Was Need For Speed Payback Really THAT Bad?

[@serperior2264]

Please lets not forget cause of this game, Jake Paul is canon to the NFS extended universe

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

I genuinely forgot about that, I take back everything I said

[@Uxiry-I]

????????? FOR REAL?!?!? I just looked it up. I’m uninstalling.

[@AmberHeardofme]

Wait really?

[@Sumby885]

hes a wandering racer... yeah @@AmberHeardofme

[@Leon_SKennnedy]

Oh god

[@Milty2001]

The card system and the fact that you can't compare your cards on one car to the other cars in your garage were my only gripes about payback, but the story, customization, soundtrack and offroad races were the things I enjoyed about it.

[@CovershotV8]

Same here.

[@adamothman1124]

I actually enjoyed Payback far better than Unbound.

[@theweekndxo7438]

That half ahh story lmao

[@andrewtatereal3168]

it was way more fun than heat and unbond wich are empty games peoples just hate it because of the stupid gambling mechanic​@@adamothman1124

[@SuperVman95]

Exactly. If you actually listened to the story of payback, you'd realize that the game was left on a cliff hanger at the end. I hope they make a payback sequel that continues to explore the gambling and casino dark arts/story.

[@MerrillDragonAge]

roaming racers and derelicts should return

[@timur5219]

And weapons

[@ok_genius]

WHAT IM SAYYIIINNGGGUHHHH😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏THIS IS WHAT THE FUCK I AM SAYINNUUHHHH

[@shawklan27]

Midnight club la in the houuusssee!!!

[@rxshovxx]

Derelicts were nfs equivalent of barn finds but with extra steps

[@digitalcamaro9708]

@@rxshovxx Not exactly a bad thing

[@drlaggaming]

The upgrade system was what i hated the most about this game

[@zabu14]

why? i dont get it, i like it

[@menorasendaiba6404]

ah yes @@zabu14 "RPG system" upgrade in a racing game the worst part is, this one section where EA greed root out. The microtransactions p2w for one vehycle type per upgrade

[@SoldierBoy-YT123]

​@@zabu14gambling for upgrades on a slot machine is not fun, why add stupid cards instead of just upgrading your car normally like all other nfs?

[@ok_genius]

@@zabu14it was luck based, but if you know how it works (buying the parts and then spinning) it still sucks

[@airboruto23]

it was simple the way its always been, getting upgrades the regular way. the way it is in payback always felt like a mobile game to me. funny, it's also my first nfs i actually finshed lol​@@zabu14

[@Kyller3030]

I 100% completed this game. IIRC they doubled the money rewards in a patch, so the grind wasn't too bad. The FEM final showdown started from the observatory through the whole map was the most memorable event, way better than the final one. Also, there's a crashed UFO out there in the desert.

[@Wubsy96]

It's where you can find one of the poker chips!

[@rogoznicafc9672]

Eww, those races were the worst... Final one was by far the best, well the one starting from close to the casing was also good as they were only on the road and were really long

[@driftracerr34]

They doubled the money because of the justified backlash they got. They wanted to make upgrades a P2W slot machine system.

[@leoneyamada5408]

​@@driftracerr34even without doubled cash didn't you still get cards with every won match... Just do drag missions you get like 14k each time before you even get to unlock the catch up packs. I got my beetle and bel air maxed before I even got into that mission with the skyhammer...

[@charlestrudel8308]

thought when a company double the reward after a patch, you know how shitty they were

[@derpedfox]

It was Ghost's passion project until EA told them to make money I still remember the weekly dev log and teasers before it's released, they were so passionate about this game

[@4storyboss]

need for speed, uhm pahbeck

[@Nibblerr]

NFS Payba... Paycheck

[@IamJay02]

Man

[@sternenschauer]

ghost games passion project? all their games were utter shit and you can’t convince me that these incompetent idiots really tried…

[@WolfTwister]

I distinctly remember the feeling of rushing through the canyons in my rally evo being a highlight of the game. Sadly in heat rally events became "go play around in some sand," and just didnt hit the same

[@MisledVision]

I forgot Heat even had off road racing lmao

[@epicdude3659]

i also really like how this game brought in some new brand names: Chidori, Outlaw, Nextech, Carbon, Americana, The Alchemist. and that these brands are still included in Heat and Unbound

[@NEEDbacon]

I mean, they're just made up brands. But they're still amazing and I do like how they were expanded later. It's just some nice flavor in addition to having made up parts as well. Plus even plays a part of the story, where Chidori is supposedly behind the AI racing tech. Would be a bit weird if you went saying Edelbrock was doing that.

[@AJayZy]

@@NEEDbacon Was in Underground 2 that used real tuner brands? Not significant but it made a young car guy me excited 😁

[@jakit0556]

after the outlaws rush i think the curator talks to you on the radio about it. personally, the curator was the most hyping up part of the whole game and i loved it so much

[@SPECTRA890]

The curator was awesome. Her and Jess added really good flare, Mac too. Tyler was okay. The side characters were just better

[@succulenttrash3343]

I will die on the hill that the one thing i think they did well was the drifting in this game. I don't know why people complain about brake to drift in an arcade racing game, but Payback really nailed BTD handling

[@TripleStackCheezBurger]

Agreed. Payback had the most “stable” B2D of all the games in the ghost era. I’d say Heat was easily the worst in terms of handling compared to Payback.

[@succulenttrash3343]

@@TripleStackCheezBurger yeah i wasnt a fan of trying to give everyone a mix of grip and drift tfor Nfs heat im glad they fixed it somewhat for unbound. Bit Paybacks drifting was so much more smooth that it reminded me more of like HP 2010 almost which i like a lot

[@TripleStackCheezBurger]

@@succulenttrash3343 I think for the next game they need a universal handling model with “adjustable brake bias” that can “turn up” the B2D setting, but I think Unbound’s handling definitely had the right idea. Either way we can both agree Payback was NOT anywhere near as bad as people made it seem.

[@shawklan27]

​@@TripleStackCheezBurger word heat's handling made the game much harder than it should be

[@b.1570]

Another game I like to mention that really nailed the brake to drift handling is GRID 2

[@piettrosantos9348]

I remember when your name was Moses B… You surely came a long way! Great job man!!

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

Thanks a ton!

[@2003andre100]

proof?

[@Nitagnelifs]

@@2003andre100 ?

[@manymeez1406]

Ikr!!

[@goshbaby8531]

Wait he’s moses B? I thought that was a diff channel

[@giancarlog8653]

Outside of the Speed Cards, I'll never understand the hate for this game. The variety in events, terrain and cars was outstanding.

[@Pri11-k7l]

Paybacks story is more interesting then Heat and Unbound

[@jh565bb]

Exactly, I loved the off roading and it had a really good selection of cars and relic cars, you can find and build.

[@shadowking773]

@@Pri11-k7l yeah the only fast and furious type NFS game and they did good

[@StellarCosmic1]

I'm a *major* fan of this game, aside from the speed cards of course. And I think it has one of the best NFS maps we've ever gotten.

[@edu7979]

for me fairhaven will always be #1 (genuinely love that map) but this one is pretty cool and definitely unique, since we had already seen florida in undercover and unbounds ripoff chicago somehow looks worse than watch dogs' chicago.... which is a game from like 2014

[@leoneyamada5408]

The speed cards are fine for me I never understood why people hated them because you can just get SO MANY so easily

[@leoneyamada5408]

My only grip with cards was you couldn't spend more tickets to lock 2 parts instead of just the one... If you could lock in a head part that's outlaw and just spin the last one it would be perfect

[@FH4Player6397]

​@@edu7979 MW 12 is dogwater.

[@dislexyc]

19:22 let's not forget seeing a lh truck taking corners at 130 mph so you don't catch it too early is... An experience

[@xRegularJohnx]

this truck chase was mental :D

[@leoneyamada5408]

The only missions I just COULDN'T HANDLE was the skyhammer one and the super late game races, off-road and drifts (cuz I suck at drifts and usually have a sucky drift car) and once I got the bel air the off-road missions became nearly TOO EASY This game becomes EXTREMELY EASY once you just KZbin a good race car and then get the bel air and actually learn to drift well

[@shadowking773]

@@leoneyamada5408 for drift huracan is best car as it slides like butter, for offroad rsr is best car

[@leoneyamada5408]

@@shadowking773 ok but bel air is just great at nearly everything.... You can even make it look like the ghost buster car and slap NAPPAS FACE FROM TEAM FOUR STAR... Suddenly your sliding around with ghost nappa blasting as you completely wash your opponents

[@mrsev765]

The only thing that really bugged me in Payback was the car upgrade system, thankfully on PC you can mod that to give you what you want rather than randomly. Payback was my favourite modern NFS game, the story was fun and the gampley diverse.

[@kt249]

AFAIK freeroam cops were planned but cut due to lack of time to finish and polish it, so they resorted to those "packages" you collect to initiate a cop chase.

[@Pri11-k7l]

The cop chase is currently scripted through events and bait crates

[@leventekis7664]

The main problem with Paybacks story isn't even the characters, it's that Lina is introduced too early. We never get to build up trust to someone who arrives in a car leagues above the crew's and spends 3 minutes with us, and then we're supposed to hate her for the rest of the game

[@r0b1n39]

No cap. The only reason why the game was bad was because of the upgrade system.Other than payback had great graphics and physics to build upon

[@shantanupawar3609]

No upgrade system was fair you race you level up you BET and upgrade, i remember they had something called catch up packs instantly add stock 17 cards up. Then just complete daily quest race around roam around you get shipments easy lv399 upgrade in what i guess less than 2 hours or something. But yeah No cops sucks the map is so good for pursuits. They added the card thingy as they were no longer interested in adding list of upgradable parts like like in heat but.

[@TheCamSays]

In a short answer, no. In a long answer, divisive. I enjoyed the game even if it’s a diet modern Fast & Furious story wise and with its dumber moments, the gambling gimmick for parts and other issues. I came into it when they had an ongoing abandoned cars event where they put a random car in the map and you have to escape the police to keep it. Was one of the better things in the game that not that many people mention.

[@pulstr_12]

this game is a perfect example of “good idea, bad execution”

[@Jarmen_Kell1]

I know this game had a bad upgrading system, but the thing that made this game so good was that it was fun to drive a car.

[@LotsOfToubleUsuallySerious]

Finally someone did it. Microtransactions exist and they are bad, but Payback is one of the few games that are more than its monetization can tell you, and i just realized it when i actually got to play it. I hope many are able to realize it too

[@femboyyandereking]

My first NFS, played it ofline and honestly I loved it. Not my favourite, it's like 3rd, 2nd is Carbon and 1st is Rivals. (but you don't care about what I think)

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

This actually can be applied to quite a few games. People are quick to jump on a game for having MTX and call it bad and ‘predatory’… But when you take a step back a look at it, they’re just there. Doing nothing and amounting to nothing. If you just play the game and don’t even notice them, that’s probably the best thing for us as the player.

[@Godzilla_Star_Eater]

I still haven't even found the microtransactions in it after all these years

[@LotsOfToubleUsuallySerious]

@@femboyyandereking to me, t's hard to decide what game is better than the other, but i think Rivals and Carbon are also in my top 3, but with Pro Street in there instead of payback

[@justahumanbeing9839]

dude i'll just say it now, as someone who loves the older games, i love this game and always have since launch. it's nice to see a lot of people come around to it now. it's not perfect by any means, but i feel like it was definitely overhated.

[@RocketPropelledWombat]

I don't play many games (and never watched gaming vids until recently) so I never saw any of the hate ... tbh I don't understand it 😕

[@edu7979]

i used to like it quite a bit, only part i despide is the literal gambling

[@teslamick1592]

after the shitload of trash games we got in 2024, I'm glad to say that payback is pretty good

[@Godzilla_Star_Eater]

It's like Most Wanted 2005 mixed with Fast & Furious, which is good

[@Godzilla_Star_Eater]

​@@edu7979I don't care about the gambling

[@lucasgraeff5391]

WIth the handling customization system, it was possible to have really good grip handling. The thing is, it was impossible to win any race with this setup, because the game was made around drifting in corner. I had a bad time with the campaign, but when it ended, I cheated my way to 99999999 money and just spent my time customizing every car just to hear the engine sound, they are pretty good in this game. I drove to the dealership, bought a stock car, gave it a ride to hear the sounds, and then went to the garage. It was really fun, and that's it.

[@MozzarellaBasket]

The engine sounds were amazing. The only downside is that the game had no manual transmission so you didn't really have a choice on the RPM and gears. Still, sounded great

[@lucasgraeff5391]

I think it has manual transmission@@MozzarellaBasket or maybe I'm insane

[@pulstr_12]

@@MozzarellaBasketyes i agree, car sounds were good, but sounded pretty bland to me

[@WayneKerr69420]

@@MozzarellaBasket It did have a manual transmission.

[@srptr_w]

doing the same lol though i still get to win, i spam grip setup NSX to solar sprint (which isnt the shortest track, but kinda fun for grip with the wide corner and toned down traffic). just buy car from the dealer, ride it to the garage, then mod decals. but yeah the physic is heavily biased with drifting, i've done side to side comparison and i can shave off 1, almost 2 minutes by drifting compared to grip in that solar sprint track, and even more in shorter track. its also why i had to give up for outlaw rush (final mission) race with easy difficulty and drift it off. an NSX at the final race, with grip only when the game physic biases drift, and adds police madness bs was too much. i probably just play the wrong game but whatever, payback is still not that horrible, all things considered

[@muhammad_zaman1990]

Finally, someone acknowledges the positives of payback personally, i found payback's story was more intriguing than anything came afterwards from nfs series. they mimicked the fun gameplay loop of nfsmw without calling it "Blacklist". Only if there were pinkslips 😣 If you didn't pay a single penny and played it in hard mode (always underleveled), the gameplay becomes lot more fun it forces you to do all kind of stunts to recharge nitros, kinda like witcher 3 death march

[@SPECTRA890]

I hardly plagued under leveled, now I think of it that would have been good but I felt like the games difficultty settings needed one extra one. Hard was more like average. The cpus made easy mistakes you wouldn't expect hard to make at the start of each race. Their rubber banding was very fun though. The outlaws rush was amazing 8n everything except the drivers. Playing the last qualifiers to the outlaws rush was harder than the outlaws rush

[@ToaGresh300]

There are people who to this day, believe that microtransactions are still present in the NFS franchise thanks to Payback.

[@succmama1039]

Tbh. MTX in payback was super minimal. I don't even remember what was the use of it anyways.

[@NEEDbacon]

@@succmama1039 It basically got you spins for parts. But at the same time, the game would shower you in free spins so you weren't ever encouraged to pay. Never once felt compelled to even acknowledge it had MTX.

[@adlibbed2138]

doesn't help that Unbound would later charging stuff with a price that's initially for free in Heat in subsequent updates later

[@storyexe243]

I find it funny how this need for speed in my opinion had everything people were asking mainly a daylight cycle, better police, more customisation and a more open map yet this is always looked back on a pretty bleak light. I always loved this game in the ghost saga even more than heat. The map was interesting and the cast of characters was interesting to say the least. Also having actual crews even if they have no depth whatsoever adds to the world and reminds me the good old days of Carbon which stands as my favourite of all time

[@PhantomRemmy]

You need to go back and play the game because absolutely nothing you said was right.

[@dusterpl6093]

@@PhantomRemmy no, you should revisit the game for yourself instead

[@NotTheRealGorlock]

​@@dusterpl6093but he is right 😂😂 payback is literally one of the worse nfs games in the series, shitty cop mechanics,boring story (although nfs franchise was not known for its good story),boring and cringe characters, shitty speedcards or whatever tf that was like seriously whoever thought of that should have been fired on the spot. All in all Payback is garbage, not even the racing feels fun.

[@TonyMonstraut]

​@@dusterpl6093 it is a bad game lol. If you like it, its completely fine but telling people to go and replay it when they already know its bad is stupid 🤣

[@ReyaSmalls]

​@@dusterpl6093 You really thought you did something with this comment 💀

[@MrRodrigues520]

The memory of the progression system based on cards give me chills everytime i think on going back to this

[@epicdude3659]

you say it ended out of nowhere, but at least we had a final race at the end, and not some terrible chase in a game that has terrible hit registration when it comes to car to car combat.

[@mr.smiley9470]

you need to talk about night-runners i swear that game will get u giggling trust me thats a racing game experience that is a must

[@miguel.5787]

BEST THING TO WATCH ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, THANKS MOSES!!!!

[@makermod]

My favorite feature is how it always uses 100% of my cpu at all times, driving it to 90 degrees Celsius! Oh and how it loves to just go into the background when i exit instead of closing

[@eneco3965]

Yeah, what the fuck is up with this

[@akiplay312]

Unite mod makes Payback really good and addicting to play in my opinion!

[@Menace2f]

What does the mod do🧐

[@akiplay312]

@@Menace2f -it enables you to buy any 18 level card at the tuner shop instead of playing the roulette -it improves graphics , cop ai , racer ai , damage model , ucaps the speed on offroad cars , better car sounds , more customization , you can choose realistic handling and many more things....

[@IamJay02]

​@@akiplay312 🫦👁️🫦

[@AzuraRacing]

Damn, had this video idea in my notes for a while, same title and everything, should have got to it sooner! But you did it better than I could! Amazing video

[@Turbo_J_Automotive]

I love how the 240Z advert at 15:37 is from "Carsales" here in Australia to drive home how expensive they are. PERFECTION!!!! 🤣

[@Bricerrr]

I’ve beaten this game around 7 times, every time I beat the game I usually delete my progress and restart. There’s a different thing about this game: when you delete your save, your money from doing speed traps, jumps, etc stays and you get so much money after a few playthroughs, I start with over a million on Xbox

[@Harerazer]

Payback was only not "that bad", I felt it ended up really fun. The initial launch product was so weak to me that after pre-ordering, I didn't touch it for 3 to 4 months. As the features began to drip feed in, it got better and once the "free roam" copswere added, it hit it's sfride. I became a regular 2-3 hour a day player as it brought a small touch of Burnout/Most Wanted (the Criterion one, of course) to the gameplay. I could go on but will just say that the car types made every build feel different, especially my favorite, the Runner. Hell, I had 6 different Barracudas. Payback was not that bad, it was pretty good. Much better IMO than Heat. 🤮

[@FriendsAndGamingYT]

In all honesty, watching all your videos on nfs games has really made me wanna get back into the series

[@mini_pringle2]

Replayed this game recently and it was really fun. Kinda dumb that people hate on it when even worse nfs games exist. Not to mention that the whole card upgrade system was neat

[@charlestrudel8308]

if you couldnt pay real cash for these cards, than the dev could have balance it well with the game rewards, but since you could pay real money, it wasnt balance. want the proof of this, just look at the early patch were they augmented the rewards by a lot.

[@muhammedraashid3667]

I loved this game and its story. If you are trying to tune your car specifically, you will have a bad time. But for a casual player, it was refreshing to have cars tuned differently because of the different upgrade items.

[@gifproductions9597]

To be honest i don't think the game was bad at all. The cards were experimental, not bad. (I literally played this game today just because i like it)

[@thelockenbubi7117]

I might be thrown a controller at for this statement, but I honestly prefer Payback to Heat.

[@gamingmamba2584]

Same, after recently playing Unbound I prefer it over that too

[@avalanche450]

And that's totally fine lol. don't let some terminally online crackhead tell you otherwise.

[@zanemk1]

I just replayed both payback and heat and cars on payback handle soo much better than heat especially at high speed for me

[@madhunter6420]

skill issue

[@zanemk1]

@@madhunter6420 The game just handles worse 💀

[@floreroafloreril1458]

This definitely sounds like a skill issue, considering how payback's handling was structured around break to drift. In Heat you actually need grip and following a loose racing line to compete in higher levels. Lol

[@blinkachu5275]

@@floreroafloreril1458 you really can't, Heat literally is more brake to drift

[@floreroafloreril1458]

@@blinkachu5275 You can absolutely break to drift, but you will need overwhelming amounts of horsepower to compete against the AI, and you will need to go meta on multiplayer. Grip builds allow you to compete even against players running the RSR who use too much break to drift without having to use meta builds.

[@anthonygillette]

9:28 and right here. Right here is why I’m glad I don’t give EA money. Not only did they make the upgrade system gambling, not ONLY can that gambling use real world money (which is inarguably the worst thing) but EACH CAR IS LOCKED OUT OF UPGRADES YOU ALREADY HAVE?! Just plain disgusting predatory behavior.

[@Lambo800-4]

The upgrading system was a NFS slot machine. Yes, it is luck based (god forbid), but so is the amount of extra money from side bets. The highest I've seen is a 11:1 ratio for side bets. The side bets, roaming racers and the upgrading system aren't needed in order to beat the game. Why? The side bets is a small challenge for a bonus wad of cash, roaming racers isn't tied to the campaign and *you can buy parts in the upgrade stations* for a certain price. Also, I feel that NFS Payback has a subtle moral of "never gamble." Nowadays, I would say that with a *few* changes, NFS Payback can be the *best* modern NFS title from ghost.

[@carne-estragada]

Nice way to wake up; a new Ultraviolet video!

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

Enjoy!

[@madhunter6420]

u cant change ur gender

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

@@madhunter6420 you’ve been blocked from commenting, get your ass outta here

[@Lebxano]

@@UltraViolet_MosesLOL bro got the ban hammer

[@georgediaz1259]

This game had one of the best licensed soundtracks in a Need for Speed game

[@willdunn6143]

No way The older ones are way better

[@succmama1039]

True. Payback has a very good selection. I'm still listening to some of its soundtrack to this day lmao.

[@ReluctantWarrior]

Its not like it had Rush or anything.

[@bikerkris1]

Tom Walker-Play dead remix my fav track

[@not_kjb]

​​_no subscribers_ @@willdunn6143

[@yxrackman2397]

23:57 I legitimately think that Lina died here since if you look how over the top this game is with its destruction, casualties in almost every big set piece story mission as well as the amount of money and resources being lost in her favour, the house might as well execute her once and for all.

[@benjamincamp9608]

I definitely have mixed feelings on NFS Payback: On one hand, it was great to drive a different variety of cars (like Hypercars, SUV’s, tuners, etc.), roaming racers, derelicts, an amazing original soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese, customization, a pause menu, map variety, and event variety. On the other hand, this game fell short with the world feeling dead- No free roam cops to make the world fun, no medium to heavy traffic density, no pedestrians on the sidewalks (like Unbound, Midnight Club, The Crew, etc.), etc. There were also issues with the upgrade system that was more luck based, a lackluster story since the trailers made the story look like there would be more tension, and the airport was not even accessible in the final game- a perfect place for drag races and top speed. I will add that the game was rushed, and I remember how buggy the game was when it first released. I thought Payback was decent, but if it did have more time, it would have received less hate. This game definitely has a lot of vibes from the first iteration of The Crew, since both games had different car classes (street, drag, off road, etc.), both games having abandoned cars to find in the open world, the Speedcross DLC being similar to events in the Summit, getaway missions, and Joseph Trapanese composing soundtracks for both games (which were amazing in my opinion).

[@edu7979]

unbound's peds literally fucking teleport id rather 0 pedestrians outside of the ones that sit in places in payback and stand behind bollards than the weird ugly shit in need for speed unfinished

[@edu7979]

not to mention how the driving is a bazillion timed better than the crew's handling god it wss the worst handling in any racing games i played until i played unbound again

[@edu7979]

the airport being walled off was very disappointing but atleast there was an airfield ig

[@edu7979]

i think that littlentraffic is a plus since traffic in nfs games is just crash cam fest 20XX

[@jasecee8992]

it's the fucking desert, what do you expect?!! 🧐

[@arthambhatnagar]

my first nfs game was payback. so i don't hate it no matter what others say. it made me fall in love with the nfs franchise

[@voyeur4994]

This was actually my favourite game besides underground and most wanted. I loved the map and the cars. It was actually worth completing the story which I did! I still play it and love it!

[@bruhdudeman-r5z]

I liked the car classes like Drift Class, Runner Class and Offroad Class.

[@ashe_regera]

Another explanation for the cop chases not existing outside missions is actually in the world setting for Payback. For some reason, not many are as aware, but street racing is LEGAL in Fortune Valley. The cops have zero reason to chase you for street racing. Weird...but thars the game. I didn't write that stuff. The cop chases are broken down like this 1-Cop chase you after you practically stole someone's car, a crime. 2-Cop chase you later down the story, because you smash their equipment 3-Cop chase you more down the story, because The House has started buying into the police force. 4-Cops leave you alone after fellow drivers cause a ruckus outside the airfield, a potential riot, which is against the law. That's at least, the lore breakdown for why there no cop chases in Payback. Ain't gonna lie, Fortune Valley sounds pretty rad. Great for car meetups and actual planned races without some outlier bad cops disgracing the force and bullying people for merely existing in a Ferrari.

[@Aatsxu]

That made a lot of sense I always wondered about the chases in this game

[@AJayZy]

Nothing wrong with bullying some Ferrari drivers

[@Akua-q6d]

I just gotta say; This has to be one of the most positive reviews on Need for Speed Payback that I've ever enjoyed. 😊

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@chriscarpenter3370]

I actually really like this game. the story's good and the variety you get from the vehicles is amazing. my favorite race modes are off-road and drift, which is funny because Mac is my favorite character. I also think Mac should've been the leader of the group instead of Tyler. still, 7/10 game.

[@dizzijay]

i have the game and ctually have one massive problem with it; the checkpoints, in heat or any other nfs game(probably) the chackpoints register even if you don't go through the center. BUT NO in payback you can"t even miss it by 1 cm, you have to touch it.

[@BlissifiedHH]

Honestly Payback wasnt horrible. It was okay, and i had alot of fun online on it since the map is pretty good tbf. Story was okay, however the microtransactions were really bad, and dont even get me started on the atrocious upgrading system. (And no, we dont mention Jake Paul)

[@farid-cant-take-it-anymore]

I agree with you. I played the game and I miss Cops in free roam mode. 29.3K Subscribers. You deserve more.

[@Mr.Crow1984]

I remember i payback the best way to get upgrades was to do a drift event. You bassically had to abuse the system and make the largest ammount of drift points possible to get upgrades.

[@eggtaco5345]

I like payback but I rather play rivals

[@Monkey_D_Loofie]

Rivals is next level. Payback is not even near Rivals.

[@victorykingpin3674]

I feel Ghost should try to go back to that formula and give it another try

[@xandygameryt]

I remember playing the p1rated version of this game without microtransactions and was a decent experience, far from PS2 NFS games but I genuinely had fun, I beat the game after playing for around 1 month (because of lack of time haha) and had a good playthrough.

[@profit9084]

i honestly really liked the atmosphere in this game especially at night

[@yongling9825]

Just as Jessica Miller said it, "Night time, my time.".

[@mrboojay]

This is a game I quite enjoyed playing. it was all around fun and the soundtrack was great (something I still play off and on today). Grinding the upgrades wasn't the most fun, but I loved when they upped the level cap on cars I wanted to drive more than what they originally limited them to, like the Buick GNX.

[@ioniann7741]

Honestly the story was pretty awful and I could care less. The tuning with the card system was a joke but there was just something about the gameplay that made it so enjoyable for me. Using your drift car to drift through the desert while the Remix of „Play Dead“ plays in the background ( the music in gerneral was fire!) was such a vibe

[@GRIMEYtheFATMAN]

One of the biggest reasons Mac ISN'T a grating presence is because he's played by (and modeled after) David Ajala, who I recognized at the time (I got the game over a year later for $5 USD in a digital sale) as Manchester Black on 'Supergirl', and he's one of the best parts of 'Star Trek: Discovery'...

[@notblake8617]

the drifting races were some of the most simple fun i’ve had in a game

[@BloxWich]

Ultraviolet, your deep dive into Need For Speed Payback is a game-changer! 🚗💥 Your unbiased take on its design choices and microtransactions is refreshing. It's wild how Payback sparked controversy in 2017, and now, revisiting it in 2024 gives us a new perspective. Your open-minded approach is what we need in the gaming community. Kudos for bringing back the nostalgia and questioning if Payback was really THAT bad! 🔥

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

You an me are gonna kiss cuh

[@BloxWich]

Hey @ultraviolet_channel, love the energy! 💋 Let's keep it positive and spread the gaming vibes. Need For Speed Payback got us all reminiscing, and your video brought back some epic memories. Keep rocking those reviews, and here's to more gaming discussions! 🎮🚀 #GamingCommunityLove

[@SherlockHolmes9620]

Do take note that drift event used to be much much harder in Hard Difficulty. They nerf it down after people complaining it too hard so it just lackluster now. But drifting is fun in Payback and it doable in old version of the game.

[@SherlockHolmes9620]

Oh and Cars back then had a cap on Power Level. To get stronger you are forced to buy new car. Which made those derelicts car special because you can upgrade them to the max.

[@EuroBeat]

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeesssss. Seriously, the open world is empty, the driving is the root of all hate for modern NFS handling, you run the slot machine instead of tuning your vehicle and the story is pure CRINGE.

[@dusterpl6093]

Back in 2017 I thought it was mid at best, now it's honestly one of my favorites. And I say it as a Blackbox fanboy, with MW'05 being my Top 1 NFS ever... It all changed when I bought the Need for Speed bundle on Steam around Christmas last year. I mostly wanted to try Unbound but I didn't want to play it on lowest graphics settings (I had a 4gb RX570), so I chose the latest game I could comfortably play on highest settings. Back then last time I played Payback was in 2019 so I basically was re-discovering this whole game. And man, I absolutely loved it. Story wasn't that much cheesy as I originally believed it to be, soundtrack was great, handling model was fun and satysfying, the map was also fine and well done with some great long straights, hills with lots of curves, and a lot of dirt paths. Game looked good and ran good (with some minor FPS drop in Silver Rock). Even the slot machine based performance tuning wasn't all that bad to be honest, it was annoying at start but I kinda liked it in the end. You get speed cards after every event anyway + in order to achieve absolute maximum out of your car you had to stop for a moment and think about which exact manufacturers you should try getting in order to get the 3x/6x combo. You get a lot of cash and slot tokens from FREE shipments for doing daily challanges anyway. Not even for a moment I felt like this game tries to sell me anything. This whole microtransaction thing was 100% forced on the developers by EA, it's definitely not something Ghost wanted to add by themselves. Tldr: If you played this game X years ago and thought it's bad - give it another chance, you might actually like it. Even if you're an Blackbox era games fanboy.

[@IgI24PL]

Mental illness Reconsider your words

[@clutch44444]

I enjoyed this game a lot, the upgrade system was weird but I like how it fit into the whole "gambler" thing

[@noahshupenko]

I bought this game 6 months post launch. First NFS game I had ever bought. My biggest problem with the game like many others was the micro transactions and speed cards but the map variation, car types and the abandoned car drops were some my favorite things. There was no other way to get the Crown Vic police intercepter other than mods (my favorite and rarest car I own). Part of me still wishes for a sequel to the game.

[@blckbx0]

I was surprised when I first played this game how I didn't hate it, or myself for playing it, when I had heard how bad it was, I played it after I played heat and was surprised at how many things I enjoyed more on payback than on heat

[@anthonycress327]

I love payback but the one thing I didn't like was mainly the card system for upgrading your car. What I love was the verity of race styles and the car selection they could of made it even bigger but I know there is license agreement etc that go into that. They could even expand on customization.

[@racerspeedythehedgehog1858]

I go back to Payback from time to time when I can and tbh, I still enjoy it. Not as much as Heat, 2015, Unbound, and the greater NFS games of the 2000s, but I found a new liking to Payback. My gripes with the game: very slim chances of luck regarding the upgrading system, the off-road handling not being as dialed in(thankfully fixed in Heat and Unbound), and no free-roam cops. Positives(many): Packed action with missions, all of the events(even Offroad events) still packed that fun, while no free-roam cops, they sure gave me better thrills than NFS2015 cops. The soundtrack is cool, especially the songs like Kicks, Burning Man, and Unholy War, I started to listen to them on an almost daily basis. The characters, I found a new liking towards them despite their faults and the story being inspired by Fast and Furious but done better than current Fast and Furious movies, lol. The car selection, Ghost did pretty good and improved from 2015 and beyond, especially with the customization. While this game isn't a 10/10, I give it a solid 7/10 because while certain aspects did make me have certain questions about the game negatively, those positives still are making me come back to it and I forgot about the online, I made a couple of friends through there and it was fun whether cruising, racing, drag races, marked man races, and car meets(sort of). This game for me, is better than Forza Horizon 3 and The Crew 2. Plus, I adore the Highway Heist Mustang and I want to build one and go on a vacation to Vegas with it. Do you all think it's a good idea? I think it is but let me know! P.S. UltraViolet, I'm one of your new subscribers! Amazing content you post!

[@Meek2001]

yeah i agree but for the offroad for some reason the car was a lot more controllable at lower lvl but as soon as I maxed out the subaru I kept spinning around when at lower speeds but after 100kmh it was controllable and the only problem I had with the game was at higher lvls cars didn't want to drift the corners at higher speeds except for drift cars or when on dirt that bitch be sliding every corner

[@racerspeedythehedgehog1858]

@@Meek2001 Yeah but overall, I like Payback and if I gave it a 7/10, what would you give it regarding your own personal gripes and positives towards the game?

[@AJayZy]

Bro I want to go to Vegas in a custom Mustang with you!

[@leoneyamada5408]

Imagine "a way out" need for speed game... A game where the point is you and a buddy race and eventually come to heads with plenty of scenes with each of them so you get attached to the characters. Plenty of shoot outs and mini games, It would be so s tier

[@raiinger5203]

i honesty want the next game to be this style of story and batshit insane missions with the heat gameplay day night loop

[@matt.ramosss]

so I’m hearing all the Persona music in this video, and I’m waiting for another Persona review man!! Loved your P5R review, keep up the great work!!

[@UltraViolet_Moses]

Thank you! I’d love to do another one, though it’s pretty much guaranteed to flop, and combined with how much effort goes into those super long videos it’s tough to weigh. Maybe in the future though! Especially with the release of P3 Reload recently

[@R.E.A.MASHAPA]

I like it actually - just the upgrade system I didn't like but didn't hate either, I thought at least two people can never have the same car performance wise because it was so random

[@Exodus5ive-Zero]

If the game had the Heat styled upgrade system, it would be one of the best games in the series. But in my opinion, integrating gacha upgrades into the game ruined it.

[@Falloutwolf54]

NFS payback wasn’t bad I loved it and honestly it’s one of my favorite nfs games

[@RonnieWilliams_]

NFS Payback one of my favorite games back in middle school, I never really understood the hate for it at all. My only real gripe was how passive the cops were.

[@mundee95]

Summed up my exact thoughts on this game. I remember having a blast with this game when I got it discounted that christmas, shortly after launch.

[@jvshotta8845]

7:37 - I was willing to get payback until I saw its customization system. Coming from the back of EA's Battlefield 2 lootbox controversy made me avoid payback like the plague.

[@FlameSkull95]

I haven't finished watching the video as of me writing this, but the term you gave to the lack of free roam cops describes my general feelings about this game, which is a lack of thematic cohesion even down to it's upgrade system, which is even more grating considering the game's messaging about being against the random chances of winning on the streets, that alone shows the peak of EA's corporatism at the forefront, of which the gaming community already had a bone to pick with With that in mind, there's quite a few things that this game does well enough on it's own terms, and even despite not having finished it, I'm confident to take a proper stab at it in the eventual future.

[@IanRB26]

I actually like Payback a lot. Yes , it has its issues like the stupid card performance upgrades , inability to make all cars for all classes and very ugly exhaust customisation (which is carried over to Heat as well) to name a few. But overall I actually found the Jess storyline quite interesting and also all the callbacks they do to previous NFS games like Most Wanted 05, Carbon , Prostreet. Not the best in the series , but not the worst imo. But I know I'm in a heavy minority. And I can understand why people dislike Payback.

[@observingrogue7652]

I agree with you. The speedcard and microtransactions are unforgivable. And no free roam cops. But almost everything else was great. I really like the side bets, and spontaneous duals like the outrun races from Underground 2.

[@tahmeedgamingyt5140]

The answer to your 26 min video is; No. it's not that bad, apart from shitty upgrading system. In my opinion this is the best storygame out of all NFS

[@sabrinah2378]

i do think having the seperate 'classes' of cars for the different race types was a rlly good idea

[@nplsm]

Quick answer, it was not THAT bad, I love the way every NFS has some unique sort of twist to it, and even though most of the time it's badly executed, I think the idea of bringing gambling mechanics into the game makes Payback's personality, I loved the way it was implemented from car upgrades to side bets and sometimes linking it with the story in itself. As for the environment and map, I love the desert vibe it has to it and how big the map can feel. Don't get me wrong, it's defo bigger than Heat or 2015 for sure, but it's not that big if you get what I'm saying. The vibe it has to it is uncopiable

[@jamesbourn8965]

21:10 im saving this for later TS HILARIOUS

[@DatisDHShorts]

I loved this game, it’s setting was really unique and the story missions (although a bit corny, were a lot of fun as the action based story focus on the racing formula was a breath of fresh air). If only the customization wasn’t locked, the upgrade system was like heat, cops were available in free roam, the online system had proper freeroam with access to all types of races and the game was supported for 3 or so years then it would’ve been one of the best racing games I’ve ever played. Shame EA fumbled as they usually do cause of greed and poor management.

[@Ysef-tk8ri]

I never knew people thought nfs payback was bad, for me it’s probbably one of my favourites

[@jansen4282]

I didn’t mind having voiced characters…. Until I started driving and they hit me with a 30 second q with “woohoo” “this is awesome” “not today Jose”. I couldn’t stand it

[@acevalentine5250]

I remember my routine in payback when I finished the game. I would grind around 1 million dollars and head over to a dealer to buy whatever shitbox I wanted. Then I’d take it to the upgrades and spend the remaining cash on expensive roulettes. Could never even max out the cars like that but they would get pretty close.

[@HunTLaaR007]

Played the heck out of this game and ended it multiple times, campaign wasn't the best of all but it got the job done and overall car sounds and design was good and map was really good compared to other nfs, the only thing which I didn't like was the card system.

[@ZaThrint]

I remember enjoying this game quite a lot. The handling aged pretty badly, but otherwise I look back on it fondly. The upgrade system I thought was actually super cool and almost felt MMO like in nature. Once they started adding the microtransactions for it though, it ruined it for me but luckily I played before those were added

[@dyaanahmad5079]

Nice to see Marcus rethink his life choices after encountering Jack

[@Rockport1911]

Nice to look at this game again. Since its older its not importants what flaws it has, to me its important if mods can remove these flaws. As far as I can see there are mods ( and a big UNITE mod) to make the aweful upgrading system better.

[@Youboremenow]

Recently came back to nfs and staretd off with payback. have dabbled in a few other nfs games over the years but never completed any of them before payback... By far the worst thing for me is how anything aside from first place gets no upgrades. Yes I know you can actually earn money and then buy it from the tuning store... but... that just seems inherently wrong. I would've enjoyed the game so much more if they had some lower tier level of upgrades or something that you could get based on how well you did in each race. The game itself I found fun, I still can't drive for shit, drifting eludes me and taking sharp corners just results in me banging into a guardrail every single time, but I did manage to win in normal mode without having to step down the difficulty further so that makes me happy. The sense of speed... It's good, not great. But after having tried the opening of nfs heat.... I think at the start at least payback gives you a better sense of speed. At least between 100 - 120 ranges. Granted I don't think I can give heat a fair shake as my hardware doesn't seem to be good enough for it. But yeah, payback gives a decent sense of speed at the start, and at the endgame. But in the middle... when you rock cars between 150-200 or so the game doesnt feel that fun. Does get better when you get past the 200 barrier though. Story... boring, I dunno, I just couldn't get invested into it. That said... Just me or did anyone else pick up alot of sexual tension between tyler and lina.... literally every time they are on screen together I was wondering if they were gonna start making out. Car selection, dunno, don't care. I just wanted to play a game where I could go fast in. A thought I had when playing it though... instead of always featuring stories (in the racing genre) in movies or games about accomplished crews or people who knew cars... why not build on a story where the protagonist is someone who is clueless at the start but learns about racing and racing culture as the story develops. Lean what the hell it is to tune a car. What does nitrous do. How best to use it. Explain drifting!!! in game with a practice mode !! so I don't have to go and google them.

[@rensomusni8091]

I played NFS Payback and really enjoyed it. I was actually surprised for an EA game, I sure got lots of freebies after buying it on sale. The plot is also great. The only thing I find lacking with it is there's no New Game Plus for me to use the newly unlocked cars for. Actually there wasn't even a regular New Game at all but besides that, I hated nothing in the game

[@dzxtricks]

Somehow i finished this game while i didn't in Heat. Although i really hate the jackpot mechanic, which is same with me hating Heat's long night sessions where i couldn't just save & quit the game anytime i need to.