The REAL Reason NFS Unbound Isn't Popular

[@noahm]

This game is a perfect example of gaming in 2020s. Sent out incomplete, broken and not through through enough. Look at other games EA has published over the recent years, even the latest Star Wars game.

[@reekid_ace]

I wouldn’t say broken, it rarely crashes or bugs out for me, unless there’s something I’m missing.

[@saiibox3174]

Broken ??? Incomplete yeah but Broken no im sorry the game its pretty polished, somes bugs his state at day 1 was really really good for this point

[@noahm]

• Pop-in and texture loading is a huge issue, at least on PS5. • Several players including myself have found the game “too easy”, while lots of player also struggled. On the hardest difficulty these players have reported that they’ve consistently won by long lengths and were never busted by cops, all while using cars that were unlocked through campaign progression. These players have also reported that they got severely underpaid each race/day/night compared to others. • Easily evade cops even in Heat 5 by just going on top of the train tracks. Helicopters lose sighting of you, “run out” of fuel, and have to leave. Easy cool-down/evasion.

[@reaperxz3ro]

@@noahm I don't have issues with pop in and I play pretty frequently on PS5 as far as story mode goes, mid maxing your car you'll beat pretty much any AI, and kind of hard to make a good AI in racing that will compete on the same level of the racer in an arcade racer where racing lines can be exploited just to take a faster route by a few seconds. As for the cops it alright, I've heard the majority of players said the cops were too hard so they toned it down

[@AhmadWahelsa]

There is nothing broken aside from laughable storyline and barely anything to do after it, like man why can't they bring the discovery and exploration aspect of Underground 2, where hidden races is a thing and you also got stuff like unique parts and sponsors

[@CLAPDFROTHY]

The real reason why nfs is unpopular is that it’s made by ea

[@nicholaiseay1650]

We need ghost making need for speed again

[@shopwood8010]

How so? They’re also responsible for HEAT which I went back to permanently😅

[@ssaiyyrissssuzzuyyaa]

Yea fuck ea 💀🤣

[@Tha-mountain]

@@nicholaiseay1650 ghost fizzled out

[@nicholaiseay1650]

@@Tha-mountain ghost was kicked out by ea that's why they don't make nfs games anymore

[@andrewwhite2863]

Another point that wasn't mentioned is the soundtrack. A lot of the NFS players were complaining about that. The older NFS games had a better balance in music selection compared to unbound.

[@stephenreed3381]

I miss older NFS soundtracks. Shift 2 Unleashed actually got me into a couple bands, one of which I saw in concert, and I still listen to songs from the original Most Wanted to this day.

[@digitalcamaro9708]

I'm a huge hip hop fan and I agree. They really don't fit the high strung racing in Unbound imo. They should be saved for the garage and cutscenes.

[@astronomy7823]

HEEEEEEEEEEY WE WANT SOME MOOOONEEAAAY

[@real1x272]

@@astronomy7823 GIVE ME THAT CASH. GIVE ME LIKE 8 FIGURES.

[@afikkusan]

Honestly, EA has millions to spend on licensing. And they decided "hey, let's license 72 random noises instead of bangers like those from older NFS"

[@sabrinah2378]

I think the splitting of multiplayer and singleplayer has had a huge effect as people who played the campaign have a hard time moving to multiplayer as you have to grind all over again and since the new content is only coming to multiplayer a lot of people are not coming back knowing they'd basically have to restart the game just for some new cars

[@DJDIRTYYELLA]

When i figured out that the singleplayer cars didnt carry over i started playing online only.. i might not ever finish the game 😂

[@GOASTxMOUSE]

That along just made me not want to play it

[@ALVARRARI]

@@DJDIRTYYELLA all my single player cars carried over idk what you mean, you just have to upgrade them again which is super easy.

[@k-popop]

I do for pvp nfs unbound it is amazing

[@AJD-LsUp]

I’m in that situation right now Just got the new console last week and unbound was the first thing on my mind & first download just finished the single player story last night I just haven’t started multiplayer yet I’m just not sure about it

[@spinyslasher6586]

My biggest gripe is how police chases feel in the game. 2005 MW still remains the best when it comes to police chases, and without that or the police role play that Rivals and Hot Pursuit had, the game just feels a lot more barren and laid back. Also the soundtrack is absolute garbage, forcing me to turn off the radio and just use spotify, which doesn't really sync well with the game itself.

[@halochamppp]

My reason why I don't like it is because it's not realistic. For example, black women are known to be one of THE worst drivers, but in this game, they're some of the most skilled opponents 😂😂😂😂😂 it's ridiculous!

[@Robert_D_Mercer]

@@halochamppp lmaooo bro it's an arcade racer with cars stopping in a second at 150miles an hour. Ofc ur gonna get some more fantasy with that. lmao u bastard

[@otf514]

@@halochamppp💀💀

[@halochamppp]

@django5061 it's true, facts

[@vermilion6667]

The soundtrack part is too damn true 😂. Even from Heat, I had to turn off the music volume & play old NFS playlist in Spotify & it feels even better 🤣🤣

[@danviv64]

I just want NFS to fill the void left from Midnight Club 😢

[@Thunderbirdelan]

Won't happen buddy that game died in the glory days of gaming if it were still here today we would shit on it as much as we do nfs

[@MONTR65]

​​@@Thunderbirdelan who knows maybe if Rockstar took their time with it like they do with GTA and red dead, we could have gotten 1 or 2 really good midnight clubs

[@kasrakh86]

Same. I miss midnight club too

[@Thunderbirdelan]

@MONTR65 the midnight club we all remember on the ps2 back in the early 2000s sadly won't come back. They killed the game off when the Japanese car club it was named after disbanded after an accident.

[@claptoutshtbox3393]

Really wish they would bring that one back, just finished another play through of Midnight Club Los Angeles about a month ago. Really wish Rockstar would bring it back.

[@salz_]

My biggest gripe is the physics just not being as competent as previous titles. Black Box era NFS games played so well because the physics/handling/whatever just worked well. It didn't emphasize on some brake-to-drift mechanic or had unpredictable vehicle behaviors. It made it accessible for having realistic(ish) driving with the arcade touch being that cars have extra grip. This of course allows you to basically heave cars at high speed and still maintain a decent amount of control. It was so good that even I picked it up as early as 6 years old. This game still has the DNA of 2015, and it really needs to kick it off completely so it can start getting it's footing, along with the points you've presented. It's a bit of a crime for EA to be hesitant to work on this a bit more.

[@awdrifter3394]

This is the main reason why I didn't even consider buying NFS Unbound. I bought NFS Heat and that's exactly how I felt about the handling. It almost has not relation to how a car handles in real life. While it's an arcade racer, it should still have some basis in real life, especially when you're using real cars.

[@maidoll_fei]

Actually unbound are better on full grip handling. It feel like old school nfs and even it act like having real weight transfer (brake or lifting accel to turn more). And able to break traction and oversteer if turn too hard. But they want to please everyone so they didnt remove the old drifting handling. It would be better if they take grip handling as standard.

[@MONTR65]

​@@maidoll_fei that's just not true. Watch gameplay of really good players with both drift and grip cars. You will see that the way they have to drive is really weird. Cutting corners randomly, smashing through everything, going off road. Nothing realistic about it. The burst nitro just messes the gameplay up and punishes taking proper racing lines.

[@maidoll_fei]

​@@MONTR65 The "full grip handling" is talk about setting and parts. Some car are still able to drive in mirco drift even in full grip tune. Like FXX-K EVO. About the nos things. Yes it is unrealistic but it create a fun strategy unlike any other game in the market. with this strategy thing we got lot more overtake / close racing unlike any other game with basic arcade physic And it still faster / earn more nos when taking racing line.

[@maidoll_fei]

I dont expect every game to be "forza". Being realistic in a game not necessarily fun. If every racing game are try to be "realistic" "sim" you going to get a similar game with no "new" game mechanic. because "game mechanic" are not real. Look back to the history. When need for speed shift/shift 2 try to be realistic. You got lot more physic bug and unbalance car and cant easily have close racing. Only HP2010 and unbound both run on this "DRS catchup boost" thing they both have lot more fun MP. (Yes they both still have balance problem but it still have lots of car are decent and able to catch up with nos) I dont think unbound is perfect. I dont think burst nos in corner are intended design so it feel not smooth. And they still add a input steering delay to make player feel like "you are driving a car" but not "you are the car". So we got a random/unpredictable steering

[@PROPHYZ]

Reason Nr.1 and this is a hot take - if you can't get the soundtrack right in a NFS, it won't work.

[@cryo9shadow91]

Reasons why I liked heat so much, everything seemed to just fit

[@mohamedmomo196]

​@@cryo9shadow91Heat's soundtrack sucked too.

[@tb1235]

​@@mohamedmomo196It was better than the garbage in Unbound.

[@mohamedmomo196]

@@tb1235 yeah but let's just say the bar wasn't high

[@somabomadoma]

Unfortunately, with every new nfs release, these soundtracks just keep getting worse and worse.

[@MJMoonwalker332]

What I'd like is increase session amount of players to 30 or 40 Make a solo or ai race option for playlists Decrease amount of Races required to unlock cars Allow fast travel in story Keep gane alive by adding updates

[@iiiredsix5468]

4:00 Dude I strongly agree with you on this one not just because you have to grind for all of your cars again but the fact that those challenges you have to do to unlock cars require classes that no one wants to compete in it. Most of the time, players will not join the playlist you hosted, and It's nearly impossible to try and complete those challenges, especially for low-end classes. Honestly, I don't mind having to grind for money now ever since they added their Link up update on free roam, but trying to complete those challenges to unlock more cars is just ridiculous.

[@RuntzSZN]

Lmao I completely over half just joining and playing races 🤣

[@summerbreath2024]

Bro, I support everything you said in the vid and I’m a solo player. Being chased by cops is way too often and it becomes annoying. Criterion please see this vid!!

[@KayezTP]

Same issue as heat. Cops be OP ASF

[@briantucker4568]

I discovered there's a bridge you can park under that thar cops won't find you. It's across from a river, and the cop cars drive in circles around you, or fall in the river. I'd set that area as my destination and lose them there when I got too much heat.

[@Woody2Times]

@@KayezTP people like you keep getting police nerfed bot

[@kuru-yami9416]

@@Woody2Times because they need the nerf

[@kuru-yami9416]

@Just a normal person hard” jumps dont always work like that especially level 5 cops.

[@ESV_Voided]

Another thing you should mention trigger, is the nos being effected by contact with other players. The 3 second delay from making the smallest contact with someone else going around a corner, makes it very rough for a competitive point of view. Hitting a wall or a local traffic car is fine for me. That 3 second delay of not being able to use burst nos, or farm burst nos kills momentum and fun close racing between friends.

[@RuntzSZN]

I honestly never had this problem 😂 burst nos was easy to farm

[@romansodermans8090]

Post story still being locked into the restrictive day night cycle means I probably won’t play it again now that I have finished it. In heat it was great when all the events were unlocked for whatever you felt like racing and they had those 4 highway races set up well. The day racing not involving cops was also way better for exploring and day races felt way different because they didn’t have traffic. Unbound got much better physics, vehicle classes, but they still failed to give a good reason to drive at night post story, ruined the ‘legit’ day time driving and exploring, and I think made the story too boring by not really having that many car options during the okay through that you could actually use.

[@Justeeeevy]

The thing on top of that that made Heat even more fun were the High Heat races and whatnot. Just having a system where you can continue to unlock stuff even past the main story and after you have all the races and regular top tier upgrades is so fantastic. The act of outrunning the cops over and over with the pressure of losing that ultra plus upgrade you got from a Heat 5 race is so adrenaline rushing, especially with mods like Unite which massively increase the difficulty is incredible and I don’t get that out of any other modern racing game.

[@alexallen126]

@@Justeeeevyand the fact that your Heat level doubled as a multiplier, which gives incentive to stay out and keep earning money. The heat system in Unbound is complete trash. You should earn money for taking down cops, and much more money for escaping pursuits.

[@splashboi898]

If you quit game while still playing itll resume where you left off assuming youre not in the middle of a chase or something. Still a terrible concept tho

[@The--Ghostspider66]

In old nfs games there used to be Risks and and amazing story that had a purpose Every single race every single car Character and cutscens mattered Every nfs had its dark side but in a good way something that made it special I still have all my classic nfs games and really enjoy playing them from time to time I bought the new ones too but never felt going back

[@wiseguy240Winston]

Strange because Unbound definitely has risk factor in limited attempts, cops chasing yielding rewards if not caught and making bets on races to beat certain races to win money. Unbound also can take money from you if you lose an event or bet.

[@The--Ghostspider66]

@@wiseguy240Winston yes I agree

[@LBRECK]

It would capture my imagination more if our character didn't have voice lines. Its kind of weird tbh. The MW05 dialog type/ assumptions in conversation would have been great here. There is so much pointless chatter in Unbound lol. Also bring back police chatter that would have been awesome

[@The--Ghostspider66]

@@LBRECK lol so they did the opposite Also I don't think I've heard anything about next nfs yet Unfortunately nfs been in a tough spot for many years I think after undercover the old style was abandoned But you know EA they're greedy despite Their multi million dollar companies around the world they aim For the highest pay before they even start any project I understand it's business But some developers in some companies are gamers themselves and they work with passion Which results good games

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

amazing story, lmao.

[@elimendelsohn2879]

I just find it annoying when I’m turning left or right the car will just spin out off a cliff if you go over a tiny bump in the road that and no good drifting and no drag racing made this game a huge L

[@nicholaiseay1650]

I still prefer nfs heat because of the reasons of nfs unbound. I still play nfs rivals to this day and its a 10 year old game. Made by ghost.

[@RiverNihil]

I bought the game full price on early release/all bells and whistles edition price. Love the handling, love the aesthetic and I was diggin the story... However I hated progression in general but then I found out I had to repeat progress in multi and it totally took the wind out of my sales with this game. I want to go back, but for now im gonna kick it with the crew 2 until Motorfest.

[@MilitiaGamingCommunity]

Understandable

[@carbonx0718]

TC2 is still the king 🗿

[@paulcarmi8130]

Don’t go back, then they win

[@jakubkotas3617]

exactly that, and making money in online is pain...probably the last nfs game i ever bought, ill just go with forza from now on

[@RiverNihil]

@@paulcarmi8130 homie they already got my money, i think between me and the devs im the loser here

[@jeffreylieberman1668]

This is one of those games that's going to make you wish that you never invested a moment of your time

[@ChinooCochino]

I honestly hate the anime effects during gameplay, during cutscenes I’d deal with it but idk to me it breaks immersion while playing the game when a bunch of cartoon like effects start flashing all over the place

[@CopMorty]

They dialed up the Wokeness which turned alot of my friends off tbh

[@Lulnateee]

You hit the nail in the coffin, the grinding is insane & then when i saw i had to basically start over online i just said no, i havent even completed the main campaign

[@DoubleO_Rondo]

Money glitch I got 22 mill

[@soldierx345]

Seriously, I had to grind to level up to buy the Volvo 240, that's some bull. Just wanted to beat the game with it like I did in Payback and Heat.

[@Lulnateee]

@@soldierx345 yea eventually i caved in & gave online a try & i grinded as much as i can grind i got a perfect line up of cars now, still haven’t bothered finishing the campaign 😅

[@soldierx345]

@@Lulnateee if you finish the campaign some of the cars actually carry over to your online. When I saw they were separate I finished single player because I was further in lol

[@grandoblivion5268]

Unbound is really good, just not better than Heat imo. Splitting SP/MP and not having all the cars I have in the other is some bs.

[@brandonmartin285]

Lmmfao shit is trash

[@zgarner2]

I'm not the biggest fan of how they implemented the cell shading but my reason may be different from most. I wished that if they were going to take that route then make the whole game cell shaded and just not the effects. I'm personally still waiting on another epic fast and furious style nfs similar to that of 2015 but better

[@goodie2shoes874]

Maybe that would be a cool approach if they ever switched game engines. But I doubt they’ll do it after the backlash from unbound.

[@PeugeotRocket]

I kind of agree with you. Part of me still feels undecided if I like the mix of realistic graphics and cell shading.

[@nephewd8818]

Or at the least give us the option to turn all of it off

[@NewAgeSlaves]

2015 was so good imo especially its visuals

[@Soundsofthewood]

2015 was good on the game play. The story and characters were rather lack luster at best.

[@karsenkeeble390]

I dont mind the anime stuff but just please give people the option to turn it completely off in the settings

[@IrfanNasir]

I recently played and completed the game, and to be honest, the campaign appeared very short to me, considering I had purchased the Palace Edition, which included some pre-unlocked cars for the career mode. What frustrated me was that the races in the game were tier-based, and I couldn't use the McLaren, which was free, to earn cash. The police chases also seemed weak, and I share your frustration regarding the separate multiplayer. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of selling my McLaren from the Palace Edition while trying to sell another car, and I couldn't get it back. This was different from NFS Heat, where the Deluxe Edition offered free cars that you could recover even if you sold them. Another downside was the drift modes. The drift system was based on distance covered, which initially proved frustrating because time also played a crucial role in it. After finishing the career mode, I rarely played the game and am losing interest in it. The game would have been better if they had worked on improving it.

[@schmidt_gaming]

Fair points. And in my eyes that's actually tragic. I really love NFS Unbound. It fit's my personality way better than Heat ever did. The fact that you have 5 classes and multiple ways to make your car fit the chosen class allows for so much more variety. I frequently get full playlists where everyone is driving a different car. That's just awesome. If you got 8 players in Heat you were guaranteed at least 3 RSRs. + I really dig the art style.

[@tcmx2323]

@@OneLDash I rarely see people that actually handle properly the Regera. Like, they crash, you distance them, they quit.

[@schmidt_gaming]

@@OneLDash True in a way. It's only the Regera in S+. And it's only really a problem on coast to coast where all the tracks are highspeed. I still have 4 classes to enjoy variety. Even on A+ where everyone knows the Testarossa people are still tinkering with different builds. There are just so many ways to get your car to 269 and so many cars. Who knows, if you might not find a new meta build.

[@BountyHunterKenneth]

​@@schmidt_gamingregera gets paced by literally like 4/5 Cars on most tracks no diff unless on the big O

[@rehakmate]

Art style is gen z cancer

[@bankait_rex1860]

Nah brother the reason why it failed is cause most of the racing games are failing as well, people are not into racing games like they used to, no matter what they do people will just get bored and move on, you have to have elements to challenge people, I played unbound for a month straight did everything I could and got bored just sitting on lobbies waiting for something to do, sad to say I keep buying this new games and get bored and go back to NFSHPR reason why, there is a challenge cops vs racers is the best thing ever done in a racing game and if nfs would do something like this and open it up for every game console you will see a spike.

[@Lord_Head_As_S]

I would also say, adding an offline mode too. finding races is a bit challenging at times.

[@Killerwhale317]

The game mechanics didn't feel right, so I quit after only 10 minutes. I'm glad I didn't buy it.

[@MadisonSquareGardendidJFK]

Woke nfs unbound is a android tablet game

[@i3ertram530]

i first played the game as of this week, as i was very hesitant on the main artstyle. I will say it didn't feel as repetitive as other NFS titles i have played, was fun enough to where i didn't feel bored or feel like i was grinding it down to its bones. It was generally speaking a enjoyable experience, especially seeing as a i picked it up for 20 something euros on steam.

[@chrismills8251]

I'm definitely having a fun time with it, 99 cents basically with ea play this month so definitely worth a dollar

[@elimendelsohn2879]

Wait huh less repetitive you mean you didn’t notice the only 3 event types in the game over the same 5 tracks, did we play the same game?

[@TraaaaaasshBooooaaaatttt]

​@elimendelsohn2879 come on, there's 4 types of events. Get it right

[@Music-vr7sz]

How? This was the most repetitive and grindy NFS to date.

[@TraaaaaasshBooooaaaatttt]

@Music-vr7sz ikr. Im so fed up of the same tracks over and over. They really got that big map doing nothing. Super lazy

[@Shourya412]

The main problem is they don't provide dlc story or hidden parts as in heat they didn't even allow us to use the ks kits and mantis kit which were owned by ea

[@lonewolf_ramon]

Honestly, after Undercover I get so disappointed with the franchise that I stopped playing until Heat. And after seeing them stopped updating the game that early make me lost all of my faith with the franchise. I had good times with heat, but after all of this disappoinments doesn't make me wanna play NFS anymore 😢

[@likearaplikearap1144]

The goat was nfs heat

[@smilloww2095]

Imagine if heat had 5 classes

[@jezreelbatistapalmero699]

Absolutely! Heat was heat indeed!

[@loneliberation3483]

No point whining about games being only made for the new consoles anymore. The old ones can't handle modern stuff and anyone who even vaguely considers themselves a proper gamer would've already got one. Scalpers aren't a big deal anymore and everything has more or less stabilized, you can easily get a console now, there's tons of them.

[@MrSaywutnow]

It doesn't take 8 minutes to say "this game is unfathomably shit, and an insult to the NFS franchise."

[@MilitiaGamingCommunity]

I disagree with that statement. I think there is definitely some nuance to why the game didn't really land with the NFS community.

[@nowhere529]

@@MilitiaGamingCommunity Really there isn't, The game just reflects the corporate greed and overly online along with characters and music courtesy of SBI. Oh wait that's every triple A game, How I love Retro gaming now.

[@C.I...]

@@nowhere529 I can say my PS2 is coming into its own. The GT4 Spec II mod just released, and Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix is getting an English translation after all these years! Now you can even burn DVDs that boot in slim PS2s with no modchip using freedvdboot gui.

[@JOLLY-E]

i hope criterion and ea see this video and fix the issues and mistakes that were made . cuz i really love this game and i don't want it to die out 😢

[@toygamer9022]

You kidding right? Those mf piece of shits just banned my account right now just because i told the truth So you think they do really even care?

[@sid_wo0dy183]

Save your breath mate, they’ve given up on this game along time ago

[@JOLLY-E]

@@sid_wo0dy183 how do you know ?

[@sid_wo0dy183]

@@JOLLY-E it took them 3/4 months to release a crappy update which contained stuff that should of been in the game in the beginning. Now look we haven’t had another update since or heard a anything, they’ll drop this game like they did heat 😴

[@bruszli1255]

Same been saying the same even before launch lmao,the sad truth is that they wont,they will let it die out cause "EA-This is the way"

[@SWebb-tg1ki]

Crew 2, i wish it was offline, but feels to me the best racing game out there with tons of different vehicle types and activities. Why cant games do this but make it offline? Would be perfect!

[@Avenger460]

it is now

[@alexanderrodriguez1409]

I don't play racing games that often, but NFS heat got me addicted to the cop chasing and whatnot just like hot pursuit on the Wii back in 2010. The thing that discouraged me to buy unbound was the art style and the fact that it looked like NFS heat expansion pack. I know I might sound cynical and a bit ignorant but that's how i feel as a casual consumer when I see NFS unbound

[@roflmao5642]

nfs heat was fun as hell

[@AlexMedina-xi3gx]

I absolutely hate and despise the prologue. You start off with your girl with you reviving a junk car from the dumps. After you choose one of the 3 options you go through the prologue with racing and money. You fall in love or like your car during the prologue making it looks nice and after the final race you help out to drop off someone’s car to a place while your girl bring your car back to the garage. The car you dropped off was in the middle of nowhere and no one was answering. You came back to the garage and your girl brought her whole crew/gang to steal every car in the Garage. She stole your car and you don’t get it back until way later in the game. It was a setup and now you lose your car you knew and loved. Hate it and deleted it after that. Might just be a major me problem tho.

[@GainingDespair]

I don't care for narratives or political elements in racing games. I simply want to race on a track, the more unnecessary content a game has, the less I enjoy it. The last NFS game I really liked was Shift.

[@legoclayface]

Underground, Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, and ProStreet were the peak of the Need for Speed franchise. Fast-paced and fun racing, fantastic soundtracks, cheesy but cool stories, actually tolerable voice acting, split-screen multiplayer, and no wokeness.

[@reaperxz3ro]

An idea that I heard from another video can't remember who made it, but the idea was to introduce sponsors and have like "sponsor battles" kind of how like group or team battles were done in NFS carbon and have certain areas dominated by teams/sponsors and depending on the team who is winning we get unique customization options or something like that. That would be pretty cool

[@azerfire6054]

You missed another reason - the very unforgiving difficulty.

[@curtisdickson6277]

Yeah this crap is ridiculously hard

[@Eddie42707]

I deleted mine after a week on PS5. It’s not how Need for Speed normally plays. Graphics nice though gameplay trash.

[@Dadee3]

*The ultimate turn off for me was using the rapper A$ap Rocky to market the game. It just gave off "young/dumb tiktok generation" vibes.*

[@C.I...]

Why would you name yourself "As soon as possible gravel". What an idiot.

[@GuerrillaGorilla023]

As a car enthusiast who grew up on NFS, Burnout and Fast and Furious I feel like I outgrew the NFS series, especially the ones made by Criterion. I find this tragic because Burnout Paradise is one of my favorite racing games period. At the end of the say it comes down to controls feeling to simplistic and unrealistic. It was fine.... until I actually learned to drive and drift and all the crazy stuff we aren't supposed to be doing on the road. Now NFS games feel boxy and unpolished compared to something like Forza or Grid.

[@sxepink]

Agree with alll of this. The animated characters and visual effects DID threw me off but i ended up getting the game anyways and giving it a chance. It grew on me a lot and i play it almost everyday and enjoy it, and the visuals are indeed satisfying and add to the thrill. I agree with everything you said about additions to the game and also think that an World online leaderboard for race times, activity records and all of that would be super cool to have as well for those who are competitive

[@chrisbee9643]

so what you say is basically this: The game looks mild okay, but is missing a lot of features Heat already had... And you are still ending up, making a positive review... And people wonder, whats wrong...

[@sxepink]

@@chrisbee9643 yes I give this game a positive review, have a good time everytime I play it, which is very frequently. And I did not play Heat, as I got bored after 10min of gameplay

[@nikolassovtich1309]

@@chrisbee9643 You know people can give their opinion right, not everyone has to hate the game 🤦‍♂️

[@chrisbee9643]

@@nikolassovtich1309 what has logic to do with opinions?

[@illustriousfreedom.9745]

I think another reason why Unbound’s not doing as well as it should be is the near endless injection of left-leaning political bias throughout the story mode. Left-leaning “woke” political bias has been pretty much hijacking almost all of western entertainment for quite some time now and it has divided so many people in terms of their viewpoints on various things (not gonna get into them, obviously, but if you know, you know). Case in point, as much as I genuinely appreciate representation in any form of media as long as they’re done sincerely, I play most (if not, all) racing games to drive my favorite souped up cars in gorgeous-looking environments and just have a good time doing so. If I want to be lectured on critical race theory and all that, I’d go on Twitter lol I hate using this traditional red pill edgelord phrase because it’s been so overused now out of context, but get woke, go broke. Then again, this is just one of my pretty much countless problems with the game. If you were to ask me, Unbound’s my second least favorite NFS behind Rivals.

[@revy1370]

The game tried being political in a left wing sense and it came off as desperate and out of touch. The constant radical left pandering in video games and most media has become very tiring and predictable. Hopefully this fad dies off sooner rather than later.

[@thoraneh7365]

I'm left leaning but I hate it when games shoe horn in political commentary where it's not a natural part of the story. In a single player RPG adventure game it feels less disconnected but it just feels forced in something like a racing game. Let it be what it is.

[@Taxevader-gk9ms]

I had more fun playing 2015 than playing unbound and that's because of the class restrictions for races limiting my speed will only make me bored

[@satyaprakashsahu907]

I tried it last week and the main problem for me was the cringe end scenes after each race. These made me feel like i am a cringe tictok guy.

[@Underground3]

It design around GenZers who spend soo much time on instagram and twitter. instead around the focus of today car culture. It blatant from the way they act on twitter, the character designs, the god awful soundtrack, the lack luster of a pursuit system, and lack of races type from previous NFS games. Where is drag and pink slips races? we don't know, but apparently this is a convincing "Illegal race setting"

[@C.I...]

I know the new test drive is set in Hong Kong, but can you imagine a game based on the scene there? It's a real life NFS situation, with police going after any car that looks modified in any way. There are some great videos of the meets out there.

[@Hituvuvuvu]

I loved the story and characters. I agree whole heartedly though. The night and day grind was ridiculous, I thought the story itself was too short. The online is just OK. I knew it was a matter of time before EA did there thing and ruined another game

[@TheUltimateHacker007]

The story couldn't be any longer. Every time I start driving, the characters would start endlessly nagging about some bs and they all sound like nails on chalkboard but it just keeps going

[@RuntzSZN]

@@TheUltimateHacker007 story wasn't even that bad 😂

[@RuntzSZN]

I kinda liked the night and day spiced shit up for me

[@Hituvuvuvu]

@@RuntzSZN coming back to this comment I guess you’re right. The switch up was kinda cool.

[@shopwood8010]

I went back to HEAT because I discovered that I can best my pb’s from my PS4 on PS5. 😅

[@HoroJoga]

The hip hop aesthetic killed the game for me on day one.

[@Vitrated]

theres has always been a hiphop element in NFS

[@captainfalcon2878]

@@Vitratedexactly lol what a dumbass

[@LOANWOOLPH]

EA black box was the best dev team for nfs. I dont think criterion can ever make a game like they did

[@HunterMagunter]

Burnout paradise

[@tobiasrex8052]

My personal reason for not picking this game up was the reduced earnings from races compared to NFS:HEAT in turn making it take longer to make noticable progression with your vehicles. And the biggest nail for me not getting the game is having to grind a SECOND TIME if i want to play online with my buddies (who are also not getting the game after i told them they have to grind a second time since their story cars dont carry over). I just dont have the same amount of time to play titles as i used to and with so many great titles out (Elden Ring, Legend of Zelda: TotK, Monster Hunter: Rise Sunbreak, Bloodborne, etc its hard to to even justify getting this game if i have to grind a a good amount (twice) before i start having fun in a NFS title. For me it just aint worth the squeeze.

[@Music-vr7sz]

How would you know that if you never played it?

[@tobiasrex8052]

@Music-vr7sz Doesn't take more than a simple Google/KZbin search and go through multiple reviews bud. I do that with every title before I pull the trigger on purchasing any game nowadays. A lot of games are now just glorified "Player Engagment" services under the guise of video games for companies to use & get shareholders to invest more. Meanwhile the game either arrives unfinished with promises of fixes later years down the line or gets shutdown because player retention reached abysmal digits.

[@ryancooper3629]

I had fun with the game for a while but pretty much agree with you on all points. Personally I don't mind the driving effects but HATE HATE HATE the cell shaded characters. It didn't stop me from buying the game but it def was a mark against it. I also agree about burst nos, it just needs to be tuned better. I feel its too powerful and too punishing when you don't get it perfectly right. The difference between gripping a turn and getting 2.9999 bars of burst nos and getting 3 bars is HUGE. Burst nos is hella fun and def shouldn't be taken away, I think it sets unbound apart as being really fun compared to other genre competitors, they just need to adjust it so it feels like a bonus that makes you go to warpspeed rather than this thing that dictates every race. I also feel they should nerf away all the abusive stuff that promotes doing dumb stuff to farm burst nos rather than taking good lines. (micro drifting, for example) I also feel a big way to help burst nos would be to greatly increase the time a player has to use the nos before it goes away. The difference between 2.9999 bars and 3 bars would be much less of a problem if you could just get to 3 on the next turn. Top players solve this through stuff like micro drifting, but for your average player they feel like they are just screwed. whenever that happens. The other thing that I found really frustrating with unbound is how easy it is to crash and then how randomly punishing it is when you do. (or beneficial). I've won races before because I crashed and then the game teleported me ahead of my opponent. I've lost races before because I crashed but the game didn't reset me so I had to reverse out of a corner or something. Thats not fun. I felt the crash mechanics were a lot better in Heat because it was a lot harder to crash but when you did it was hella punishing. Finally, the only other big thing is that I felt that there is nothing I'm competing for really. Money is infinite (even if the grind was slow) but there are no leaderboards, competitions, etc. I'm not working towards anything. Winning doesn't actually matter. Player level means nothing and collecting cars is fun but I never felt like I was working towards something or trying to measure my improvement over time.

[@aayobruv]

I really enjoyed this game tbh. Cops got annoying, but they’re supposed to be annoying. I liked the character design a lot, and I think it really suited the style and storyline of the game, over the cringey designs in previous games. I also just played with air stream animations off. I really don’t think this was a bad game. In fact I thought it was a good follow up from heat. Even if I didn’t like the style and design, it still wouldn’t be a big take away.

[@hawkeye4324]

I’ll spare y’all 8 minutes. Bad soundtrack, horrible acting, boring storyline and, of course, EA made it.

[@DRIVER--242]

Can anyone understand this new (since last update) new mechanic of race starts? (I hate it!) Before if you were hosting a race you would start in pole position, if you came first or 3rd you would start the next race in that position. However now, I host a race and I get to start in last position! Irrespective of my finishing position I am now put randomly anywhere on the grid, WTF? This is so annoying! Anyone have the same problem?

[@sleazykilla360]

You PAID MONEY to leave this comment 😂 let that sink in.

[@DRIVER--242]

​@@sleazykilla360 Actually I didn't pay a penny to leave this comment. That was a year ago mate, long before I became a member! 🤣

[@1God10]

Literally explains the main reason in the first 45 seconds on the video.

[@clorasmcsmugger2653]

We should be able to make custom races like in Forza. Community made races would make for higher replay abilities

[@youmadxd8801]

Underground 2 is still the best by far and thats sad. At this point GTA is a better racing game then most of the new NFS's lmfao

[@SpeedsterGT7913]

Translated by Google: Let's be honest and realistic, lately street or urban style racing games will not be the same as before because the automotive brands do not want to see their models doing clandestine races. Festival-style racing games like Forza Horizon and the upcoming The Crew Motor Fest and motorsport-style games like Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo have become more popular lately.

[@valentinvas6454]

I have a few more things. To me personally the way cars handle in this game is some of the biggest pile of horseshit I've ever seen in a racing game. It's just not fun at all. I've played Most Wanted, Pro Street, Forza Horizon 5, Grid, various Mario Kart games but never felt steering a car so annoying in a game. Cops are also nothing but a tedium. Every time you make a little contact the screen goes crazy for a moment and it's so unnecessary. People said the Most Wanted cutscenes are corny and they might be right but Unbound cutscenes are cringe incarnate. Even if you choose a white girl as your character her voice actress is a black woman so at the beginning it was confusing as hell sometimes when they were talking to each other in the car. Oh and the music.. How could that be so terrible. From Underground 2 to Undercover like 80% of the tracks for legendary songs no matter the genre. You can also feel how they wanted to make this game really reeeaaaly diverse and went completely overboard with characters that are POCs.

[@CourtyardCaddy]

Trigger, you explain this game so perfectly here. The current state of the game is trash, literally been playing the game for a week and been upset at the things you have mentioned. Such a great platform! But way too many ideas all at once wreck the game. It could be saved with a good update, but will EA Fork out the money to do so. They could, a small update to save a game could be very beneficial to the Future Market considering the new consoles that are going to be purchased! (EA) I guess we'll have to be patient and see their next steps. Obviously, there will be another NFS game, which is great, but we'll see how they hold this platform 👍

[@jacolomer]

This is spot on. I'm actually one of those that quit after two or three weeks of playing it... and I did for the exact reasons you mention

[@svk_zoltan]

If they fix the playlist overlay, the aux bug, pre-shift bug and performance issues I will be super happy with the game.

[@Tha-mountain]

Also allow shorter/longer gears without moving up a gear

[@smilloww2095]

Exactly what I've been saying. This comment could've been made by me

[@isaiahserna2811]

Unbound graphics are garbage. For some reason I had a feeling it was gonna be bad with A$AP joining in. Then the cartoon effects. I like the hyper realistic feel they did with undercover and 2005 most wanted, the unique modernization of Heat as well as the deep customization of Heat, and storylines of Carbon and Payback. Y’all get what I’m saying?

[@vmdenis3350]

Bad things - blackwashing, bad music for racing, story not existing Good things - good design, good costumes, plenty of races

[@GokusLostSon]

Thank your for you’re points, just recently re download this game and I’m having a blast with my boys online. Animation and graphics are top-tier. looks very clear and beautiful. I will say that the driving at first was a lot harder than heat. With heat, I got into the rhythm and flow a lot quicker. I had to take my Ls by barely touching something in unbound and crashing to really respect the NPC that are driving and to also use the E brake.For anybody considering giving this a try definitely worth it. Lobbies are always full and also cross play. My only gripe I wish they had races where you and your friends could race CPU like heat if people don’t join.

[@Scantronacon]

Just got added to gamepass, im lovin it! Im not looking for perfecrion i just wanna drive, listen to music and escape from reality then again im a huge Initial D fan😅

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

​@@Scantronaconbased

[@sizquirt]

graphics are low tier, the effects are so ugly

[@original__gmebvy]

They’re taking too long on putting updates out and the roadmap for said updates and added features should be more detailed and clear to the community. Updates should be every 2 months tops and weekly engagement with the community should be at least 2 to 3 posts a week.

[@davidb4150]

The story was semi woke. where the antagonist was a girl boss. and the voice actor for the male choice sounded like he was trying to sound like every race.

[@Mr.Frog21]

No it was pretty woke, if you do the racer SOS missions most of the racers cry about racial and social problems in the game lmao.

[@Daniero1994]

What I don't get about criticism of this game, is that it's aimed at realism of the game. I think a lot of people seem to forget that NFS in general is not realistic to begin with.

[@valentincelestite9861]

"Something we've never seen before in a Need for Speed game" Hum... NFS Nitro anyone ?

[@Lady_Aleera]

I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore gamer, Im more of a casual, but if I find a game I love, I'll easily put 5k+ hours into it, I did that with Heat, Rivals, HP, Payback.. Unbound I'm one of those that just hate the game so bad it makes me cringe 😬, idk about the vol 2 update, it may have made the game slightly better, I'll never know because Idc, I sold my copy last year and moved on to better racing games. I'll still play heat and rivals almost daily for a few hours each, chasing those times ⏱️ I get way more enjoyment out of those nfs's, unbound was one of the worst racing experiences of my life, I'll never go back

[@MilitiaGamingCommunity]

It you haven’t played the current version of it and you might miss 2 more updates. Games can turn around. And more often than not, a game at launch is nowhere near what it eventually becomes. But also, play what makes you happy

[@Lady_Aleera]

@@MilitiaGamingCommunity that's cool it'll get more updates, wish heat could've gotten that 🙄 I probably still wouldn't come back to unbound, especially when the crew 3 or solar crown comes out 😆

[@Luiszelaya06]

Lady u sooooo OP . U SO FAST WE CANT KEEP UP WITH U

[@M3PH11]

0:10 this is what it looks liike if you take acid and go drifting

[@SD-mi2vc]

Limited restarts why why?

[@KYOTOvisions]

I personally dislike it because the art style feel unimpressive. I like the way nfs heat looks alot, mainly compared to unbound

[@acezack05]

I never did finish this game. Some of the NPC racers were ridiculously OP. And I got tired of the ridiculous police chase system. I want to race, not spend 85% of the time running from the cops.

[@LEMONSQUEAKER]

The single player and multiplayer being separate is the biggest issue for me. The crazy animations, and modernized characters make the game even worse IMO.

[@RuntzSZN]

You got the weirdest issues 🙏🏻🤣, stop being lazy will fix the first one, and the dope ass animations and the new style for the characters is dope, maybe not your cup of tea but don't throw others off the game cause it's a good game

[@LEMONSQUEAKER]

@@RuntzSZN The game had some of the worst ratings ever, it’s already free with EA Play. These are facts. As far as My issues with the game, I said IMO. “In My Opinion”. Lol

[@RuntzSZN]

@@LEMONSQUEAKER lmao plenty of games a free with a subscription they all ass too?

[@RedWiko]

The real reason of it's failure is that it focused into more new gen story, art style and propaganda, basically it's made for Gen Z and not the NFS original fans!!

[@C.I...]

I got NFS heat for free, and I quit more or less at the start, partly because it was IMPOSSIBLE to make my character look like anything other than a stupid fat zoomer gimp. If that's the start you get, how is any of the rest of the game going to be okay? Then the horrendous music came on, and I'd just had enough.

[@scrubz7441]

Once they stopped using metal all games fell off

[@-jc8578]

The handling feels realy unpredictable and nos makes it even more crazier, because burst nos cancels physics and normal nos doesent.Sometimes I never know when the car will drift through the Corner or Spin

[@azbestbracie]

Popular opinion: Ghost should go back to making NFS

[@jesusnavarrete6317]

“EA games….destroy everything”

[@fortunado21]

Great video. I'm about halfway through the campaign and have noticed some of these exact issues. Primarily feeling like you just don't make enough $ to try out other cars and builds so you kind of get stuck with meta builds or a car you only kind of like. Maybe it will change more in week 3 and 4.

[@johnjackson2349]

You get $1m for completing the final race, and s+ tier races grant around 30-40k in most races. Takes a while to get the most expensive cars, the whole process takes longer online where you have to do 3 races to get your 40k

[@pitraxe]

Very true, I actually played online a lot first and only then went on to complete single player mode, armed with knowledge about which cars to use and the bonus vehicles from completing collectibles. Starting with single player gives you a really steep learning curve, which can be challenging but also frustrating.

[@goodie2shoes874]

@@pitraxe I think it’s the opposite. Going into multiplayer with the collectible cars make starting out a million times easier versus getting even less money from losing with the uncompetitive rentals

[@APOLLOPATRIOT]

Offline mode races are rigged and I barely gain a little bit of money ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ . That's why I'm playing Need For Speed heat that game is very very fun ! And Need For Speed Unbound needs to add some Underground 2 soundtracks as well .

[@swaggdude21]

My only thing is that the cars and stuff from story dont go into the multiplayer like HEAT, so once you finish like 10 or more hours of story you gotta start from zero online.

[@eddie0Fll]

They did it on purpose so you have to play much longer. Militia explained that. I don't like the crash mechanic, specially in S+ races. Makes the game too difficult... i like more the Heat crash mechanic. Also i hate that there are no "legal" races without traffic and cops. If you want to prove your skill you have to cut the RNG, and the RNG comes from traffic and police... I don't really like the race and car tiers too. But I'll actually say thank god there are slower races than S+, so it's more easy to control the car.

[@meiriongratland9272]

What's the point in paying $60 - $90 for a game where everything other than (debatably) the graphics have been done better by prior games.

[@Strutsss]

The soundtrack alone’s what killed it. Even more horrific than Heat’s, and that was horrific enough.

[@IIRiPII]

Also they should make races solo due to many not play or want to join a race ,there are a ton of solo players that would like the option to race solo as well and every race is dull racing on unbound..keep up the great content I’ll definitely support you on unbound

[@SD-mi2vc]

Also limited restarts

[@RuntzSZN]

@@SD-mi2vc fuck nah

[@SD-mi2vc]

@@RuntzSZN yep lol

[@blowmonkey51]

Mandatory internet connection was not mentioned as a huge blow to the game. Whilst games like Elden Ring, Doom, do not require internet.

[@MilitiaGamingCommunity]

That’s a great point

[@craig2196]

Is it just me, or does Heat look better than Unbound graphically?

[@somerandomdude2085]

I kinda agree with heat looking better but heat has a slight pink filter on top of the game which annoys me greatly.

[@craig2196]

@@somerandomdude2085 I don't know what you mean

[@smilloww2095]

Just you really. Heat just had a more neon city and better weather

[@C.I...]

And 2015 looks the best of them all, especially with some config tweaks.

[@Arindam_Gaming]

I play AA game Everspace 2 released in 2023 April. Absolutely Awesome & yet another example to ignore AAA products of the 2020s.

[@BedhiDaBumber]

The real reason I don't like unbound(or heat) is just that the driving itself feels awful. I was positive about this game because criterion did make the best nfs games in terms of just driving and it was need for speed most wanted 2012, but almost everything else was bad because EA didn't give criterion games enough time. And now criterion just makes this piece of bullshit. I can't name a any nfs game that has more awful driving.

[@nedvictor6854]

If they added Drag Racing in NFS Unbound, that would be amazing. Also, if they added the Vortex Car as well as the Acura Integra Type R with the Vortex Car Body Kit and Rims from NFS Underground, I personally would be excited. But that is just my opinion.

[@rustinpeace770]

Too specific. What are you expecting them to add every bodykit??

[@哈哈哈哈-n7y]

Nah, with unbound's super broken ai, you will have zero chance in drag race.

[@Music-vr7sz]

It's almost like I and many others predicted this. Only we got attacked for it. First off no cel shading is not used in anime and only morons called it anime. It was urban graffiti style and it looked like garbage. Anime would actually be cool. Second the trash soundtrack with no rock music or classics. Third the woke marketing campaign that was intentionally divisive. Fourth a garbage story with garbage characters and garbage dialogue. Fifth terrible collectibles and side missions. Sixth the emphasis on betting and not expecting to actually win races. Seventh the terrible cheaty AI. Eighth the horrendous inability to repeat events if you lose. Ninth the weekday cycle that makes you lose events if you progress the day and the only day you can repeat is Friday and only if you force it. I still haven't beaten it. I stopped on week 3 I think out of boredom. Edit: Forgot the constant atrocious police chases, lack of fast travel, random events easily missed, terrible car tiers limiting vehicles per race, unbalanced cars within those tiers. So much and I didn't even try the multiplayer.

[@NismoFanatic]

I loved nfs rivals. I wish they made a remastered version for pc

[@FARROKH1987]

Rivals was one of my favorites

[@CookiePlays69]

2 years in they still haven’t abandoned it and i don’t get it it’s so dumb they left heat which is a s tier game and went to unbound and STILL making updates for it

[@MsTribus]

SO TRUE, I grew up with NFSU1 and was hoping this would go back to that direction but I feel like it caved to the filter / TikTok genZ culture. I get it financially but I don't feel concerned