Indeed, despite having a relatively short announcement-to-release window, Need for Speed Unbound releases on December 2. It’s one of three major games releasing on this date, so it’ll be competing with The Callisto Protocol and Marvel’s Midnight Suns for attention. Of course, a racing game, a horror game, and a social RPG with tactical combat really have different audiences, but some will want to play all three. The soundtrack could be something that makes NFS Unbound more interesting compared to its direct competitors.
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Fans have known since reveal that A$AP Rocky is associated with Need for Speed Unbound, featuring heavily in the game and with a unique game mode too. Beyond him, the Need for Speed Unbound social media account promises over 70 tracks from 25 countries. It seems the goal of the soundtrack is for players to “discover new artists leading a multitude of sub-genres across music championing self-expression & empowerment!” As seen below, there’s definitely a mixture of bigger and well-known artists like A$AP Rocky and Royce Da 5'9" and lesser-known figures.
Of course, it depends on how well the soundtrack mixes into gameplay at key moments or how the radio works within Need for Speed Unbound, but the variety here means that, as players discover new elements for racing games like NFS Unbound’s anime-like visuals, they may discover new musicians to play in their real-world car too. Not for street racing obviously, but simply for the love of music.
While the verdict is still out on how NFS Unbound compares to previous racing games in the franchise, it does seem to be trying to stand out and do something different. That should simply be applauded of Criterion Games.
Need for Speed Unbound is scheduled to release on December 2 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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