Need For Speed Unbound is Good...But Not Great! NFS Unbound Review

[@IsuckAtDriving]

Definitely agree on how overall the lack of passion of EA/Devs towards this game and probably the current generation as a whole. Unbound supposedly had 3 years of development but the actual game felt like it was less than that. To me it just feels like EA is putting a bare minimum effort towards NFS and be happy with a 7/10 game and it shows with the whole shuffling, putting Criterion to work on a non-racing game. EA should be going all out on their flagship racing game and aim for that 9/10.

[@BladedAngel]

The 3 Year wait is DEF THE MAIN REASON I RANKED THIS AS SUCH!!! Heat was only a 2-year wait, maybe that's why my expectations were lower, but broooo. I feel like this game could've just had a little bit more. It's definitely still a good game, but NFS needs a Great game RN.

[@tdm_nicky5603]

E

[@BlissifiedHH]

Well although i do agree with alot they didnt have 3 years, they did get moved to work on 2042 for about a year, and i think alot of ppl forget this game was developed right when covid was at an all time high and i think everyone is forgetting that. And i dont think this happened but given EA got rid of Ghost just like that maybe Criterion changed up the game that early in development, who knows. I dont think they did that though.

[@matiblaster8923]

"3 years of development" Criterion had to abort the development for some time beacuse DICE needed help with Battlefield 2042 so it's not 3 years

[@villianer7951]

@@BlissifiedHH That's why he said "EA is putting a bare minimum effort towards NFS and be happy with a 7/10 game", seriously even Heat feels better and more polished than Unbound with 2 years of development time.

[@lemonzhub]

Finnaly someone who can give a genuine review who understands game mechanics Unlike some *cough* ign *cough*

[@Jean_Driftstein]

They didn't spent enough time to understand the gameplay I'm pretty sure.

[@BladedAngel]

It was painful to watch them never use the Yellow NOS or ever grip tune. A few other large Game Review Channels did the same thing...

[@falcon1378]

@@BladedAngel I really only trust ISAD at this point as far as actually game skill goes. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s so goated.

[@yol_n]

Tbf ign was prob starved for a nfs game and it ended up being alright

[@lemonzhub]

@@BladedAngel I mean ign reviewers don't even understand the game They did the same with choo choo charles and now with nfs

[@Racegas]

THANK YOU BLADED! I was tired of all the journalists giving the game reviews from a non car enthusiast perspective. I was hoping you’d mention this game at some point and I’m glad you made a whole video on it! One thing I like about the city is the npcs that walk around like in gta. It adds more life to the city, for me at least. Thanks for the video!

[@BladedAngel]

Bruh Midnight CLub 3 had NPCs in Cities, that's a bare minimum at this point. I need more nooks and grannies err I mean crannies, in my cities!

[@Racegas]

@@BladedAngel fair point. I kinda forgot about the npcs in midnight club. Love the videos btw

[@smolltaco5667]

@@BladedAngel would be cool to see other racers out on the streets and be able to race them like in payback

[@yoaashay]

Tbh the pedestrians almost reminded me of Midtown Madness lol

[@SomeOne_86]

@@smolltaco5667You mean like in NFSU2... That would also let you unlock unique upgrades that you couldn't get otherwise back then.

[@mrsoisauce9017]

1:26 there is a hidden mechanic with the burst nitrous (that’s the yellow NOS) in unbound. If u get it all the way to max and u figure out how to use it right in the corners, u can actually grip the corner a lot better, and u can take the corner a lot faster, which can also refill ur burst NOS back to full, allowing u to chain together multiple “super grip” turns if u can figure out how to do it right

[@BladedAngel]

This is why I love it even more. This new mechanic adds so much depth. Easy to use, hard to master...it's a highlight of Unbound and NEEDS to return in future nFS games.

[@Deathmic0309.]

yeah same idea but with some cars you can just drift the corner, boost when you're straight and it grips right back up so ye its a really cool mechanic

[@Poorgeniu5]

Wait, that sounds like Ridge Racer's nitrous mechanic.

[@vtec.5ucks]

this is some mario kart type shit

[@wildman63]

I like the concept of this mechanic but in practice it can grip a bit too much. if you get a tiny bit of air time, like even by just going up a curb, it can cause you to spin out due to a few wheels being off the ground. its a minor thing where its a side effect of these mechanics but doesn't really fit within the physics.

[@WaterDispencer519]

I would argue that Lakeshore is a great map. Sure, I would agree by the dullness of the city core, the thing that makes it alive were the pedestrians around and the moving bridges. I think this is the first Need For Speed game with moving pedestrians, and when I first saw it, it already gives me Midnight Club vibes. The moving bridges are giving me Underground 1 vibes as well, because I vividly remember Olympic City’s open bridges that you jump off, and Lakeshore’s moving bridges gave me that throwback.

[@Reaper1722]

I agree that it is indeed a great map, and it also helps that i enjoyed the gameplay of Unbound. I have been spoiled by racing games with massive maps such as Test Drive Unlimited 2 and The Crew 1 and 2. To the point that it is what makes or breaks a racing game for me immersion-wise. Unbound however, made me ignore the map size for the first time in years. That's how enjoyable it was to me, personally. Fuck the overtuned cop spawn rate though.

[@scottoleson1997]

Finally after almost 30 years lol

[@ashar8192]

Agree mate. I see some people claiming Heat and Payback had a better map and then wonder how. Lakeshore also has those multilevel streets, like irl Chicago, the moving train or the big ferris wheel

[@BladedAngel]

I'd rather just play midnight club 3 tbh. In fact, that's exactly what I booted up after this game. HOUSE REAL BIG, CARS REAL BIG, EVERYTHING REAL BIG.

[@hawtdanger5256]

I think the grey aesthetic of this game somewhat was supposed to represent the sub story that was happening on the in-game radio, about the mayor (i took every opportunity to listen to the full dialogues). The Mayor, Stevenson i believe was her name, kept antagonising street racing and tried to normalize Lakeshore. This normal feeling was probably how Lakeshore got this grey aesthetic. Now I know i might sound your old English teacher explaining why the writer's curtains were blue, but when you make the connections, you can't deny this being a possibility.

[@BladedAngel]

Maybe, another theory ppl have told me is that because the style is so flarey and saturated, the city is meant to be easily contrasted against it. Maybe it'll grow on me? IDK. Let's hope this game ain't dropped by EA as with a few updates...this is very close to being a great game. Keep in mind, I definitely still enjoyed it! Very good game! Just I want that Great Experience...I really want that little oomph from the devs that extra polish.

[@therarestpepe9655]

I don't think the game designers would sacrifice the games aesthetic to satisfy some abstract sub story.

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

​@@therarestpepe9655boy, you have NOT played any Fallout game

[@Fosten12]

HP2010 had the most smooth drift gameplay i have ever seen in a NFS game.

[@infinite_azure_]

To this day it's still my favourite game to drift in (yes at RIDICULOUS speeds but that's literally the fun of an arcade racer)

[@BladedAngel]

100%

[@dyaanahmad5079]

Nah NFS Carbon is💪💪💪💪

[@ryze9153]

@@dyaanahmad5079 NFS Rivals

[@2Pac71x96x14]

I really enjoyed this game. My main issue tho is late game grinding. After completing all the challenges and gathering collectibles, my only drive to play this game is buying cars, upgrading them and driving around. But if you need to grind 3 full weeks only to buy a bugatti, grinding becomes really exhausting

[@Xander_Park]

EXACTLY 💯

[@MaddJakd]

I was hoping that with new tech, this wouldn't be a thing now lol. I remeber thia late game grind in Underground 2 and a bit less in Midnight Club 3. A shame they can figure out how to keep high dollar races dynamically going after the story is done at this point in time 😓

[@BladedAngel]

I wish it had more story or at least a sub plot to carry through the next weeks. Even Midnight Club 3 had the manners to give us Tokyo Challenge as a break to Main Story/Endgame zone for post main story. This entire comment thread has just devolved into me realizing Midnight Club 3 has been ahead of the NFS Franchise for a decade now...so I'm just gonna replay that instead.

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

funny you say that, i don't need to do any late game grinding since i had enough cash to fully invest to 3 cars. i'm seeing a major case of skill issue here

[@SmokeyOwOs]

The yellow boosting mechanic is so fun, makes me alot more bold in terms of taking tight corners at high speeds, got the Palace Edition for cheap and been having fun with it so far. Also really love the art style they went with in this game, it's like Anime/Street graffiti inspired and I'm all for it.

[@SmokeyOwOs]

@Jessiebeanie oh crap you're absolutely right.

[@nedronbronzebeard7118]

Being from the Underground/MW era I really really enjoyed this game. Lakeview to me had the same feeling I got from Rockport and Rydell was kind of how I see myself now with younger enthusiasts. Its definitely one of my favorite games.

[@fillyjonkxiioflowersaxony]

It's not the same Nfs 2005 and unbound is very different if you compare them

[@nedronbronzebeard7118]

@@fillyjonkxiioflowersaxony they are very different but the feel to me is similar.

[@fillyjonkxiioflowersaxony]

@@nedronbronzebeard7118 in what way?

[@nedronbronzebeard7118]

@@fillyjonkxiioflowersaxony the game over all to me reminds me of when I got into NFS in 05. Just reminds me of simpler times and ease. Like, the cops being easier reminds me of how easy they were in MW with the speed breaker system. The way the outdoor events and sprint races play reminds me of my favorite times in MW speed traps and sprint races. The Charger being back in the game as a playable car. The story is nowhere near the same but the feeling of being "the best" in Lakeshore. The feeling of "taking on the top racers". The attitude of the cops. There's just a lot that make it feel similar to when I played MW/Carbon when I was 14. Hell, maybe it could be the fact that I didn't really play NFS until Heat... And I didn't like the Day Events (felt like Forza Horizon to me). Unbound though is all just pure Street Racing... Like MW/Carbon.

[@fillyjonkxiioflowersaxony]

@@nedronbronzebeard7118 good points, The thing I miss from mw 2005 is that you can pick any car you want and didn't need to play the best car to have fun. Ps and I miss the gas stations in mw 05 it was fun as f to make them explode

[@BetriebAnin]

About customization… Heat had an inventory system where you could keep unwanted performance parts to sell or put on another car. I figure I’ve lost a few million by the lack of this feature in Unbound.

[@davesmith3529]

Right, like they padded it to make you play the game longer, I like the fact how you could take parts off one car and equip it to another vehicle in heat

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

honestly fine with this feature, makes me think twice before buying anything, in Heat, i can just spend my money on anything, repeat a day race 3 times, rinse and repeat.

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

​@@davesmith3529objectively not true, you say that but my experience says otherwise, i completed Unbound in less time i completed Heat, not to mention playtime differs from person to person, and depending on the player's cash management skill it can cut the """"""grind time"""""""" by 3 to 7 hours

[@Homiloko2]

The art style looks rad. I would've bought it if the game didn't require me to install some bullshit EA service and create an account/login there

[@Austin-cr5zo]

Everytime a big racing game not named Forza comes out, big media reviews phone it in and don’t do the game justice when reviewing. A lot of people that don’t like racing games only don’t like them because they are bad at them.

[@idkneededtomakenewacc2575]

Facts

[@dennis2767]

The sad thing about the number of cars is that there are a lot of cabrio-versions of cars that are already in the game, which in my opinion dont count as different cars. And the list only grew a bit over the last few NFS titles as it is always the same ones with a few additions. So for somebody who played the previous game there is not too much new in terms of cars.

[@govinlock8568]

Yes. Too much variant for a single model. Game with customization shouldn't have more than one variant of same model.

[@dennis2767]

@@govinlock8568 I did not say that. I said that Cabrios don't count as separate cars for me as they mostly drive and look the same. For me it doesn't mean that the game has 140 cars but 120 as the others are Cabrios of already existing cars.

[@jeff_uchiha]

Reason why I didn’t bother buying this game

[@maidoll_fei]

Roadster in this game has a different engine swap list than the hardtop version of the same car. And in some car the hard top version accel faster but Roadster have extra points for other stuff. Nos for example.

[@enditakamweneshe6428]

It still doesn't take away from the fact that the roaster still consists of plenty different branded cars, y'all can poke at the number of cars these games have all you want, it's not like any of you even use half of them before finally get tired of the game and dropping it, I can guarantee if Most Wanted 2005 and Underground 2 came out today y'all would lose your heads over the less than 40 cars they had, this is just a generation of entitlement I guess.

[@craigpatterson2592]

I feel like most video game journalists don't even know how video games work. Then they give harsh and unfair ratings to video games, or at least the games I saw that were reviewed in recent times. They need people who are passionate gamers and they need people who understand every aspect of a game (details, customization features, competitive aspects of video games, etc.).

[@BladedAngel]

They're rushing a half baked product to review rushed half baked products. Truly a vicious cycle....I can't believe how much 1st week footage Reviews I saw of this game at launch. Like...how can you rate a whole game just 2-4 hours in????? 40 hours later, THAT'S when I gave this review:

[@kevinmiller2210]

Imo its the greatest nfs game in years its the game i wanted since prostreet. You guys should except the “golden-era” of NFS is long gone. Unbound is a great game.

[@alcatraz-nc2814]

Personnally I would argue NFS Most Wanted 2005 has actually easier police difficulty compared to the modern NFS because of 2 thing : the addition of an actual HP and the removal of pursuit breaker. When I was a kid I was kind of scared of heat level 4 and 5 because it could instantly ruin your run because of spikes and fast car but last year when I played the game again, as a more mature player, I found the game actually pretty easy. But when I tried Rivals and another one I forgot, having an actual HP that decreases when getting hit or even inflincting hit on other car actually made me even more wary of cops than I was before. The feeling isnt the same because in 2005, your car is an invincible beast that can only be stopped by throwing spikes or enough car at it (but it can never be destroyed). In the recent NFS your car is no longer that invincible beast and you cannot afford to casually ram cops because at some point you'll just wreck your car. A small detail some may say but still.

[@defnotatroll]

Not just hp and pursuit breaker but speedbreaker as well in the old games. Speedbreaker is extremely clutch in difficult situations

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

i agree to this so much, Pursuits in those games are piss easy, hell its a lot easier than Unbound lmao

[@goodie2shoes874]

I actually like Lakeshore’s map. With the improved handling and nitrous, the roads feel great to drive. I can appreciate the multi layer design of the city with railways and underground sections. Plus you can’t tell me places like the 2 racetracks or the storm drains weren’t fun to drive through. Or drifting the mountains roads in a correctly built drift car.

[@BladedAngel]

I ranked the map higher than the city. I'm fine with the surrounding area. The Drifting, Touge, and Pipe sections are indeed fun! The City...IDK, Maybe I just expected more from a 3-year wait?

[@EvilAszu]

@@BladedAngel fair enough, I still like Lakeshore, its not great, but I still like it.

[@se7enhaender]

My main criticism is that they don't have enough routes or layouts for the races or whatever you wanna call tracks in an open world game. I like the ones that are there, but I feel like way too much of the map is completely unused in race events, so a majority of roads you'll just come across during side stuff like chases, speed traps or collecting stuff. There's so much to be gained here, because the map has great roads and shortcuts... they just don't use it nearly as well as they could have for your main activity: racing. Couldn't they just pay an intern to place a shit ton of checkpoints for a week so we end up with 3 times the amount of layouts?

[@rice5827]

seeing your TOF gameplay makes me realise how far behind i really am 😭, im literally at the part when the lvl cap was 50 💀

[@BladedAngel]

Come back :D Game has lots of content, most major bugs and exploits (even ones I enjoyed like jetpack+Grapple glitch) have been patched. Hackers have moved on to other popular titles. So the game and community is a very peaceful world now! Except Solaris maybe. Giga Whales might still be toxic there.

[@gunman8452]

@@BladedAngel I haven't played since launch, is it really worth coming back to?

[@BladedAngel]

@@gunman8452 Up2u, it's a Sci-Fi game. Next weapon is a Sniper Rifle, so my biggest recommendation is: "Do you like Anime, Guns, and Skyscrapers? Then yes, TOF is good" "Do you like Medieval Fantasy with Castles and expect this to be Genshin? Not recommended" Too many ppl expect TOF to be Genshin, it's not. Different setting. Aesperia was a sad rushed market quota designed to "mimick" what was popular at the time (Genshin) and it resulted in the devs now working their ass off to make an actual identity instead of the the one their publisher PWE forced onto them...what sounds good in marketing won't play good, but I'm glad the game just full sends as a Sci-Fi game now. Shooting Cars with NOS off a Cliff is fucking hilarious. I'll gladly trade a Grapple Movement glitch patch if I get a car lmfao.

[@Tha-mountain]

@@BladedAngelwat is tof I’m interested

[@somapapp2944]

@@Tha-mountain Tower of Fantasy. MMO gacha game. It's on Steam and F2P so you can give it a try if you want to.

[@ramendealer9441]

What I like about Unbound is that the story is more street oriented more than trying to be like fast and the furious, I rather have a game where the stories problem is someone trying to get their car back and not we race to take down the cops situations

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

same, its more of a chill vibe instead of generic revenge story number 79182

[@enditakamweneshe6428]

I find it stupid that people complain about the number of cars in these games, 100+ of varied cars is already plenty enough, plus it's not like one player on average is even going to use half of these cars anyways.

[@philipberlanda]

I haven’t finished the game yet. But this game is amazing. I personally didn’t think the police chases were too easy. Once you take out most of the cops it has a timer that will give you reinforcements if it runs out. Also the cops system was pretty good I thought, they would find you a lot faster the higher heat you are in. Also the gas station health system is very different. Because it is timed. it won’t let use it again for a couple of minutes instead of limiting you to only a couple of times a session that you could use often. Forcing you to repair less often but when you need it because you may die before you can repair again Also I thought the game looked good and the city felt massive even if it is smaller. It’s more condensed so the highways takes you to places sooner. Also gaining heat linked to races and having a week system is very good. It forces you to only take bigger races and cash in a little early or you could lose everything if the cops catch you. In need for speed heat I got a little too comfortable being heat 5 and just being able to get away with anything. If the cops were too hard then new players would get too frustrated. But I still have been busted a few times and had a lot of close calls. In need for speed heat a lot of the time you’d get the cops on you during a race but then by the end of it you’d lose them. in unbound I would still have the cops on me and have to get them off after the race.

[@BladedAngel]

Reinforcements? What Reinforcements? *rams 5 more police* I definitely think I'm just too used to NFS games, so that's why they felt easy to me. I do note that in the video. Most people who haven't played literally every game on repeat, will likely still be fine with them. I just memed the shit out of them lmfao

[@willythewhale2235]

Also in Heat when you jump anywhere the cops would die because they couldn’t land like you lol. But in Unbound I noticed they were on my ass no matter if I jumped high asf or not. Also the dialogue of the cops funny ash

[@insertrichie]

I really like how you mentioned how generic the city was because I felt the same. I may have also missed it but I feel no one has critiqued the actually races/tracks in any review. For me personally it’s the biggest downside to Unbound. Everything feels great (excluding drifting) but when it comes to the races themselves, they feel quite generic. Wide turn, sharp turn, boost boost, do it again. If I compare with need for speed 2015s races. They were miles better. You’d sharp turn into a tight alley way over a small jump, the hook turn around a building, then boost on a straight then dip into another turn straight into a sewer then back up into a construction yard then up a hill and onto a windy road up a mountain. Maybe it was the gymkana influence but man I miss races like that. Unbound is mostly wide uninspired generic roads and when you get to S+ it’s basically highways. Maybe it’s personal preference but I really wish there were more variety and creativity with the races.

[@decked2199]

i've stopped looking at leaks, predictions, trailers, and reviews of games i *know* i'm going to buy a couple years ago. it really helps me enjoy the game as a brand new experience and make my own opinion about whether a game sucks or not. Instead of playing a game i've already formed an opinion through other peoples hype and expectations.

[@shinomakichuppy8236]

The Super Grip buff that the Burst Nitrous had just made the skill-gap in this game incredibly high lol. The average players would used it to only speed up while the higher skill ones used it to have better turns and 90 degree drift at 200mph.

[@kazefw3834]

As a most wanted 2005 enjoyer, most wanted 2005 still have THE BEST pursuit system, EVER

[@HashishTV]

Not to mention the soundtrack of the older NFS games really helped with the atmosphere compared to whatever tf we get now

[@oftengone]

Yeah some of the songs are terrible

[@afaxmachine5045]

This soundtrack does the same thing

[@Majima_Nowhere]

So many reviews I see for this game just say "please just remaster underground 2" and I totally agree. All these years later and I still boot up the old fat ps2 to play it occasionally. I haven't played an NFS game since the 2015 reboot, so I went into this one blind too. I like Unbound well enough, I just have to turn the music off. I tried keeping the music on to get into the "feel" of the game, but I just find most of it annoying. Phonk fits better. I also wish there were more tracks, feels like by week 3 you've driven everything more than once and it starts to get stale. I really like the art style, and having effects that fit your car's color is super satisfying. The handling is fine. 100% grip or drift works for me, everything else feels a bit unpredictable. Like at 80% drift I'll try to initiate with a brake tap but end up plowing straight through the corner instead. The story is pretty good for a racing game. Rydell is a real one, by far my favorite character. I want to just buy him a beer and shoot the shit. For everyone else... the humor and mannerisms are about 10 years too young for me.

[@Smokeyaba]

One thing I didn’t like about the story was how they tried to justify the crimes they do by “expressing themselves” and the dialogue which to me was really mediocre and could’ve been easily remedied. I kind of wished that they kinda gave us a choice between accepting jaz back or not and how passive our character was, the story apart from those things was ok though

[@paradoggz]

Honestly, i see the sales issue also in the fact of its next-gen console requirement. Most sales are console anyways and due to the high prices since release, scarcity and the looming global financial problems since the big Rona making the switch to next-gen very slow.

[@jamesweems4652]

I don't know if anyone has said yet, but regarding your comment on the age of the vehicles. I read an article a couple years ago that explained the process of getting cars into games. Basically what happens is for example EA puts a list of car together, they send that list to the respected companies to get the license to use that vehicle in their game. At that point the Motor companies then send the response back. Some of the requirements that the companies require with the approved vehicles are not reasonable so then EA would have to either change or just remove that vehicle. Me personally I wish they would have a few different cars in general. I think that we have too many options for some motor companies where as others are not available. For example Toyota or Lexus but overall I am happy they have a large amount of options to choose from, my only complaint there is the difficulty to earn money to buy them all.

[@eddyalvaross2195]

They completely forgot one use case : What about the old school player who prefers to use a nitro gauge that get refilled by driving risky but never depletes if it's not used? This nitro gauge which also refills relatively fast but gets depleted very slowly if it's upgraded to the max?

[@weekend_drawer_supe4368]

The only problem i had with unbound was that the physics felt unpredictable, especially around tiny jumps, where the car would grip up right away and crash, but the problem was that i chose the civic as the first car and had it on grip tires (who would've known) and i was complaining over how super understeery the game was, until i tried online with the skyline and surprise-surprise the game felt actually decent lmao

[@ChillMichaeleo]

1 year later this game got filled up pretty much as its volume 8. I played since all the start i think it holds up pretty well now

[@ileutur6863]

The evolution of modern NFS has just been a roller coaster of inconsistencies and clashing design choices. Every new entry seems to have a handful of really good improvements and interesting ideas, but gets bogged down by bullshit. They improved the cop chases... but they made them spawn on top of you constantly. They improved the driving... but the entire game has 2 event varieties. They improved progression... but now you don't earn enough to fully explore customization. They let you create a character... but made them a goody two shoes pushover. I still enjoyed the game, but fuck, this stuff is frustrating.

[@RAZORREVOLUTION1]

I hadn't played a racing game for a good while, so Unbound was a welcome distraction. I played through on challenging and enjoyed it immensely. For some reason it gave me a Jet Set Radio vibe: cell shaded characters, and some wicked music.

[@Hamster6-pu3op]

Cough* auto *cough modolista

[@RAZORREVOLUTION1]

@@Hamster6-pu3op Never heard of it. 👀

[@Hamster6-pu3op]

Turn ya neck bone at a 90 degree angle and look at it.

[@RAZORREVOLUTION1]

@@Hamster6-pu3op I just looked it up. An arcade racer on PS2, right?

[@Hamster6-pu3op]

Ye

[@Ultra-Lightning]

The reason why the car list feels so disappointing to many people is because of how its pretty much a rip from Heat with a few new cars to pad it out. You were right. A 2022 game should have 2020+ cars! WHY are we still using the 2015 civic model??? Why are we using the older mustangs!? And the online manages to be worse than Heat’s.. no matchmaking, just sit and pray the people in your lobby feel like racing instead of just afking in the garage all day. So many missed opportunities….

[@hel_-1695]

bladed posted. *grabs popcorn and sits down*

[@BladedAngel]

26 minutes longggggggggg enjoy that popcorn!

[@un_legendary2848]

i really live NFS unbound, my only critisism is the city, i miss the neon lights and street lights everywhere, i love the effects and the parts outside the city, but i feel like the city is so forgettable, comparing heat with unbound i would say that heat is the better game for driving around for fun and taking photos imo and unbound better at another department, and i love the difference even though slight, and im going to be changing to pc and i have to choose between heat or unbound to buy and i kinda prefer Heat even with its flaws, so i will be buying heat instead of unbound

[@crazyadam9281]

There are two minor things could of made this game better, 1 the ability to reset the story so you can start from scratch and 2 the ability to customize the controls(M&K and Controller).

[@LilBeaniebby]

Watching someone actually drive and not smash through the corners and every rail is refreshing, the amount of times i find myself screaming how they cant drive and complain abt people driving wrong is frustrating.

[@charlescourtwright2229]

My biggest issue with modern need to speed is that 8 don't even need to hand break to drift, just trying to turn normal causes the rear end to kick out like I have a drift kit installed and hit an oil patch

[@DEMONITION1723]

Thought EXACTLY the same driving through the city. Many times i had dajavu thinking i was in heat map. City so boring. But i have more issues i had with the game. My car stability was horrible, had to turn sensitivity way down and still didn't help. On bumpy straights small adjustment sent me flying into the wall, and playing on intense that was... Pain. Another thing. One ai guy would rubber band forwards when ahead on intense. I watched when at full speed on highway. Him get more and more ahead untill i was watching distnace increase by 100m a second. It was game breaking. If I wasn't already ahead i was out. So i felt the instability of my car a lot more, along with ai glinging cars into me, making it impossible.

[@dagoose.]

Something that i think would be cool is that if they cell shaded the entire game, not only would it look cool now, it would age better for the future

[@PixelPigEntertainment]

I’ve been playing racing games for the better part of 24 years. Believe me when I say the game does use really unfair rubberbanding, maybe it’s a glitch even when chaining together yellow boosts if Shimizu gets a heads it’s almost guaranteed he wins because his rubber-banding doesn’t shut off. There’s also parts of the game where tuning won’t help you, like the 90 degree turn at the halfway point on Get High Tonight where you’re going uphill into the apex onto a flatland straight, no amount of downforce will keep you on the road, you’re forced to slow down there where AI players can rubberband through it at near full speed, you even _think_ about attempting the same thing and you’re flying over the rail into the grass, or you can take it wide which lowers your chance of spin out or airtime, but gives the ai every opportunity to fly past you.

[@inquisitorbenediktanders3142]

Ya know what I'd want for a new NFS to be good? Ditch the open world. Honestly, I would prefer to just have a campaign and compensate for the lack of the open world with crazier tracks. The special story missions in payback come to mind, like the one where all the main characters get caught off guard and need to get away from the police or the other mission that was shown alot in the promos where you ambush a convoy and rob a supercar.

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

higher chance Codemasters would do that, and i VERY welcome it

[@ranniel609]

The part where you says that games mean to be a escape from real life is so accurate. I enjoy more a ps2 game about ninjas than any other game after swapping my pc gpu.

[@crayyan2552]

The Main thing i hate Story/ Gameplay Wise is the Lack of depth Within A$AP Rocky's Character. For a game that Was focused on marketing someone in game as well as showing cutscenes in the trailer and such. It Lacked Giving A4AP a connection to the player. Where you first get introduced in a Takeover Event without any introduction. You then Drop him off at his house while he blabs on about his life Even setting all this Aside, I was Hyped for the Event where they gave us a sneak peak to get his car but was literally met with no cutscene/ no cops, and a easy event just like any other, No thrill. I just never understood how theytold us the game would be Revolved around him in a way where it honestly wasnt He was just a Cameo or Side Character

[@Haganu]

Bladed Angel with the Chaika eyebrows on his character. I agree on the gray look of Lakeshore. I hope a LUT modification can bring color into it. Otherwise, good ol' Reshade will do the job for me. My main gripe with the game is customization parts being not just locked, but even hidden away. Like the blower on the Camaro, that's carried over from Heat. Or the Hero car kits.

[@zeldadahedgehog]

The fact that Need For Speed Underground turns 20 this coming year makes me very uncomfortable

[@cadillac_cowboy]

I have to admit. I miss rivals cops. They where so much better and I think the goofy take down add ins are the heart of need for speed. You play NFS to feel like the original fast and furious. Against cops, fast, street racing, and having weird takedowns and weapons. Payback was great because the story was so long you can just keep playing and theirs always something new. Heat was too quick, you could be done right away in the story. Most wanted was magical as the races where so hard if you don’t know what your doing.

[@glackinator_0459]

I think a great example of a game with an AMAZING city is Arkham Knight. It’s not the biggest map in gaming history, but the city is SOOOO dense, littered with Easter eggs, thugs, and so unique. It still holds up so well even almost a decade later

[@vampircz]

I actually think that the gray-ish look is intentional and thanks to the effects of the cars everyone is mad about were made to fill the blank gray look to not look empty cuz in reality you can imagen these effects but not replicate them. In that case I believe that the effects are just an illusion that your character thinks when drifting,jumping etc.

[@casgarr1mt466]

I appreciate nfs devs going for an arcade turn as the franchise was originally supposed to be not some forza ultra realistic looking bullshit that some of the games became. I feel the same way I felt when I played blur for the first time the arcade physics gave me something new. (There were alot of diff arcade games during that time but the one that stood out to me was blur)

[@casgarr1mt466]

Note: Blur isnt a good example.

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

i agree, we're living in a time where arcade racers are very very niche cause Forza Horizon exist

[@TheEmeraldSword04]

People who say the art ruined the game are way overexaggerating, but I'm not defending it. Some people might find this style genuinely cool like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but I personally think the art style clashes to much. Again I'm not saying they shouldn't have gone this route as I'm sure some people like it, and it was about time for the team to give the franchise a newer look, but it's not for me and the visuals alone might be the reason I'll skip this installment. Usually I'm not bothered by graphics, but when I do it's often because they have aspects that really clash like the water and lighting in Half-Life: Source, or some of the cars in Gran Turismo Sport like the 911 Turbo, WRX STI, or Shelby 500 having lower poly models for better performance in busy races, and can be glaringly obvious with octagonal headlights and climate dials compared to the detailed environment and other cars. So I will just wait for the next game in the series or play the older ones more, but I doubt not buying this game will make me the one bearing that kills the Subaru. (Sorry if I ruined your Gran Turismo Sport experience by pointing out the occasionally reduced polygons on some of the cars)

[@Sayleverette]

Coming from someone who doesn’t like alot of racing games and my favorite is Midnight Club 3 Dub Remix, i’m absolutely loving everything about this game except the ways cops and heat work is annoying asf

[@chunkuswumpus3515]

I've played payback recently. The city is the singular best part of the map. Almost the entirety of the rest of the map gives horizon 1 feel with the invisible walls. I think the whole map of unbound is pretty solid but the city definitely needs work. I get that Chicago is so boring and grey (as a Chicagoan) but we're in a game. It's a fantasized version of Chicago that could've been spiced up more

[@somedudenameddes0121]

There should be a snow update, that might help

[@NeedforSpeed]

📝📝📝 Thanks Bladed 🙏🏾🫡 Big fan

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

holy shit

[@brianflores6207]

You missed NFS The Run where you travel cross country and the detail of Mother Nature’s wrath you drive through, specially in the Rockies. It was so much fun to fight other cars, police, and Mother Nature at the same time! If you haven’t played it I recommend this classic NFS game (2011)

[@derronau]

I personally really enjoyed the singleplayer mode, but the online mode ist just uncomplete. The only things to do are these playlists and there are no cops, heat lvl. etc.. This makes it a lot harder to have an enjoyable online experience, in Heat, the online mode and also the mix of the online and singleplayer mode felt a lot more fun to me.

[@Dbo3fly]

My feeling on the art style topic is that if it looks realistic it should be more realistic...If it has that arcade style gameplay, give it a more animated appearance. This just kind of helps to tailor the players expectations a lil and get he or she comfortable with the initial offering...then add hints of whatever else you need, just enough not to clash with the overall tone of the game. I'm honestly burned out with all my racing games looking realistic, but turning out to be very arcade. I definitely have some sims, but it's becoming disappointing.

[@dt88788]

They should add bodykits from the older games for the cars that are in unbound from the older games. 180sx, Corvette zo6, the eclipse, rsx, 69 charger, skyline, 350z etc. THEY SHOWED US THEY CAN DO THAT with the legend cars they added in heat

[@SniperxBlazing]

The worse part is you HAVE to do 3 races, that’s what’s killing it not enough races

[@u1richh]

I heard the WMMT5DX+ menu music and went "where's my passport card"

[@BladedAngel]

HELL YEAH BORTHER

[@monikbht]

I think it's a great game. I haven't enjoyed any recent NFS as much as I have enjoyed Unbound. The last good NFS was Rivals on the PS4. Unbound is awesome.

[@genericgorilla]

I think the artsyle is really garish though, like auto modellista has a distinct look which aged great but NFS Unbound gives me heavy "hello fellow kids" vibe. If it later gets re-appreciated, it's going to be for totally ironic reasons, like finding the transparent pandering endearing, because it's like your dad pretending to be interested in nu-metal 20 years ago, a gesture you appreciate in retrospect for the intention, not the gesture itself

[@BadmashKing8]

Finally someone who played the game properly! The NOS system is so satisfying in this game, I’m having a blast!

[@waffles245]

My biggest issue with this game is the lack of postgame content. There's nothing to do in SP after the credits roll, and the week system feels super restrictive. Heat letting you choose b/w day/night was awesome and I miss having that option. Some challenge series type thing would also be a really nice way to flesh out your opponents' personalities beyond shitty one liners

[@speedster8138]

The issue I have with car list is mainly the older cars... If the game is about street racing, then add more tuners which dominate in that category! I just want to drive an E36, see NB Miata return, R33 completing the Skyline family, more Hondas (like the EG6, EP2, Prelude)! I'm so tired of hypercars...

[@FR0Z0NEkeys]

Word, it would be a lil sweet if they added cars more people can relate to having such as a 300ZX, EM1, FA2, Shit even a 3000GT, SC300

[@robbieandretti]

They need to add Mk 4 and 5 Supra and Audi

[@Damian-cilr2]

I'm generally tired of modern cars,super/hypercars especially in general

[@unnderneath]

9:05 this is the reason I loved the midnight club series so much. Nothing else on the market comes to close to in terms of the racing genre and it’s such a shame that it’s gone for good 😓

[@arutezza]

the yellow boosting is kind of just a more developed version of the drafting in midnight club, though i prefer how midnight club handled it with the additional abilities you get like zone, rampage (or whatever its called) and roar

[@igryans]

Bro finally someone who has their own opinions with reasons and evidence for them. most of the reviews I see are people going with the crowd not seeing the game for what it is and only seeing it for what other people say, half the time when i ask people why it's bad they say something like " the art style is bad" but if EA didn't change the style they would have complained that EA is lazy (They are but still) and don't take any risks. I agree it could have been better like say the side character depth, almost all of them are either egotistical and loud or shy and weird. I liked the story (thats just my opinion and most people disagree), but I think everyone can agree that the tracks and progression was grindy and repetitive.

[@ghostsilver5774]

"None can free our minds but ourselves" nice quote.

[@thebenzaga]

The worst thing about this game is probably the music. I really wish they redid the hip hop for the menus and rock/metal/edm for the races and out of garage time like they had in the older games

[@GhostWalkr]

I know ill probably have everyone hate me for saying this, but I actually thought Most Wanted 2012 had a good city, it felt condensed enough, it did feel a little lifeless, but it was memorable to me, and i love it for that, it had a decent mix of closed city streets and wide intersections, and comparing it to not only unbound, but heat as well, i think its a good city, and the outskirts of the city were also fun, just limited

[@maszkalman3676]

yeah this game city wise underperformed even the bad mw 2012 i would rather play that one than this eye cancer....

[@Siah_hell]

FYI they removed forged engines and the option to sell performance parts ending of the story isn’t peak satisfaction

[@matthunter4826]

It sucks that Audi didn’t appear in this game and Toyota still hasn’t appeared for the past 5 years.

[@somapapp2944]

I agree with most of the points you made in the vid Blade. I tried the trial, since i rarely buy a game when it's new (usually wait a year or so). And the game as in the mechanics is amazing. I really wanted to love it. But after 8 or so hours of my trial I found myself going back to heat. And the reason is the map. I don't feel a thing for Lakeshore. I don't remember anything in that world. I'm not saying that Heat had an amazing world, but for me it felt way more polished. It was energetic with full of neon lights, the city felt amazing and (for me most importantly) the canyons were really good to drive in. Lakeshore did not give me anything that'd make me remember it. So i'm really hoping that for once EA doesn't shut down a studio at first sight and the *NEW* Criterion team can work on another installment and build on what Heat started and now Unbound continue to build upon. And here's hoping they don't take a step back and want to make it more like Forza Horizon. If they do that i fear there will be no arcade racing game series for me left.

[@KeknanXD]

No, the car roster isn't disappointing because it's not as large as Forza or GT per se, it's disappointing because it blends in with Heat. I feel like only 10 or so new cars have been added and the rest is recycled from Heat. Maybe it's just me tho

[@Mazaco_The_Snake]

For the art style i disagree, I think they didn’t use it enough, if your going to use that kinda art style, run with it

[@davidsiatatgaming]

I agree with the story, it reminded me of the simplicity of old nfs stories, but one thing was not right: why was Alec a faceless villain?

[@FOBStevie21]

This is my favorite NFS in a long time. I hated the art style before I played it but once I started playing it grew on me very quickly.

[@JesusWillSaveYou]

I disagree with you on the map. It's one of the reasons I actually like this game over Heat. It's not often you get a racing game set in Chicago. The only other games I can think of that did are The Crew (Series) and NFS The Run. Chicago reminds me of Olympic City which fits well with street racing IMO. Also THANK YOU for reviewing the actually game mechanics. It's the other reason I like this over Heat.

[@txfsnoopy]

I downloaded the arcade. The animated character creators made me upset The voice slider glitched out so I was really squeaky. And the no first person camera angle sealed the deal :)

[@holyother1]

Never expect first person on nfs it’s never happened except shift (simulation attempt). The rest are valid criticisms though

[@TheCapitalWanderer]

what the fuck is this comment

[@mrbillcollector]

The only problem I have with the car list is cause majority are the same cars they've used in payback and heat...and majority of the new cars they have added to unbound are just convertible versions of the same old cars which and its the same thing with heat where you have an abundance of cars but only a few are worth upgrading in each brand...like you have a lot of porsches in the game but there is only like 2 that are worth upgrading I really hope theyve balanced out all the cars so they can all be upgraded to the same level

[@Fijilost]

So the issue that I’ve had with the NFS series is the way that they’ve seemed so lackluster compared to other games have done now and in the past. I can’t compare the game to Gran Turismo when it comes to mechanic but I absolutely can compare the amount of cars. GT has over 400 cars with a massive amount of detail, even if you don’t have the same amount of customization that nfs has, it has the ability to show the amazing detail of the cars and make every single car feel absolutely different. You’re able to even be in the passenger seat and look around which shows the attention to detail. Meanwhile NFS added multiple models that are EXACTLY the SAME as others like the gold 911 being sold as a targa, convertible, and a coupe. That is completely unacceptable and unnecessary. What I would have wanted is take it as a coupe and make it a roof customization. You want a targa, boom, you want a convertible? Boom. Make it an option from the mods. Another issue I’ve had with modern need for speed is the fact that they don’t allow FULL suspension customization. Yes I get it that they have things that they want to keep more realistic. They don’t want a stance car going 200mph but frankly that’s what I want. I want to make a Lamborghini look like a damn spaceship with crazy camber, I do like the insane body kits on some of these cars, a little much on some but I like the concept but just like what I saw on the rx7 in the video. That car has always had the issue of not being low. The fender is always too far up and looks terrible when driving. You have air suspension, but feels so lame compared to what it could’ve been, it airs up cars FAR too much. You park and air out and the car looks exactly how you wish it can be driving. I’ve had better success stancing a car in Gran turismo then I have had in NFS. That is unacceptable. I want to be able to create all kinds of cars. That is why I have more fun in games like CarX where there is no limits. Have fun trying to create the fittest of Fitment or so low it scrapes everything. Seeing sparks is such a cool detail they have that I wish nfs would have done. The stance community is so massive, just as big as the racing and drifting community that they should be more present yet completely ignore the idea of physics. Yes we know a Miata that’s literally touching the ground with -20° of camber would ever go past 150mph, I don’t care. I wanna have a laugh, I wanna see more creativity. Hell you wanna make a lifted truck? Make a raptor tall as shit or make it a slammed raptor? Do it? Lift kits, crazy suspension color. Make details more important. If you’re only doing to add 140 cars. Make the customization ONE OF A KIND. Do things no other game has ever done. Other racing games have trucks and suv. Midnight club, forza, gt, etc. but when have you seen a lifted truck? Have fun with making your car completely unique and see what happens with the online community. People having car meets with cars that are out of this world with customizations. That’s what people mostly like. Yeh the racing is what everyone values, which it’s ok but even in a simulation like game such as GT has car meets and customization abilities, shows what people truly love. Making a car that feels unique. Now the driving. It’s ok. I already know how this game plays without playing it. It’s no different. The “drifting” sucks. It’s not drifting at all. Forza has better drifting, GT has better drifting, asseto has the best drifting. The driving in these modern nfs are absolutely boring to me. Once you’ve played payback you know exactly what heat and unbound is like. It’s the exact same. You feel no difference when you’re driving a subi from an Evo from a Lambo when you max them all out. The mechanics are all the same. The pseudo feeling you get is because the sounds and the drivetrain. If you’re driving an awd car if feels different form a fwd to a rwd. But that’s pretty much it. Yes some cars are faster and some feel heavier but once you’re at the limit you feel no difference vs a game like gran turismo. You feel every single subtle difference that each car has, the weight matters, the aero matters, the suspension matters. Now I know they’re completely different styles of games but what id want is just the uniqueness of each car. Why is an svj different form a normal aventador S, oh it has similar power? Well does it handle differently? No not really. It feels the exact same just looks different. That’s why I don’t care about the way the game performs. Keep a mid range car in the game and max it out and you beat the game. Easy. It’s not a difficult thing to do. These games bore me. Vs midnight club, there was something that I picked up on when it came to playing it again at an older age. If you select a higher level car, the ai got EXTREMELY more difficult. The ai in nfs difficulty doesn’t get harder the better your car is, they don’t get faster, they don’t put up a challenge whether you have a maxed out Evo or a Bugatti. It’s all based on your game difficulty and the fact that you had it on the hardest difficulty and you didn’t have any issue at all tells me something. Frankly if I want a challenge, I want it to TEST ME. I want the game to actually get hard, not push more pedestrian cars or any head on contact I have with a car just wrecks me out and I have to start over. When midnight club you hit someone head on hard, you’d see a slow-mo crash, spin hard, but you’d never have to reset the car. You just kept driving. The stupid wreck animation is too much. Seeing a review like this although bladed you’d did a good job and I am glad you enjoyed it, only shows me how much nfs is so BORING. It’s become so mediocre and lazy. So uninspired. When Midnight club 3 came out. Rockstar did their research, they went to shows. They saw what the cars looked like, they saw the millions of different options. The neon lights, the chrome, the big 22s on impalas, the massive 30in dubs on an Escalade, colored headlights or taillights, flashing lights, custom paintwork. Custom interior, spinners, Hydraulics, airbags. These guys did research more then any other company at the time. Rear Silver badges on their car that had 30” to show the size of their wheels. That’s something only a company that loves cars would do. Need for speed is lazy. They don’t know anything about what the car community looks like outside of social media or what some of the people who care about cars who actually work there. But let them go to sema, clean culture, tuner Evo, Atlantic street movement. See the vast variety of people, cars, styles. Things that can make a game better. The music. I know you don’t give a fuck about the music in this game because not a single word came out about it but what is so nostalgic about riders of the storm. The whole catalog, Underground had a decent soundtrack but the absolute best soundtrack was Midnight club 3 dub edition. The music on that game was nothing short of perfect. They paid attention to what people who were in these events and listened to what they like to listen too. You come to Miami, you hear a lot of hip hop, rap, dominican music like el Alfa or other Latinos like bad bunny. Heat missed out on adding real artist we listen to in Miami, they only had one Denzel curry song. One 2 chainz and Kendrick song and I’m sorry it’s the worst song I’ve ever listened too. You don’t care for the music in these games because they’re not important. You don’t care for them. You don’t feel a connection. That’s why I miss the old games far more, why i think people have more of a connection to those games. It’s not just nostalgia but genuine attention to detail. That’s why I will forever love games like NFS carbon, midnight club 3, LA, and such. They seem to have cared more. I appreciate your review bladed but I already know what this game holds before I even play it. I know that it’s not going to add much dlc content like the one f1 content we got for past games, I know we aren’t getting anything original, I know once I’m done playing the campaign, I’m just gonna look for a money glitch, get the cars I want and get bored. Never pick up the games ever again. I don’t want that. Not anymore.

[@goodj0b]

Heat intergraded the single player and multiplayer progression better, I was so sad I couldn't use my story car against other players online after I modded and designed it to my liking in Unbound. And Heats night mode was much better, you were actually unlocking parts instead of just money which made the cop chases much more thrilling. Unbound was still enjoyable though.

[@anticore1273]

I wish they included more fitment tuning options like track width, individual front and back ride height and just better ride height adjustment overall, because even on the lowest option the gap between the wheel and the fender on some cars is an absolute crime.

[@joeybusnardo5866]

Not a fan of the anime art style, but using the cloaked effect, it makes it ok for those who don't like it. I wish the music was more diverse instead of just gangsta rap (which I hate, so I just turn the music off). NFS MW 2005 had an amazing diverse soundtrack. The story is fine, but my god why do they have to talk like exaggerated hip hop gangsters all the time. It's cringy (not as much as NFS 2015 though, that was on another level of cringe). It irritates me that car enthusiasts are viewed as yo's, gangsters, rappers, "YO G BRUUUUUUUHH A'IGHT". It's been a few games in a row that the NFS developers use that style of characters (music goes with it). But besides that, pretty decent game.

[@Jfred1019]

I just really wish they’d give us a cockpit camera option idk why it’s not in the game

[@dirtslayer3023]

This is refreshing to hear someone talk about the mechanics how they are and not be shielded by clout

[@rawchet]

I just want 80-00s cars that people can afford or have irl similar to underground car list and bring back drifting like underground2 canyon drifting like carbon and drag racing like either of the early ones just racing with a short ass campaign and no pink slips or challenges to unlock certain cars and vinyls like carbon just if underground combined with most wanted and carbon I’d be playing it every week maybe even certain events for unique upgrades like underground 1 and total drift score to unlock more cars just combine it all

[@coffeebomb_35]

I think the main criticism about the cars in the game, is because criterion recycled the same car roster from heat or even from 2015 and added only 9 new cars. Which dissappointed a lot of people. They should have used or added some of the current generation of these cars instead of their previous counterparts. Like the porsche 911 with their 992s or the lotus exige with the v6 on it or the fk8 ctr (for goodness sake give fk2 a rest already!). I also understand that there were licencing issues with some of the manufacturers hence why audi had pulled out but wouldn't it be nice if criterion added hyundai? Because I found hyundai to be under appreciated.

[@clumsygarage1578]

I remember watching videos of the game, I had no idea what was going on with the nitrous gauge, but playing the tutorial I just got it. The city, the online, and the fact that they seem to have removed some customization from existing cars (at least they added some to certain cars) are all just ehhhhhhhh I love the art style and the handling. One thing I definitely miss is the endgame of Heat. The story ending, but having this unique way of grinding for the best parts before you could max out a car was a seriously under-appreciated part of that game IMO. There’s really nothing to do in singleplayer after the story is done in unbound. Overall, I prefer it to heat.

[@brickman6775]

Perhaps we treated NFS Most Wanted 2012 too harshly

[@northdwarf]

I LIKE: - art style - old cars like Volvo Amazon, Old MB etc.

[@sabersz]

11:30 Thank you! Thank you for saying this. And I say that as a Forza fanboy. The last thing that we need is every other racing game trying to act like Horizon. I don't want that, because then I'll have absolutely no incentive to play those other games. I've personally put thousands of hours into Horizon, just crossed 6000 on Horizon 4 alone. Give me a unique reason to sink tons of hours into an NFS game, and ill play it for years.

[@fortuneac.e5520]

You are wrong about lakeshore city. It is more dense and bigger than NFS heat. Blackpantha sides with me about that also.

[@Furfluff]

whenever i try to play the steam version, all i see is a loading screen