ropes. The personalities of these people are really over the top, but in a strangely endearing way. Each one of them is tied with a play style (I.E. drift, speed, etc.) and then there are a few "boss" type character that you will meet and ultimately face including some pretty big names in the real world (no spoilers). The events that these friends invite you to accomplish are overall really fun and short (the longest race by far in the game is (9 minutes) so if you are like me and only have limited game time per week you will appreciate the amount of different play types you can get into in a single session.



Overall I think this game is a really good shot at getting back to the Underground roots. The sense of speed is phenomenal, and the always dark and rain soaked atmosphere really gets you into the "Fast and Furious" underground type mind set which is perfectly suited to this game. Again it is worth mentioning that this is an arcade style racer that is meant to be light hearted and fun so if you go into it with that mind set I have no doubts you will enjoy your time in this game.