Need For Speed Unbound Review

Need for Speed Unbound delights with a vibrant new art style and some exciting arcade racing, but familiar issues are as frustrating as an inopportune oil slick.
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The first thing that jumps out when starting Need for Speed Unbound is its vibrant art style. At a time when most other racing games are striving for photorealism, EA's latest distinguishes itself from the rest of the grid by adopting a stylized mix between reality and comic books. While its cars land on the side of realism, the characters behind the wheel are cel-shaded and its open world falls somewhere in between the two aesthetics. Vivid graffiti-style flourishes also pop up when you activate nitrous or fly off a ramp, and drifting kicks up colorful tire smoke that looks hand-drawn, with all of these effects punctuating the action with a unique sense of style.

There aren't any modern racing games that look quite like it, yet the rest of Unbound feels like a continuation of 2019's Need for Speed Heat. From the distinction between day and night races to the cat-and-mouse chase that occurs when you have to outrun the cops and make it to a safe house in order to bank your money. Unbound doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel, but what's here maintains the series' recent quality, even if there are some wrong turns along the way.

[soapghost]

So refreshing to see a "street racing" game where you don't actually have to place 1st every time! Really intrigued by winnings / gambling mechanics of the game. Was honestly going to pass on this Need for Speed but after this Review I might have to pick this up! 😁🔥

[dylives]

I never thought I'd live long enough to see the term weeb used unironically in a game.

[MattyDub]

I tried out the 10 hour EA Play trial for this game and ended up loving it and buying it. The progression is so satisfying and the boost you can get from pulling off drifts or grip turns is so fun to use.

[OGTalon]

Really enjoying this entry into the series! Definitely agree that the AI racers are woefully unbalanced and the cop chases are just way too frequent. Someone on the subreddit found that setting a GPS causes more cops to spawn on your route which is just maddening as you already spend more time watching the minimap instead of the road.

[DubuTrash]

Thank you Criterion. All I have to say is, this game brings some of the feeling that I had as a kid playing the old ones. If that doesn't say much, I don't know what else to say.
ALSOO CHANGE YOUR CONTROLLER DEADZONE!! The deadzone is set to 22% automatically for some reason. Lowing this will fix that issue with the steering response. 👍

[exr_]

Fun fact: This is the 6th NFS game to have the prefix "Un" in its name

[imdshizzle]

Honestly the best NFS game in a long time. I’m so glad they brought back the story progression system. The art style and hip-hop music mixes so well like Most Wanted

[Opportunist]

Best NFS since Hot Pursuit (2010). Also the closest that the series has gotten to recapturing the Underground era magic.
If you were burned by NFS 2015, this is the one to get.

[ZPHYR-]

I was hesitating to play this game but compared to the last entries this is a W move for NFS. If they don't pull the plug after 2 months like they did with Heat this game is very promising. Sure it has some rough edges but the game definitely deserves more than 7 in my opinion.

[AgingBoy]

Having watched spider-man: into the spider-verse animation recently, I see some resemblance of this NFS unbound style to it which is very cool. Haven’t played NFS franchise in quite a few years, glad to see it still keeping to its core

[PLAYER_]

The best part of Unbound is the included strategy of managing your money. Your choices matter, and making decisions on what cars, upgrades and events to risk it all on to end the week with enough money to enter the qualifiers gives the game play more urgency and player agency. That said, I always wait until the new NFS has been out a while before I pick it up on PC due to the mods. A lot of Heat's criticisms e.g. Reverse rubber banding AI, Overly aggressive police, etc. were fixed with mods that also add more realistic handling that puts the "brake to drift" physics to shame.

[dtanobo]

The game is really fun and has amazing visuals. Only criticism is how unforgiving the AI is. You'll have annoying obstacles wipe you out and the AI will give you barely any chances to catch up

[UnknownError]

Might end up looking into this game now. Thanks GameSpot

[aleksivanov]

I havent played NFS since rivals and oh my Unbound has me hooked! The effects have really grown on me and I love it! It's very fun and addicting. Personally I find the soundtrack to be a bit wack so I just put on some spotify while gamin. I will say the races can feel a bit repetitive but I think the cars and overall feel of the game make up for it. This is by far my favourite NFS so far!

[sagar]

The fact that EA didn't do even a bit of marketing for such a good makes me wonder what is EA game is so much fun to play with.

[tastefullynerdy]

It's a new peak for need for speed.

And you can't convince me otherwise

[Oumpah-Pah]

everyone seems to hate these drawn in effects, I really like them. It is different and at least, for me, makes the game more 'alive' for lack of a better word.
I will get this one eventually. Does anyone know if it works with steering wheels? I will be playing this on XBox Series X

[oftengone]

If you skip this game because of the cartoon effects, I feel bad for you. Because the driving and gameplay loop is fr fun imo

[Goukimane]

This is easily the best NFS they've made since probably Hot Pursuit 2010 for me. It just feels so good to play. My only issue is the somewhat limited character creator and the inability to sculpt/adjust body mods for cars like they had all the way back in NFS Carbon. A lot of the spoilers just look way too lifted for my taste and there's no way to adjust them or even change the color of the spoiler individually. There's a lot of little adjustments they should make for a sequel but overall this new direction is a huge step up from recent years.

[SMB]

Need for speed games always seem to go down in price quickly, so ill probably wait until March/ April and pick it up then.