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![]() ![]() For one thing, there’s no cockpit viewpoint. Sadly, Need For Speed Unbound‘s middling animation and lack of innovation isn’t the end of its problems. An arrogant guy with a German accent? Your BFF was an orphan? Someone makes a crack about “family,” and is serious and not making a Fast & Furious joke? It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, and better. Similarly, your competitors in Need For Speed Unbound are also generic. But as is, these scenes barely reach the level of sophistication you’d see in an insurance commercial. Which is not to say they should’ve hired the animators from Rick & Morty or Attack On Titan that would’ve been jarring and incongruous. ![]() While the animation style used in the cutscenes isn’t as bad as some games we won’t mention, they’re not especially detailed or unique. This, of course, changes nothing substantive about Need For Speed Unbound. In the story mode’s cutscenes, the photorealistic approach is swapped for an animated one, while doing jumps, hitting the nitro, or slamming into someone when racing results in some graffiti-like animations that look like someone handed neon markers to a bunch hyperactive of tweens. In fact, the only time I ever got into a police chase while driving someone to their safehouse was when I decided to see what happens for the sake of this review. But that’s not hard given that the on-screen mini-map shows you where the cops are at all times, making them easy to avoid. In them, you have to drive someone to theirs, and do so without getting busted. Which means that, after a while, you’re never very far from one, which seriously reduces your risk of financial ruin.Ī similar problem befalls the missions you do to unlock said safehouses. It’s an interesting (if not uncommon) risk / reward mechanic…but one that’s undermined by how you can unlock a fair number of safehouses across the city. The thing is, you earn more money the more the cops are after you, but if they catch you, they take whatever cash you have on you. It’s also where you store whatever money you’ve won since the last time you took a pit stop. But they also serve as hideouts, and give you somewhere to chill until the heat dies down (don’t worry, it’s instantaneous). It doesn’t really add anything of major consequence, or anything all that unique, and what little it does isn’t much at all.įor instance, you have access to unlockable safehouses located across the city, where you can upgrade and customize your rides. While it is a solid racing game, it’s also a rather basic one. The above description probably has you thinking, “Okay, so Need For Speed Unbound sounds like every other Need For Speed game.” And that’s the problem. And that includes the local cops, who will try to arrest you unless you can manage to get away. More importantly, your competition in Need For Speed Unbound is, well, competitive. The controls are fluid and intuitive (assuming, like me, you prefer arcade-y racing games over realistic simulations) the tracks are curvy, and with the kind of jumps and silly shortcuts you always find in these kinds of games while every car comes with a nitro tank as standard equipment. Which is why you engage in a series of illegal races, both multi-lap and point-to-point, as well as other automotive activities (speed traps), in hopes of improving your rep, and earning the cash needed to buy better cars, better parts for the cars you already own, and your way into better races.Īt its core, Need For Speed Unbound is a perfectly serviceable open world street racing game. Need For Speed Unbound‘s story mode, has you trying to make a name for yourself in some city’s local street racing scene. While it’s not terrible or anything, this open world, arcade-ish illegal street racing game is just kind of…basic. I hate to say it - and hate that it’s making me say it - but Need For Speed Unbound ( Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation 5, PC) gave me some serious “so what” vibes.
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