furai47
11-20-2010, 06:54 AM
First off, I know some people already posted their reviews, so this one might seem redundant , and honestly, I don't give a flying toss about that, so here is my own review.
I'll divide this review into Playthrough, Gameplay, Sound, Graphics, Visuals(not the same thing), Game world, and Flexibility.
Playthrough:
The game features an online mode and a carrer mode.
Carrer gives you races/challenges, you complete them, earn exp/bounty and rank up. Higher bounty unlocks more challenges, cars, weapons, yada yada. As a racer, you have normal races, hot pursuits, and time trials. As a cop, you have hot pursuits, interceptor/hot pursuit 1 on 1 with an open world, and rapid response/time trial with collision penalties.
Cars and equipment unlock fast, although players who have friends over Autolog and who compete during the course of the carrer will have an easier time in carrer, as they'll unlock things faster, and as such, the game loses some of it's difficulty. Which is not that hard at all, but more on that later.
Online I haven't touched yet, mainly because I want to complete the carrer first, and also to give myself a harder time at beating the game, so no review here.
Gameplay:
This is where people have problems, mainly the controls. They describe looooooong input lag, cars handling like they were drunk etc. However, I find that the driving model is quite intriguing once you get off your lazy arse and put some bloody work into it. Let me explain:
Yes, the game has some input lag, however this can be adressed so easily I laugh at those who can't figure it out. Don't play on a keyboard. Just don't. Gamepad or wheel.
If gamepad, I suggest the 360 controller with XBCD360 drivers and the deadzone reduced to a max of 10%(the stock 360 controller drivers have it at 30%. 3-BLOODY-0%!!!) and the triggers set as digital buttons(again, stock drivers in analog mode stop at about 95-98% of the way), or any gamepad you can customise the deadzone and sensitivity with. Wheel, again, sensitivity up, set the deadzone wisely, make sure the pedals reach 100%.
Also, the cars don't react the second you press the button because of the driving model. Big heavier cars like the DBS will react slower than a GT3 RS, because they have to shift more weight. And no, cars don't all handle the same. What the bloody hell have you been smoking?! Drive a Reventón, then a Corvette ZR-1, then a GT3 RS, then the One-77. CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE NOW?!! Not all cars are true to real life, but no difference except top speed? Yes there bloody is!
And don't think that's it, no, weight also has an influence on how effective cars are at busting racers. The Panamera, although slower, will be able to do more damage AND take more damage than a Z06. And if that wasn't enough, the surface on which you're driving also affects your acceleration and speed. And I'm not talking shortcuts here, I'm talking the patchy tarmac in the mountains(harder to achieve top speed) and the smooth tarmac in the desert(top speed easily achieved). Just go into freedrive, don't use N2O and try it out. There is a difference. Not a big one, but still.
Ah yes, the N2O. The reason of so much hate. In reality, it's pretty much useless, except in time trials. In any race, you'll be able to get to 2nd place without it and in the majority, you won't even have to use it to get to 1st. Just don't drift much, stick to the perfect line, don't crash, maybe use a shortcut if you really must, and you'll be able to win most races. Cops do have to use it though because it give a significant damage increase at the right impact speed and angle.
But then you'll say, hey furai, you arrogant prick, how about if someone beats your time online and due to Autologs incredible attention vortex you try to beat it but you can't without N2O?
And then I'll say, either start dispising the person who did it and write him hate letters, or accept that this is ****ING ONLINE! Unless you make a deal with you friend not to use N2O when trying to beat eachother, thus saving your pathetic sense of pride, you will have to use it occasionaly to stay competitive. Even if they don't admit it, athletes still use doping.
Camera views are limited to bumper, hood and 3rd person and with the driving engine and game concept at hand, I find that an interior view wouldn't be much help, except in freeroam. Apropo...
Freeroam is heavily limited. You can only drive around, find shortcuts, take photos, and that's about it. Including some cops to escape from/racers to bust would help.
There is also an absence of a manual transmission, though I am quite confident it will come through DLC or with mods, seeing how demanded it is.
Lastly, drifting. Sharp 90 and 180 degree turns are easier to do if you kick the tail out, but otherwise, corners are best done on the racing line with a careful use of throttle and brakes. Drifting does give you N2O, but any drift where your car is angled more than 30-45 degrees will make you lose anywhere from 30-60mph/50-100kph. Taking corners wisely will preserve speed, and keeping the car steady and not oversteering will make you work a bit, which as I see it is good.
Some corners, like the two almost-a-full-circle and long 180 degree turns however make me smile when I drift through them. Remember kids, a sliding car is a slow car, but a car going sideways is more fun that a car going straight.
Sound:
Cars sound awesome(exceptions may occur), music is partly good, partly odd(NFS3 music kicks it in the rear), but tire screech and rain are way too loud.
As a bonus, any car(best works on roadsters) + tunnels = EPIC SOUNDTRACK! Honestly.
Graphics:
There is a lack of options(resolution, textures, blur, shadows, gamma, anisotropic filtering). However, the game looks gorgeous. Even on the lowest possible settings, it still looks awesome. And it runs smooth too. Textures are sharp, shadows look very nice, car models look great, particle effects, with the exception of nitrous flame look profound.
The lack of an Anti aliasing option is dissapointing as you have to go as far as google to search for how to force it through your graphics card control panel, so that's a huge letdown.
But the game does really look good.
Visuals:
Seacrest county looks very well designed. Transitions from one enviroment are a bit fast, but the level of detail makes up for it. Each of the enviroments is unique, has it's own architecture, surface of the road changes, vegetation changes. DICE's influence can be seen throughout the world, so, in a nutshell(Borat style) IZ NAYSE!!!
Game world:
Seacrest county looks nice, but the road complexity fails it a bit. There are some tougher turns, but it's really all too simple. The roads seem to have been designed for chases, as driving does become harder to nail when you're in a pursuit(either side of the law), but I still miss the violent hairpins of Summit. Or the general driving heaven of Transfăgărăşan Highway.
But again, there is an old school NFS presence. Take a look at Eagle Crest, one of the roads through the forest is basically the Divided Highway if you squint and pretend the trees aren't there, the coastal road in the upper left is a simplified TNFS track. It's like with cars, novelties come, some good, some useless, some appaling, but with a good company, heritage is present.
Flexibility:
The game isn't very flexible, as there isn't any custom race option, there isn't many options in any of the submenus in the actual ****ing options menu, etc.
However, the game has proven itself to be easily moddable(within 3 days we got a camera hack), so any hole can be easily filled. Plus, with the succes of DLC, Criterion should be releasing updates with cars, maybe even new roads to drive on.
Final words:
The game isn't an old school NFS. It isn't a new school NFS. It's a mixture of both with some features missing. However, it works. It's a fun game, and that's how you should accept it. If you won't accept it as a NFS, then don't, pretend Need for Speed isn't even written on the box. Accept it as an engaging, fun game with insane chases, beautiful cars and lots of speed. I did it, and I don't regret buying it. But then again, I don't play games for their titles and boxarts, but for what's in the game itself.
And if anyone has further complaints like "Durr, this NFS isn't a classic NFS and as such isn't worth a 50p because of qwertZuiopšđasdfghjklčćžYxcvbnm", pirate it, if you have no intention of buying, and try this:
Go to freeroam and to either side of the Eagle Crest mountain road, take any good handling car. Drive with a wheel, without using N2O or drifts, only drive on the racing line. Brake before corners, hit every apex, throttle on the exit, try not to oversteer. Turn the SFX to max, turn music to 0, and while you're at it, have Snow Bags(NFS3 Summit/Rocky Pass soundtrack) play in the background. You can even use the camera hack if you want to have an internal view.
After you've completed this drive, take the hands of you wheel, go to this thread and if you say you still didn't feel like playing a NFS in any way, AT BLOODY ****ING ALL, I'll give a medal for being a bigger moronic, idiotic and pretentious prick than Ferrari. And considering they have the guts to go build a Ferrari theme park, that's quite an achievement.
There, that's my review. Now go eat a cookie as a reward for reading this wall of text, Nuts4Ford.
EDIT:
I've just busted a racer without smashing him. Honestly, he crashed just enough to slow down dramatically, I put my car so he couldn't get out, 3-5 seconds, BUSTED. It's possible, just more difficult. Thus more rewarding.
I'll divide this review into Playthrough, Gameplay, Sound, Graphics, Visuals(not the same thing), Game world, and Flexibility.
Playthrough:
The game features an online mode and a carrer mode.
Carrer gives you races/challenges, you complete them, earn exp/bounty and rank up. Higher bounty unlocks more challenges, cars, weapons, yada yada. As a racer, you have normal races, hot pursuits, and time trials. As a cop, you have hot pursuits, interceptor/hot pursuit 1 on 1 with an open world, and rapid response/time trial with collision penalties.
Cars and equipment unlock fast, although players who have friends over Autolog and who compete during the course of the carrer will have an easier time in carrer, as they'll unlock things faster, and as such, the game loses some of it's difficulty. Which is not that hard at all, but more on that later.
Online I haven't touched yet, mainly because I want to complete the carrer first, and also to give myself a harder time at beating the game, so no review here.
Gameplay:
This is where people have problems, mainly the controls. They describe looooooong input lag, cars handling like they were drunk etc. However, I find that the driving model is quite intriguing once you get off your lazy arse and put some bloody work into it. Let me explain:
Yes, the game has some input lag, however this can be adressed so easily I laugh at those who can't figure it out. Don't play on a keyboard. Just don't. Gamepad or wheel.
If gamepad, I suggest the 360 controller with XBCD360 drivers and the deadzone reduced to a max of 10%(the stock 360 controller drivers have it at 30%. 3-BLOODY-0%!!!) and the triggers set as digital buttons(again, stock drivers in analog mode stop at about 95-98% of the way), or any gamepad you can customise the deadzone and sensitivity with. Wheel, again, sensitivity up, set the deadzone wisely, make sure the pedals reach 100%.
Also, the cars don't react the second you press the button because of the driving model. Big heavier cars like the DBS will react slower than a GT3 RS, because they have to shift more weight. And no, cars don't all handle the same. What the bloody hell have you been smoking?! Drive a Reventón, then a Corvette ZR-1, then a GT3 RS, then the One-77. CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE NOW?!! Not all cars are true to real life, but no difference except top speed? Yes there bloody is!
And don't think that's it, no, weight also has an influence on how effective cars are at busting racers. The Panamera, although slower, will be able to do more damage AND take more damage than a Z06. And if that wasn't enough, the surface on which you're driving also affects your acceleration and speed. And I'm not talking shortcuts here, I'm talking the patchy tarmac in the mountains(harder to achieve top speed) and the smooth tarmac in the desert(top speed easily achieved). Just go into freedrive, don't use N2O and try it out. There is a difference. Not a big one, but still.
Ah yes, the N2O. The reason of so much hate. In reality, it's pretty much useless, except in time trials. In any race, you'll be able to get to 2nd place without it and in the majority, you won't even have to use it to get to 1st. Just don't drift much, stick to the perfect line, don't crash, maybe use a shortcut if you really must, and you'll be able to win most races. Cops do have to use it though because it give a significant damage increase at the right impact speed and angle.
But then you'll say, hey furai, you arrogant prick, how about if someone beats your time online and due to Autologs incredible attention vortex you try to beat it but you can't without N2O?
And then I'll say, either start dispising the person who did it and write him hate letters, or accept that this is ****ING ONLINE! Unless you make a deal with you friend not to use N2O when trying to beat eachother, thus saving your pathetic sense of pride, you will have to use it occasionaly to stay competitive. Even if they don't admit it, athletes still use doping.
Camera views are limited to bumper, hood and 3rd person and with the driving engine and game concept at hand, I find that an interior view wouldn't be much help, except in freeroam. Apropo...
Freeroam is heavily limited. You can only drive around, find shortcuts, take photos, and that's about it. Including some cops to escape from/racers to bust would help.
There is also an absence of a manual transmission, though I am quite confident it will come through DLC or with mods, seeing how demanded it is.
Lastly, drifting. Sharp 90 and 180 degree turns are easier to do if you kick the tail out, but otherwise, corners are best done on the racing line with a careful use of throttle and brakes. Drifting does give you N2O, but any drift where your car is angled more than 30-45 degrees will make you lose anywhere from 30-60mph/50-100kph. Taking corners wisely will preserve speed, and keeping the car steady and not oversteering will make you work a bit, which as I see it is good.
Some corners, like the two almost-a-full-circle and long 180 degree turns however make me smile when I drift through them. Remember kids, a sliding car is a slow car, but a car going sideways is more fun that a car going straight.
Sound:
Cars sound awesome(exceptions may occur), music is partly good, partly odd(NFS3 music kicks it in the rear), but tire screech and rain are way too loud.
As a bonus, any car(best works on roadsters) + tunnels = EPIC SOUNDTRACK! Honestly.
Graphics:
There is a lack of options(resolution, textures, blur, shadows, gamma, anisotropic filtering). However, the game looks gorgeous. Even on the lowest possible settings, it still looks awesome. And it runs smooth too. Textures are sharp, shadows look very nice, car models look great, particle effects, with the exception of nitrous flame look profound.
The lack of an Anti aliasing option is dissapointing as you have to go as far as google to search for how to force it through your graphics card control panel, so that's a huge letdown.
But the game does really look good.
Visuals:
Seacrest county looks very well designed. Transitions from one enviroment are a bit fast, but the level of detail makes up for it. Each of the enviroments is unique, has it's own architecture, surface of the road changes, vegetation changes. DICE's influence can be seen throughout the world, so, in a nutshell(Borat style) IZ NAYSE!!!
Game world:
Seacrest county looks nice, but the road complexity fails it a bit. There are some tougher turns, but it's really all too simple. The roads seem to have been designed for chases, as driving does become harder to nail when you're in a pursuit(either side of the law), but I still miss the violent hairpins of Summit. Or the general driving heaven of Transfăgărăşan Highway.
But again, there is an old school NFS presence. Take a look at Eagle Crest, one of the roads through the forest is basically the Divided Highway if you squint and pretend the trees aren't there, the coastal road in the upper left is a simplified TNFS track. It's like with cars, novelties come, some good, some useless, some appaling, but with a good company, heritage is present.
Flexibility:
The game isn't very flexible, as there isn't any custom race option, there isn't many options in any of the submenus in the actual ****ing options menu, etc.
However, the game has proven itself to be easily moddable(within 3 days we got a camera hack), so any hole can be easily filled. Plus, with the succes of DLC, Criterion should be releasing updates with cars, maybe even new roads to drive on.
Final words:
The game isn't an old school NFS. It isn't a new school NFS. It's a mixture of both with some features missing. However, it works. It's a fun game, and that's how you should accept it. If you won't accept it as a NFS, then don't, pretend Need for Speed isn't even written on the box. Accept it as an engaging, fun game with insane chases, beautiful cars and lots of speed. I did it, and I don't regret buying it. But then again, I don't play games for their titles and boxarts, but for what's in the game itself.
And if anyone has further complaints like "Durr, this NFS isn't a classic NFS and as such isn't worth a 50p because of qwertZuiopšđasdfghjklčćžYxcvbnm", pirate it, if you have no intention of buying, and try this:
Go to freeroam and to either side of the Eagle Crest mountain road, take any good handling car. Drive with a wheel, without using N2O or drifts, only drive on the racing line. Brake before corners, hit every apex, throttle on the exit, try not to oversteer. Turn the SFX to max, turn music to 0, and while you're at it, have Snow Bags(NFS3 Summit/Rocky Pass soundtrack) play in the background. You can even use the camera hack if you want to have an internal view.
After you've completed this drive, take the hands of you wheel, go to this thread and if you say you still didn't feel like playing a NFS in any way, AT BLOODY ****ING ALL, I'll give a medal for being a bigger moronic, idiotic and pretentious prick than Ferrari. And considering they have the guts to go build a Ferrari theme park, that's quite an achievement.
There, that's my review. Now go eat a cookie as a reward for reading this wall of text, Nuts4Ford.
EDIT:
I've just busted a racer without smashing him. Honestly, he crashed just enough to slow down dramatically, I put my car so he couldn't get out, 3-5 seconds, BUSTED. It's possible, just more difficult. Thus more rewarding.