The series could take inspiration from Driver: San Francisco, which is a driving game that was brave enough to get very weird. However, for now, fast races through Lakewood City, risky side bets, and drifting that trigger cool driving effects will certainly suffice.
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Need for Speed Finally Finds Its Footing
It’s rare for a gaming franchise to remain relevant for as long as Need for Speed has. This doesn’t mean that it hasn’t experienced its fair share of highs and lows. For most fans, the golden era of the series came with the Underground games and Most Wanted. The low point, some would argue, came with Rivals. Despite the rollercoaster-like peaks and valleys that the franchise has gone through, it has yet to completely be written off, and its name alone continues to pull fans of arcade racing games.
Over the years, it has also adopted several different identities, with have been met with varying levels of appreciation from fans. Some of the earliest games have players racing on the outskirts of populated areas, while the Underground games keep things urban and feature high-speed races in the middle of busy cities. The games have also embraced legal racing, as seen with Need for Speed ProStreet which takes place on closed tracks. Need for Speed has also experimented with varying storylines. Earlier games kept the focus strictly on the cars, and storylines were almost non-existent. The franchise later decided to experiment with narratives, as seen with Most Wanted which has players working their way up the Blacklist and going against Rockport’s police.
With Need for Speed Unbound, the series seems to have found an identity that suits it perfectly in the modern era. The fast cars and rubber-burning races that gamers expect from the series are present in spades. It also brings back urban street racing, which is one of the features fans appreciated most from the Underground era of the series. The game also does a stellar job with its narrative which is compelling without being distracting or overbearing. Most importantly, the game feels confident in itself. It’s brave enough to be self-referential, and its style accentuated by celebrity appearances and designer clothing shows that the game is aware that it’s one of the coolest arcade racers around.
Need for Speed Should Get Weirder
Now that the series has finally found a solid identity that fits like a glove, developers should be brave enough to take things further with future titles. More scenes to show how self-aware the game is, and moments that break the fourth wall would add an extra flair to the games and put them above the slew of arcade racers out there. One of the last racing games to truly do this is Driver: San Francisco which toys with the player’s perspective. Need for Speed is now in the perfect position to begin cranking up the weirdness and pulling surprises on the fan base it has regained trust with.
Playing things safe may seem like a good option for Criterion Games at this point, but it could result in the series fading into obscurity as players come to know what to expect from every release. Need for Speed Unbound has proved that there is plenty more life left in the series. Handled correctly, the franchise could still have a long and fruitful future ahead of it.
Need for Speed Unbound is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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