Need for Speed World: The True End Of The Black Box Era

In this video, we'll be taking a look at Need for Speed World: EA Black Box's true last Need For Speed title. We'll have a look at its rise and downfall and how its community allowed it to rise once more.
These videos can take me quite a while to make, so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already so you'll be able to see more like this!
Come watch me live on my Twitch channel! I usually record stuff on it for these videos.
/ mrxbas
Join my Discord server!
/ discord
Websites for SBRW:
Main SBRW Page - soapboxrace.world/
WorldUnited - worldunited.gg/
NIGHTRIDERZ - nightriderz.world/
Free Roam Spark Server - sparkserver.io/
Music used (in order of first appearance):
Mick Gordon - Safehouse: • Need For Speed World S...
Mick Gordon - Sexi: • Need For Speed World S...
Saki Kaskas & Rom Di Prisco - Kallista (Long Mix): • Saki Kaskas & Rom Di P...
Mick Gordon - That's How We Go: • Need For Speed World S...
Mick Gordon - Street Racin': • Need For Speed World S...
Mick Gordon - Static: • Need For Speed World S...
Paul Haslinger - A Manner Of Speed: • Need For Speed World S... (I had accidentally misspelled it as "Matter" instead of "Manner"
Paul Haslinger - Buying Time: • Need For Speed World S...
Articles related to SBRW:
www.elitepvpers.com/forum/nee... (Offline server)
www.thegamer.com/need-for-spe... (news article)
www.pcgamer.com/how-players-r... (in-depth news article)
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
01:45 - Early Development
02:05 - Map Overhaul
03:08 - Cars and Customization
04:38 - Racing through the World
07:12 - Powerups
08:16 - Skill Mods
09:00 - Soundtrack
10:36 - The Downfall
13:37 - The Shutdown
14:50 - Soapbox Race World
16:14 - Epilogue
17:20 - What's this?
(Also, I had accidentally named TzuRu "TsuRu", sorry!)

[@DustinEdenYT]

Only OGs remember the golf course being full of snow during Christmas season

[@mrxbas]

Oh definitely! It was also turned on during the final weeks of the game.

[@luichinplaystation610]

Nice Green [wii sports golf]

[@sw33rvin]

yes

[@user-os2iw9yn8w]

Oh I do.... do you remember jumping over roof of the golf course club house. I used the MR2 to do that with. several of us would get together and see who could jump the farthest. It was great fun

[@Corvolet5]

That's still the case on sbrw 🤔

[@ArthurLopes39]

I miss this one, a lot. The game had a really neat aesthetic to it that I never found anywhere else, and the soundtrack still lives in my head rent-free. I remember buying the Treasure Hunter Lexus IS300 with my mum's phone credit, hard to believe that was a thing. People would follow me around thinking the diamond spawns would be the same as mine but I'm quite sure those were random, or maybe I'm misremembering things, it's been almost a decade since I last played it after all. I know private servers with tons of new content exist and I have given them a spin, but it doesn't feel the same, not that I'm eager to give EA money, but I really wish the game had stayed up so they could've implemented the canyon races, Tri-City Bay, and god knows what else they had in mind.

[@mrxbas]

Yeah, that's why I mentioned all those (cancelled) expansions. They would be absolutely stunning (also considering how the game still looks alright to this day), so our only hope now is to wait until map editing tools come to NFS World.

[@ognistylord8181]

@@mrxbas honestly. going with the fact, that nfs world most likely was build using the same engine, that blackbox nfs games used, if a map editing tool was to be released, it'd most likely be first for MW 2005 (since it's the most popular nfs game) and then ported onto other blackbox nfs titles, NFS World included. I like the thought of it.

[@mocodalavanderia3507]

man, I bought the exact same car with the exact same payment method. But I bought the car on the wrong server lmao

[@ArthurLopes39]

@@mocodalavanderia3507 Puts que azar kkkkk

[@motor_craft]

@@ognistylord8181 There are tools to load the maps for all these games already. Zolika made them. They might not work with servers *yet* but there's still a lot to do with them

[@MrKW420]

When this game ended, I was never ever able to recall the feeling from a racing game I had with this one. It was heartbreaking to see this game being shut down.

[@nicco1295]

You can play with private servers

[@MrKW420]

@@nicco1295 yes, but it is not the same tbh

[@thicclips712]

@@MrKW420 the game has been online again for years by servers from fans its called soapbox race world and its grinding popularity pretty fast

[@zagzig5559]

@@nicco1295 the experience is not even close what it was

[@MrKW420]

@@thicclips712 i knew this as soon as it went online, I was a part of pre-alpha players, I was even hired as developer because of hacking the servers to have a tuned car which at the time everyone had full stock cars, unfortunately I declined due to my personal time. The game does well after the years, but its still nowhere near rhe original, probly microtransactions were different, meaning owning a good car was very valuable due to the extremely grindy game

[@Ralofguy]

If nostalgia was a song, Mick Gordon's Static would definitely be it for me. The memories I have playing Battlefield Heroes and Need for Speed World as a young little lad will forever stay in my mind regardless if those games were riddled with microtransactions to the point that it makes modern gaming jealous.

[@mrxbas]

That’s exactly why I had given it a special mention in the video. For me, it’s a piece of nostalgia I’ll never forget.

[@sybustian_]

It honestly is the best song in the game for me, I get goosebumps listening to it.

[@lostskull7467]

It's crazy how that particular track is able to give that feeling. I remember feeling nostalgia the very first time I heard it. As if I had already listened to that song many years ago.

[@MarcosTN]

Me too, back in the day i had a terrible connection but even so were able to play some online racings

[@tzuRu]

World is something better once SBRW hit ngl

[@mrxbas]

Yep, it finally showed how good this game can be when it's unshackled from the Pay-to-win mechanics :D

[@greekieshion4501]

Shame most of the community is so tight up in its ass that they only play S class races and disregard everything else.

[@Masterfusion]

I remember hearing about it and joining their discord server before going to the uni, it's so good to hear them actually reviving this game for good

[@rodriguezracer4567]

​@mrxbas It's why I always say EA killing off World was the best thing to happen to it

[@rxiaxin]

​@@rodriguezracer4567 quite ironic, but sadly very true

[@diecastreviewracing]

NFS world is probably one of the last racing games that I have played around the end of 2000s-2010. I think this is the only NFS which had the most cars (if you count the update cars as well) I had so much fun customising, doing car meets, races etc. Might go back and play it again after my finals.

[@mrxbas]

According to some sources, World has the biggest car roster for a globally-released NFS game. The only game with a bigger car roster is Edge, but has only been released in Asia.

[@diecastreviewracing]

@@mrxbas I see, tbh I don’t think I should be counting edge as only a few portion of the community have played it. Though World had some decent amount of cars

[@igorzivkovic5456]

I remember genuinely tearing up when I read the article that said World is shutting down (I was 13 at the time) And 4 years ago, I found out about the unofficial servers through a KZbinr called KuruHS, and to say I was happy is an understatement. I immediately downloaded it and played it. And I still do. I'm happy the World community is still alive. I should really get back to it soon, I got busy a lot

[@mrxbas]

I’d recommend giving it a try!

[@SubJerr]

what server do you play on

[@youshallloveeachother]

I remember winning a code for vantage v12 in a screenshot contest. it was a rear bumper view of a rhino I wrecked and as a result having the car tilted, giving it a unique camera angle. good times

[@mrxbas]

Haha, I'd love to see a screenshot of that!

[@youshallloveeachother]

@@mrxbas ah but I wish I could show. I've got a whole google drive folder of photoshop edits of world. crazy how 10 years have passed since that

[@SubJerr]

@@youshallloveeachother Show!!!

[@inertboi]

I won a code for that handsome Corvette C6 from the Beauty and the Beast contest. Posted a comment and was randomly chosen as a lucky winner. I was ecstatic - it was a huge jump from my shitty starter Mazda 3 😅 Cars were too expensive, and I never spent a dime on buying ingame currency, so it was really hard to buy a new car by earning it by playing. It was designed to make you spend IRL money, and they greedily took it way too far.

[@Tastakrad]

I played this game for 3 years (or whenever the class system dropped) with 3 people in a party everyday till the end. We spent lots of money, formed a clan and raced almost 6h per day. No other MMO could replace these great feelings I had back then. And even though there are a lot of servers today who are doing the job a lot better than the original, something just isnt the same playing it. I should check it out from time to time, but playing alone just feels boring with my experience.

[@mrxbas]

I had a few friends to play WorldUnited with and it felt absolutely amazing. It's definitely still worth a try, especially since most servers will at least have a few races active at once.

[@valdis6088]

what I loved about this game is Team Escapes, they were just so fun and intense, everyone helping each other and not crossing the finish line 1st to give more time for strugling players, back then it was so fun to play these events with my friends. I even stayed at the end of the server with an Aventador in my fav car when I NEVER bought Speed boost unntil it became IGC I stared the fireworks with other players until the server crashed and I just sat there in my chair... for 5 min in silence with a tear dropped.

[@mrxbas]

Yeah, I remember that everyone would wait for each other if someone fell behind too much in Team Escapes. The community in that mode was quite wholesome!

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

@@mrxbas that brings back a lot of memories for me I even the respect of some of the TE Exclusive teams for that even got invited to a few of them I of course declined cuz I was still in middle school at the time.

[@Mart-E12]

so much adrenaline during team escapes, awesome times

[@Xxmodernkilla12xX]

The one mode I wish was implemented into modern NFS. I was there to see the end of World too. Honestly, this NFS is the foundation to EA's success in reviving arcade racing if they really wanted it. Just imagine a Triple A NFS World... glorious.

[@TeaKanji]

A great in-depth breakdown of the game's mechanics, events and what made it enjoyable for so many people, both back in the day and today. I remember playing it after school back in 2012 or so but never got very far progression-wise. Being a naive impressionable teen, the microtransactions and pay-to-win elements didn't really bother me much, I just enjoyed the vibe. Undercover on PS3 had MTX as well, I guess it was a sign of worse things to come for EA. Very nostalgic hearing all of this music again, especially Callista from NFS High Stakes, fantastic song. Didn't realize the Mick Gordon connection until now either, cool to know.

[@mrxbas]

This game was also very much one of those “after school” type of games for me (hence the fond memories). The MTX would get problematic after a while (especially if you actually wanted to win races in higher classes), although lower classes were totally fine as those cars usually had weak nitrous and required more precise driving to get good times with. The music is indeed something I always select pretty carefully, and I really wanted to include Callista (as it’s something that works perfectly when customizing your car). The Mick Gordon connection was also something I just had to include because it had amazed me once I learned about it, although you can easily draw some parallels with his music style between World and his other work.

[@AJ6spd]

Callista from nfs 4 high stakes is really good and just takes you back to the good old days

[@profile8568]

This game was my entire childhood.. started at 2012 for the first time and fell in love with it on my friends pc.. then a year later got one of my own and played it for a while.. when I saw that the end is coming I cried and even to this day the music brings true nostalgia to me.

[@BlackBullPistol]

I've played this game every single day. I still remember the feeling being in the 0,5% that reached lvl50 and later down the road lvl60. Because I was an early player I got some really nice cars at the end of the game and the only purchase I've made was 10EUR because I wanted car slots for many upcomming cars. Well not long after that the car slot bug appeared and I had more than enough slots after lol xP I loved this game because it was still a grind to get everything you want as a f2p player and you also got much more out of it in comparison to the games nowdays like Asphalt 9 for instance, that $hit is a horrible p2w/p2p experience trust me. I think I wil try soapbox or nightriderz to re-live good old moments :-)

[@mrxbas]

At least I was glad that a few cool cars (e.g. LFA) were available for in-game cash, so you could still have a fun experience out of it despite the P2W-aspect of the game. And indeed, we can now see that it can (somehow) be worse...

[@mykchaelrz612]

Best racing game I've ever played in my life, I've played Forza horizon, the most recent NFS, The Crew 2, but none brought the inexplicable atmosphere of NFS World, this game will always live in my heart, I cried a lot when it ended 😭

[@DoVe_7]

Not only can this lad get golds easily in gt4 but he can also make great review vids, was really nice seein your take on this game, still one that I love to comeback to every once inawhile 👍

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! Yeah, this game is one that you just have to come back to every once in a while, especially since its multiplayer features were simply so solid.

[@rentertainment2769]

I didn't played it but the game genre itself being a car-based MMO is so cool and unique, and using the previous Blackbox maps instead of a new one makes this a great send-off of Blackbox Studio's creativity in the car/racing genre

[@benarchyuk837]

I remember watching so much of this game, but never had a chance to play it due to never having a PC growing up

[@01RIE01]

You pretty much nailed everything about the video. I was one of the forum mods in close contact with a couple devs and helped with the End of the World event. The OP you saw, Jussi, was one of them and the most active one. I still miss the game sometimes and now I mostly play on WUGG and SparkServer. Good video!

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! Interesting to hear that you were involved with the End of the World event; I remember hopping onto the game a few times at that time as well. Also nice to see that you're still playing the game!

[@01RIE01]

@@mrxbas Yes, it was really fun coming up with all the events and sales for all the cars. We had a few really cool devs who wanted to go out with a bang. Shame it's so often the upper management/publishers who ruin stuff

[@FordKa2001_]

Man, i played this game a lot back in the day, i remember being 7 yrs old at the time and playing it on my dad's laptop. I have SO MANY memories of this game, it's been 9 years so i don't remember a lot, but what i can say is that this game wil always have a place in my heart.

[@mrxbas]

I also would play this game every day just to do the treasure hunts in a Porsche Boxster that everyone got for free. That car is still one that I fondly remember…

[@FordKa2001_]

@@mrxbas man i remember being desperate to log into my account just to get that Porsche for free, i was little so i didn't know my email or password cuz my dad had made it for me, eventually after 20 minutes of trying to figure out the login i was finally on, i played for the whole day that day. (Thanks for unlocking this memory)

[@generalyido]

used to do the same on my uncle's PC lol

[@FordKa2001_]

@@generalyido those were good times fr

[@generalyido]

@@FordKa2001_ agreed. Probably the best times of my life as well.

[@kyleeon8717]

Great video, and even a good quick showcase of the straight upgrade that is SBRW which I encourage anyone who misses or is interested in the game to try. it's as you say, the game's original life was pretty sad but that enabled it to come back in such a better form.

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! I regularly got questions like “How is this game still running?” whenever I would stream this game, so I had to include it!

[@eusoumaniaco]

omg wild kyleeon spotted :omg:

[@mangoshake]

Sick! I was in NFS World during the countdown and it made me really sad it ended so I'm definitely interested in SBRW.

[@soyezql]

I started playing it again, thanks to soapbox race world, I needed to listen to mick gordon's song - static again, it made me cry and I even got surprises when I met old friends from the game :´)

[@vascolopes4200]

I remember back in 2011, this one friend of mine showed me this one free game with "realistic" graphics and told me I should try it out. From there we went to the school library and installed the game on the library's computer, and let me tell you,I was amazed, I loved it so much that it even sparked my passion for cars. Got home later that day installed the game and started my grind with the friend that introduced the game to me and a few others.Loved the game so much I even put the Garage soundtrack as my alarm and still have it till this day!!. Had so much fun on it, even when I encountered cheaters, I still played it until its final days. I was so sad when I learned that my favourite racing game was closing down. 3 - 4 years went by(can't remember exactly) and one day during my mechanics course class, while I was scrolling through KZbin I remember seeing a thumbnail of a video saying something like "Need For Speed World is Back!!" or something similar and I instantly pressed on it. Discovered that the game was rebooted by the loving comunity we have and that made me so happy. Today, as a Vehicle Mechanic/Technician, happily work on cars and play the game that showed me how amazing a box of metal on wheels can be. "Static" Soundtrack still gives me chills to this day xD

[@Britt4ny]

ty for this video. NFS World was my childhood. even sampled the OST in some beats, everything about it is such a vibe and I'm glad it's remembered so fondly, even if SBRW is still alive

[@hyperprime113]

I hate/love it that your video got in my recommendations this video brings back a lot of irreplaceable memories. I really miss playing this game with my friends unfortunately the other one died 3 years ago and the other died the next year after.

[@dangduong1581]

A very great and well-edited video! NFS World was part of my childhood; despite the lack of progression I made, I still remember the starter car that I have, which is the Mazda, and I remember cruising around the city in it :( Time flies so fast, and I am glad that there are passionate communities for this game, giving it the treatment it deserves.

[@Dikucow]

Loved this game when I was younger, and I'm glad it's still alive! The repetitiveness of the content really does set in, sadly even in the custom servers imo but the new cars people make are always really cool ^^ good video either way :D

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! I must say that the repetitiveness is much less present in the custom servers as some, for example, now have more than double the amount of team escapes.

[@RannyeriRodriguesB]

What a great video! So much nostalgia while watching it. The menu music and the "end of the world" part of the video really gave me goosebumps! Great material there!

[@mrxbas]

The music had to be for that section, I specifically left it out for both the separate "soundtrack" section as well as it's one of the game's most well-known songs.

[@notryan8410]

weekend meets at the bridge was one of my fondest memories of this game, going on treasure hunts with my friends or doing team escape was our favorite pastime and we generally had a lot of fun despite starting to play in the last two years of its life. i will come back to its community driven servers one day to relive those childhood years.

[@drown-media]

This brought back a lot of memories of a time when i didn't need to work all day just to pay bills. I miss the summer evenings where i'd meet up on skype with my homies to play team escape to farm credits to in return buy more cars and parts. It's sad to think that the friends i played this game with all day are now gone, not forever but this game was the only reason we were such good friends it seems. And of course i won't ever have the chance to drive my 911 GT3 again that i bought with my mums credit card (and of course i was pretending to not know anything about it when she asked me) Thank you for this small trip back in time!

[@andyyu5973]

in the really early days (like 2010 I think? Or 2011 I forget), there was no day/night cycle yet, and upgrades were bundled with certain bodykits and wheels for each car. The police cars also roamed around freeroam too in this case

[@mrxbas]

The day/night cycle was indeed a WIP at first. I also wanted to skip out on the early upgrade package system to not make it too complicated to watch this video.

[@nideko4384]

Just got this video in my recommended and a wave of nostalgia hit me immediately. I was 8 years old playing on my parents' laptop, I remember having so much fun (and rage because cheaters lol) in races, freeroam was also a great time just talking to people in chat and cruising. My first (and only) car was the starter Eclipse which I had customized to look like something out of Tron and upgraded with parts from card drops. I'd constantly wonder how to get SpeedBoost to have all the other cool cars the other players were having at the time. I started playing in 2013 and stopped playing sometime in 2014, only to be reminded of the game's existence a few months after the shutdown. I booted up the launcher only for it to throw errors upon trying to start the game, and after finding out what was the cause I had tears on my eyes... After finding out about SBRW later I was so happy! I played on Apex and WOPL servers before they merged into one (aka WUGG), and again stopped about a month after. To be honest current SBRW servers don't exactly feel like the old servers or the original game anymore with all the changes they've been making and the servers not really having a lot of people on, but it's still great to know I can just boot the game and play whenever I feel like having a nostalgia trip.

[@007Spadge]

What is great is that I met the same people I first met back in the day, playing on the original servers, and we have our little get togethers and keep playing our races just like back in the hayday. Beautiful!

[@pascaleifel1122]

I have so many great memories of this game. The People I played with... The Friendships it formed ( some going still strong 9 almost 10 years later.... ) Joining / creating a clan / faction and race against other clans / factions... It was a great time to be alive. Also hearing Static again made me cry. It just hit the spot.

[@RalSand]

nice video, I only saw gameplays of NFSO back in the day, since my PC couldn't handle it. I suscribed, hope to see more car racing game videos, MMO lifecycle videos or anything with your comentary and this format will be good.

[@epicdude3659]

Still would have been nice to get the connector roads on the south. I looked at those once with the No-Clip car and there was a bridge lifted part where you would have to jump across a gap, not as large as the one at the end of MW05, but it still would have been nice to have. As for the canyons, I'm not sure how that would have worked considering those weren't connected to the map to begin with, and there were quite a few canyon tracks in Carbon. I kinda wish they also added Carbon' tutorial area "San Juan" as well.

[@mrxbas]

The southern connector roads idea was expanded upon to become a bit of its own region (hence the additional unmapped roads), so it’s sad to see it being canned. The Canyons were supposed to be connected to the main map (presumably around the outskirts of Palmont).

[@safv2002]

I'm impressed, came back to see what you've uploaded after seeing that Gran Turismo Video. Your tone of voice, way of explaining different things, thorough investigation and overall something "fresh" as content. I'm sure you got some future here, subscribed.

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! I’m glad it was worth the wait for you!

[@DevinMillarDM]

We also got the World 2 Carbon map mod for NFS Carbon, and people have been making map mods for World even including Olympic City from NFS Underground.

[@fziv31]

I remember playing this game in my junior high school with my goddamn slow modem. I don't remember the gameplay, I just remember how I play with other people in my community. We met every day in the campus, just chatting, sometimes race each other, etc. Damn I miss those good old times. I'm very sad when I know this game is shutting down, and I missed the final hours of it.

[@pontes659]

The fact you only have 3k subs is astonishing. Your work is great! Keep it up!

[@bonipopochovski]

I played it every single day before it shut down, I was even online during the final fireworks. Why was this video so emotional? I still play it thanks to the wonderful community of this game ❤️

[@M1551NGN0]

I have played many NFS games but I had never played nfsw and just read about it last year and was sad to know that a multiplayer free roam NFS game was there and I couldn't play it. Then I got to know about sbrw and really excited to try it out. I just started out soapbox race world in the NRZ server today and got a 240SX. I'm already loving the game, the free roam with other players sold me! Right as soon as I got into the world for the first time someone showed up and helped me out by allowing me to win a couple races, i never knew a community could be THIS helpful! And my mind was completely blown off at this point 9:45 when I got to know that Mick Gordon composed some of the tracks of this game?!??!🤯 Even the transition from Street racin to Bfg division is so smooth that they feel like one same track. I never thought my childhood games could be connected together this way! Now I can truly replicate doom moments during pursuits😈

[@Elit3Blaze]

This game and Race Driver GRID at the time was what made me love/main with the Silvia S13.

[@Nduis4living]

This is a rather well made video. As a long time NFS Most Wanted/Carbon era fan, I’ve been long considering the idea of getting into NFS World. There is one thing that does tickle my curiosity though: will the incomplete roads that you mentioned in the video ever see completion? It would be awesome if that’s something that could be added to the content that the independent servers are providing! Once again, thanks and well done for creating this video!

[@user-os2iw9yn8w]

a question asked many times on NR and the other server... answer Not possible as EA will not help out the folks running the servers on SBRW... So no access to the developer tools to use to make changes to the game. No map expansion, no cities added and no canyons added. only more events and cars

[@Healtsome]

Oh man, soundtrack hits right at feels

[@mrxbas]

It would've been a cardinal sin to not include it into this video.

[@RyoTheTiger]

This gave me goosebumbs, remembering the great days of NFS World. But what gave m evn more goosebumps was as i heared the Kallista Soundtrack. even more memories came up bcs of that, only becaus NFS High Stakes was my first Need for Speed i ever played

[@takumiauditore2075]

I played both the og game and the new servers. I remember back in the day when i had the Miura Concept and the GTR Snowzilla that i got with the codes, and the ZL1 that was given for free for the 2 years anniversary. Good times.

[@mrxbas]

I also definitely remember all three of those cars being in my garage and basically being my main go-to cars. However, my favourite car was a BMW 1-series M which I had obtained from a car prize pack and since it had powerful (at the time known as "cosmic" nitrous), it at least allowed me to have a fighting chance in higher classes!

[@SuperLeosid]

Thank you for making this video. The game is still close to my heart and I nearly cried on July 14th 2015.

[@mrxbas]

Although I wasn’t there on the final day, watching these videos from others is really saddening to see.

[@LucKY_MikE86]

I'm very happy that the devs resurrected this game from the dead. I have fond memories with this one of a kind piece of art, where the streets were full of players, you were engaging in hectic pursuits and the friends we made with this game. The soundtrack was a musical journey, I only played this game with headphones on because I was enjoying these bangers. I'm happy cause now I can renew these memories I had with this game. I remember when the servers shut down and me & the homies relaxed in circle with our whips, waiting for the world to end. Congratulations for the video and may NFS World lives forever in our hearts.

[@gymusen]

I remember finding this game out with my brother on the first year it was out, he picked an eclipse and I took the 180sx, with him later stopping playing after some days of not understanding how to get money and me finally learning how to race and finding that I could rent a Cayman for 3 days for test driving and racing, I missed that game so much and even gave the SBWR a try, it's just as good as I remember

[@sybustian_]

I knew your name was familiar... I still have you in my friends list on World United (I'm SYBMEISTER or MYKEWASSABY, I made 2 drivers). This game was such a great game post shutdown, the community made it the best version it could be. I played from late 2010 until shutdown, and then after online became popular again, around 2017 - 2018. Had a lot of fond memories. Even became part of crews during the time it was alive, it was beautiful. Just the P2W exaggerated system made it a pain. Pain aleviated by listening to Static... it is such a banger that it gives me goosebumps. I still have my WUgg account alive, but I haven't played in a good while. I guess I transitioned to other things and life also caught up with me. Would like to race with you again though! See you on the streets!

[@fredbruno]

Man that pictures with all the studios I remember seeing as a kid back in the days. All good studios.

[@EpicDDK]

Amazing video :) this 14:23 got me :c memories were💥 gone but Thanks to SBRW team everyone was able to live old memories and create new memories, still to this day the soundtrack of the freeroam gives me goosebumps lol

[@n_g3o]

this game had something special that none of the new titles and racing games have nowadays

[@GeorgeMartinJose]

I used to play during 2012-2013, and had to stop playing as I was relocated to a place with bad internet. I was sad when I heard they were shutting it down. After sometime, heard about the SBRW in 2019, and I liked how it went. Not only that, but I made some new friends. It's been a long time since I played SBRW as I was trying other games like the newer NFS titles, Forza Horizon, etc, but nothing beats the experience of the old games. This video has given me interest to try it again.

[@shiftsync9988]

I'm glad you mentioned the game's soundtrack. It added a lot to the feeling

[@rcgldr]

Music - the Christmas song used for snow at the golf course and Home For The Holidays sprint wasn't mentioned in the video, it's Cover Girl by James Hannigan.

[@mrxbas]

I wanted to mention the two tracks that Hannigan made, but I couldn’t find a good spot in the video for them without making it a video that’s mostly about the (amazing) soundtrack

[@nightmissionsonly9494]

wow, you just blew up with your gran turismo challenge. good job!

[@panchoxxlocoxx9638]

I played on world united for a while, a good experience. Keep it up, your videos are great.

[@mrxbas]

Thanks! Yeah, WorldUnited is my main go-to place for NFS World (my main profile is from 2020, but I started playing basically as soon as SBR:W existed).

[@NielsvdHMC]

Great video, I remember driving an RX8 or some other starter car and then quitting soon after because of all the P2W haha. Also hearing Kallista made me happy, even back in NFS IV that song was already fantastic.

[@p.t.3726]

This touches my soul on some another level. I remember playing World in 2011 with my AMD Xpress 1150 GPU which could barely run the game on lowest settings so I was losing almost all the time, playing via Sandbox with myself to grind for some rare parts, I was genuinely HAPPY to win that one part that could finish the spec for your car, I had Silvia tuned for speed with YEAR1 exclusive number plates and unavailable bodykit, Dodge Challenger to fight the cops with (the car was absolute tank!), then in 2012 bought new laptop which could run game on high settings, so I started to customize and do vynils, I remember posting my cars (Vdub Audi's, VWs, JDM stuff) in social networks and getting likes was like the biggest achivement of my childhood, pure joy! When there was some holidays and they gave you free SpeedBoosts it was like unmatched expreience because I was kid with no money and buying somethink you wanted for so long was unreal!! Shame game died because of enormous amount of cheaters, Pay2win cars like Mclaren F1 and Toyota MR2, which almost everybody possesed and it was no longer fun to play and lack of proper updates. And yeah, soundtrack will forever live in my heart! I had Safe house as my ringtone up until 2018! It was GOLDEN!!!

[@simpleserpent1337]

"Static" hits so hard 🥲🥲🥲🥲 good old memories

[@ARIZALI06]

Man, its been a while since I saw some good NFS videos! Good work bro, such a great composed video!

[@mrxbas]

Thanks, I take a lot of time to get as much content in as possible while still keeping it concise!

[@ARIZALI06]

@@mrxbas Also watched your GT4 video now, love content like these. I do believe that your channel will be big before 2023 ends.

[@TrueHDR]

What a lovely video, so good in fact it reminded me we actually had a skill system LOL, I totally forgot that was a thing!

[@Pamir026]

used to play this with my school friend. I love those days... time went by so fast

[@yumi.8484]

i used to play this before the netcode improvements and all that, it was pretty infuriating seeing all the other cars kinda jitter around when you bumped into them but it was still really cool to see all the blackbox made maps combined into one on this multiplayer world around 2017-18 i heard about soapbox and tried to get it to work, it gave me an error code that didn't show up anywhere else on the internet and i couldn't find a fix for it, and i just sorta gave up on it. after this video i'll definitely give it another shot, maybe go on free roam and races with friends again

[@nitrobuildergtr]

I basically grew up on this game. Need for Speed: World was the first game that I ever played as a kid, and I absolutely can't thank it enough for the good times I had with this game. I used to play it back in the day on my dad's laptop, and the game really introduced me to the gaming space and showed me what real gaming looks like. When I learnt that the game was shutting down, I was beyond devastated (I was around 6 years old at the time, so I would of been understandably sad lol) , but I just sort of moved on. But only later in life (around 2018 when I got my first laptop), I learnt that the game had been revived by the community, and wanted to play it. I held off because I wasn't sure if it was true or not. A year or 2 later (around 2019 / 2020), I then followed through with trying to play it again it and installed the community reboot. I literally had tears to my eyes and was weeping like a little kid when I heard that main menu music, and the music you first hear when you load into the game, after not hearing it for around 10 years. I still play the game to this day, and it gives me nostalgia still whenever I boot into the game. I showed my younger brother the community reboot (because he wasn't born yet when the game was originally released), and he was like "damn you used to play this - it looks fun". I have played the community reboot with him and he did enjoy it. But it is absolutely insane how old this game is now. I am now 15, doing GCSEs, and learning to be a Game Developer. It is beyond scary to think this game is that old now, and I am more than happy to say that this was the first game I ever played. Thank you for making this video - more people need to know about the best Need For Speed game ever released. Yes - this is by FAR the best Need For Speed game ever created.

[@luichinplaystation610]

10:00 Mick really loved those old NFS techno menu soundtracks

[@someoneyoudontknow4920]

The nostalgia hit hard for me on this one :c I used to play this game so damn much, it was one of my most favourite games. I was so damn sad when it closed but now that i know the community has brought it back i will definitely be playing it!!!

[@Nick_Har]

Totally agree with you my friend!

[@McLennox]

First GT4, then NFSW?! You sir have great taste! Keep up the great work!

[@mrxbas]

These two games have been a huge part of my childhood and I wanted to do a review-style video, so this was the perfect opportunity!

[@lightangelswaw3915]

Very nice vid man! Need for Speed Rivals, this was the game of my childhood along with GranTurismo 6

[@mrxbas]

Rivals and GT6 were quite nice too, although IMO Rivals felt a bit too much like a botched Hot Pursuit to me.

[@kaye1118]

i loved Team Escape (Late Departure especially) but hated Slingshot. and hearing the free roam soundtrack music to this day makes me feel a certain way🥹 always loved the snow covered golf course too!!! unfortunately i do not have the ability to try Soapbox’s RaceWorld servers to relive the memories😢

[@JiriMachovec]

I still have a backup of all my cars custom vinyls somewhere. I spent hours making them using the provided shapes etc.

[@KhakiCap]

I was there... a little teen... and it was quite a wild ride. It's so cool to see a revival project for such an ambicious multiplayer NFS. And I hope to give that revival project a try.

[@mrxbas]

I can highly recommend giving SBRW a try!

[@sebabuffa7741]

This game's soundtrack gives me the chills, so nostalgic, use to play it when i was about 12 years old

[@platface2]

9:55 Someone uploaded Static remix before World is dead. In the clip, he showed soundparts. Mick used to give their sound parts to make your own mixes (Sound 1+2+3+4= ingame ost) but unfortunately, they are removed and archive is hopeless. I used static as alarm sound feels strange but ready to roll.

[@acoffeewithsatan]

Back in middle school and early high school I was completely addicted to this game. This video really emphasizes the trouble cheating was, it was truly more of a problem than the p2w aspect (with enough grinding and without spending a dime, I remember being pretty competitive in fair matches). Hardly anyone was banned and, even if so, it wasn't IP-based afaik, one could just create another free account and keep on screwing it up for everyone else. Something incredible to realize is that Soapbox Racing has been up and running for LONGER than the official servers were!

[@bozhidardimitrov3573]

you could for sure hear Mick's style in the beginning of Street Racin' , gave it away clearly :D

[@OussTheSpirit]

You just had to be there... Thanks for the nostalgia bro 🥲

[@m_5373]

I miss this game so much, so much Nostalgia and good times, played from 2012 to 2015 almost everyday until the last day, In 2016 I've played the offline server a bit after the game shutdown but isn't the same.

[@bradyhenricks6601]

Damn a full nostalgia run with the Omega music in the background

[@Lif7ed]

Man I loved this game, I remember meeting a club and joining called MAoCDT if I remember correctly and they were always active and had constant meets. I miss these times.

[@crackhead6469]

First game on pc I ever played. When I was younger I didn’t really know how to make money on the game so I mostly lost races, viewed cars in the shop and free roam. The ost for the game is stuck in my head I love it so much.

[@KludgyOne67095]

I remember getting the Lamborghini Miura Concept. It was either a promotional thing for free or I purchased it with in-game earnable credits...good times...

[@summer3526]

I vividly remember new year 2012. After the family party, i went back to my room at 130am and took a peek at my R32 GT-R i left at 11pm, parked up my favorite spot at diamond hills next to the lake because the view is beautiful. I then called my gf (now ex), for a bit and switched to Word to finish my final school works and reports because I'm about to graduate from high school. Gf fell asleep 10 mins later as she was also tired, finished my works at 245am and my friends in u.s. messaged me if i was still up they know the time here in philippines is already late. Got back to them after a quick snack of pancit malabon and roast chicken, and we raced until 4am and it was super fun. NFS World is a core memory because it was one of the happy parts of the second half of my awkward and wacky high school life. I'll forever miss that game and the amazing people I've met.

[@Phantomof_83]

Another amazing video from mrxbas himself

[@mrxbas]

Thank you!

[@acelvlad3383]

this game was my childhood. my grandpa used to have a job as a security guard at a hotel and when he wouldnt br busy he would let me play NFS World on his work computer, i used to make profiles just to test all of the starter cars and to drive around, scared of playing races since i was 5-6 at the time and didnt know how to drive. i now play the game on SBRW pretty frequently and i can safely say the kid inside me loves it.

[@nameinvalid69]

yea played the orfficial server a bit. definitely interesting mix of the map & some additional tunnels to link them together. the most memorable part probably is the bridge, of course. It's become a gathering point of many players, either just to chat or do some drag.

[@hafizullahhayat9903]

I fucking miss this game!!! Last I played it was 2014 and unaware of the server shutdown in 2015, when I wanted to return in 2017 I was shocked and really sad. Team escape was my favorite, I remember owning a blue (team juggernaut) Chevy El Camino, and it was a beast in that mode

[@mrxbas]

The El Camino was (and still is) a great Pursuit/Team Escape car!

[@668Freddie]

I remember NFS World like it was not that long ago, Me and my Brother played this game a lot. He Bought himself for 10€ a Pagani Zonda F and I Bought an Lamborghini Aventador (My Dream Car To This day) for 20€ a month after. This game was really fun and also a bit of a grind at the time I had 10 Cars in Total at the Serverclosing (Porsche(GT3 RS (2012) Caymen) ,Lamborghini (Murcielago,Countach, Gallardo,Aventador) Ford Mustang Super Snake, Nissan 370z,VW Scirocco,). Every car was hard to get (Especially when you don't want to spend real money) I think the best way were Drag races back then (10000$ - 20000$ if u win against other players) and The Mustang,Murcielago,Gallardo or GT3 RS costs between 1-2 Million (Not Cheap in perspective). And some Where almost ungetebel Like The Bugatti Veyron (For Which u need to finish almost Every Achievement). On The Other side the map was really nice, most of the players where super Frendly. And it felt like a bit of a blance between grind and reward not like some modern Racing games like Forza Horizon 3,4,5 where u get probely 30 Cars the First Hour u play and after a Month have Half of The Cars that are Available which lowers the personal worth of the Car for U. This Video really was a throwback at a Time where I had more fun ate NFS then now.

[@Hyde2142]

This recommendation unlocked some happy memories. I loved NFS World, drove countless races as a child with my first laptop. My fav cars (mind, i didn't have any real money to spend) were my E30 M3 Sport Evo, 911 and Silvia, which I had upgraded to the limit of their respective classes. The E30 and 911 were so good I could easily compete with the pay2win cars (at least I remember it so :D). Even convinced my sister to play the game too.

[@linuxtuxvolds5917]

Looking back through the Nostalgia, I want to cry... I almost can't bear myself to watch this. So many memories...

[@maximchahal578]

I thought this game was gone forever, its cool that people are keeping it going, I remember riding around on the last day before the servers got shut down, when they gave everyone that super car being so sad about losing the game.

[@kristiant96]

Thank you for the review i enjoyed it. I started playing NFS World back when it was in beta, i have some videos too, played many hours on it, this had the potential to be the best need for speed, but they ruined it (makes sense) my dream for nfs world is that they add some of the beta elements, add the canyons and drift events, include a "guild" system like in wow but it will be with crews, add possibly leaderboards, add old nfs music into nfs w (partially done) I mean there are a lot of ideas but i don't know if it will be achievable, either way i am happy that these guys keep the game alive, when i play it from time to time it brings me back to a bit calmer time in my life. What i am really looking forward rn is the Carbon Online mod, i think (if it sees the light of day) will be the best online experience that any nfs game can offer.

[@EGoRBHD130]

To people who continued playing this after the servers were shutdown. Did you manage to keep all your cars? I remember being devastated when they announced the game would shut down as I poured so many hours into this game. Staying up so late on school nights with the lights turned off to grind those free cars that were only free for a limited time otherwise you had to pay real money. I think the only car I bought with phone airtime was the Aventador and it was my best car in game. Man. Memories. Sucks getting older sometimes.

[@user-tw8gb9ei7q]

I surely remember playing it. For the first time, I was like, wait a minute this a the underground roud, then after wait a minute this carbon map and most wanted too. At this moment I was in-love with the game, because it was free, had everything in one. And it was somehow very intuitive idea to have all maps in one big open world multiplayer. Nevertheless the cheaters, I truly enjoyed it. Enjoyed the christmas times with the slippery snow, on the golffield (of MW map) where you could do jumps. I even celebrated the fireworks, of the closing. But exactly at that period, i stopped suddenly playing, i had to go to university for the first time. And around 2016/17 i decided to go back, only to see that they shut-down. Now, from you I get that, the fireworks where the farewell day :( Thank you for the good news, that there are actually 3rd party servers, now, i know can go back in the nostalgia. Sadly i cannot get my acc back where i had my favourite custumized dodge viper, where I said to me, if i had this car (irl), i would go back in nfs:world to customized excatly as i did in the game ^^ Cheers!

[@neromastic4512]

I was actually one of the many players who enjoyed the game so much actually I've had a very nice collection of cars for a lot of classes and types. The game changed my life,sadly that had to come to an end. Or so I thought until SoapBoxRacing came announced and it hyped me up back again. Now I shall go back to it,and enjoy its fun gameplay. Thank you for making the video and spreading the words of this astounding Need for Speed

[@juststarlight5742]

Still remember playing this on my Acer laptop back in the day. Such nostalgia

[@massiveplayzde]

I'd like to share my story. I don't remember every detail but I try to hold it as short as possible: -the beginning I joined after I bought Hot Pursuit because they had ingame ads about World in HP. I think I joined middle of 2013 somewhen in summer and played almost to server shutdown in 2015. Started with the VW Scirocco. Never spent premium currency SP (Speed Boost) because wasn't mature at that time. - peaking experience played almost every day für several hours and even found new people to play with whom I got into friendship. We were grinding a lot back then, doing the same events over and over again to build up our favorite cars. One day I got a Corvette C6 and made Cross' Corvette out of some templates and it felt great to recreate the design and do some smaller neat changes to the livery. Customizatin was the thing to show everyone your love to the game. - the downfall My heart still bleeds a bit from it but this was one of the worst experiences I made as a young internet user. I got banned in a game I loved to play even I stood save all the time. My goal in that game was the Mercedes-Benz SLR 722 MOSS Edition (which was a german police vehicle with flashing lights ingame because I like police stuff a lot). So I tried to reach my goal and buy the car but the thing is: you only get it with Speed Boost. Because I didn't had any I looked up how to get some and found something promising: there was a thing where you get Speed Boost ingame by doing surveys on exernal websites like foreign vacation websites, german super market surveys and some more kind of suveys I don't remember. All you had to do was to put in your mail adress, do the survey provided by the EA website et voilà: you got some speed boost. It felt shady but it worked. Basically: get Speed Boost by answering suveys. So I set up several new mail adresses to answer more surveys at once and it worked out, got more Speed Boost in shorter time even it took some weeks. Was on vacation that time so I had basically the whole day to fake answer surveys and got SP for it. Then the time came: logged in the launcher, went to the shop and there it was: the SLR. I bought it and felt like the proudest boy on the planet for that moment. Because the laptop my mum brought to vacation couldn't handle the game, I only bought it, called it a day and waited until vacation was over to play on my own PC at home. But one day later, I got a mail from EA saying "you got banned because of cheating/hacking". There was a bigger hacker wave back then in summer 2014 I guess so maybe they thought I did something, I'm not sure about it. That's how it went down. All my progress, cars and the SLR which was my final goal was: gone. I tried to recreate my dream in Soapbox and bought the SLR there in 2019 or something but it didn't feels the same. Maybe I should give it another try now. Speed Boost is gone now, god bless.

[@Reame33]

I remember you was also able to use your save from original game with your own server. Sadly it was all on my old pc. I have some sick liveries made by myself.

[@driftstickz]

Def have fond memories of this game, especially the garage theme. I tried to start playing SBRW, but it is not as fun as when the original servers were up. But the garage music brings back so many memories (that was played at the beginning of this video)

[@benedictuswinner3995]

original server was fire, i really like to buy the credits.

[@Jules-69lol]

I liked that you mentioned Undercover's OST as well, it was excellent

[@mrxbas]

When I did an Undercover playthrough, I immediately realized that the pursuit soundtracks are indeed identical. It’s also quite underrated given how UC was and how World had kinda underutilized its Team Escape mode.

[@Jules-69lol]

@@mrxbas The Setup (plays in the menus sometimes) blew me away. I hope you can give it a a review because the reformed mod makes the handling like Most Wanted

[@mrxbas]

@@Jules-69lol I've seen the Reformed mod and I'll probably give it a try in the future, especially since I like most of the other things about the game (e.g. map, car list and story).

[@Jules-69lol]

@@mrxbas the map seems amazing so far, as for the cars i haven't seen them all yet