Today, according to the established tradition of late "reviews of certain games", we will begin to dive into the Need for Speed series and begin this acquaintance with last game series. I will not disassemble each game on the shelves, because it makes no sense to talk about the long-term serial release of the series, about each of its parts, since this sheet contains 22 parts, which, by and large, repeat each other. Of course, they were different, and some of the parts had very fundamental leaps forward and set the pace for the next parts, and using this series of games as an example, you can track how the technology of the computer game world developed, and also on its example, the entire path of modern graphics and physics of racing, that's actually the whole point. But for us simple "gamers", the main thing is to let them press the gas. Today we have on our screens a modern regular restart of the series - the Need for Speed game, released for consoles in 2015, and for PC in 2016. Ghost Games was at the helm of development.

Usually, the problem with serial, annual games is that it is extremely difficult to make sharp, breakthrough movements forward, and thus, sooner or later there comes a point when the series begins to fade and then the studios' habit, which has already become the norm, is to restart the series from scratch - is enforced. This is not the first relaunch for the Need for Speed series. The reason for the next "reboot of the system" is associated with the withering of the series due to the failure of the last parts. Oh, there were the times of the first UNDERGROUNDA and MOST WONTEDA, and who's husband is now very hard to surprise a modern gamer with something new in this genre

Let's try to answer the question: What is important for a RACE game? Firstly, it is important for me that there are more races themselves than all the other secondary content, which actually artificially forces you to waste your time in the game. Hence the controversial "nuance" at once. Do games like Need for Speed need an open world, and if so, in what form? Remember - in the first UNDERGROUN we just had racing and tuning, and the game tore the gaming community with its popularity, primarily because the player did not waste time on all sorts of nonsense, but immediately from race to race worked his way up. All this was accompanied by a "trivial" hackneyed plot in which a person climbs the popularity ladder, winning one race after another, and as a result becomes top 1. An open world for games, except for RPG, is not needed, and if it is needed, then it is necessary to think about another way of its implementation, and while playing the modern version of Need for Speed, I was faced with the fact that I was just rolling around the open world and periodically took part in races. Of course, you don't have to drive hundreds of kilometers around the city all the time to get to the place of the next race, there is the possibility of teleportation to the place of the race, but it's hard to call them RACES and from here a second understanding of what is important for me in the RACING genre is formed.

Secondly, it is important for me that the gongs themselves are difficult. Playing in modern Need for Speed, I could not lose even once at all - this is not very serious, because in this way the developers have deprived the player of the competitive incentive. Races, whether it was sprint, ring or "drift" from each other practically did not differ, it seemed that I was playing with myself, the artificial intelligence is clearly lame. Only towards the end of the game, there were glimpses of difficulty, but they also looked very tense. Therefore, let's draw an intermediate conclusion 2 important components in this genre were poorly implemented, then the question arises, how did the developers surprise the gaming community?

All parts of Need for Speed have always been distinguished by the fact that they had a plot, of course it was difficult to call the scenarios breakthrough, but a certain form of it was still present in the game and sometimes it was they who motivated the player to continue playing. A big plus was the fact that the plot is served through videos with live actors, according to the old scheme - a beginner climbs to the top of fame, by winning race after race. All the shots are made from the perspective of the main character, perhaps that is why there is an immersion in the story, which, although banal to the point of disgrace, is presented quite well.

The game is divided into 5 storylines - these are different types of jamming and spending about 6 hours on them, I was upset, because there was no pleasure from the races themselves. They froze blue indicator stripes, which were invented for "autists" who cannot look at the map. Crashing into any object, I did not lose position in the race, but calmly continued the race. It was impossible to lose. PLAYING BORING, but then the time came for the final race lasting 10 minutes and it brightened up my disappointment a little. In addition to all the mentioned disadvantages, there are still others, the servants of the order here, to put it mildly, stupid bots, and that's it.

You ask me, is this all or what?, But what about the graphics, where is the tuning and I will answer you that the sweetest thing in this game I left for last, in order to smooth out all the negativity that I have left from the game, but about these two aspects of the game can not be said much. Yes The graphics and physics of car control are at a height, an impression is created close to reality from a picture of a drawn car on a drawn road. If earlier in each part you got used to the control, now you configure it yourself - it is very convenient. And now TUNING is a BOMB. A large number of various small parts and a variety of machines for which you can express your imagination, but all this was before, even in the same UNDERGROUN - this was already, perhaps in slightly smaller quantities, but it was.

The developers had a desire to make the world alive by adding a multiplayer function to it, but it turned out somehow sadly, the game is not about "driving" trying to snatch victory in the last meters from their opponents, but about sitting in the garage, taking pictures of the car and watching a small "movie "With the actors. This is not what we expected from the new Need for Speed. Pancho was with you, play your favorite games, see you soon.

This material is saturated with nostalgia and good memories of the great past of NFS, in particular Underground and Most Wanted.

It is no exaggeration to say that many had high hopes for this game. Especially fans of the Need series For Speed and its legendary Underground. But as is usually the case, not all expectations were destined to come true ...

In this article, I would like to tell you why the new Need for Speed rests on the laurels of the main street races, trying to imitate the great Underground in everything, but is as far from it as Tomb Raider is from.

And also why the new Need for Speed will not become that icon for the current schoolchildren and students, and it is unlikely that it will make you think not only about street races, but also the desire to have your own car ...

Expectation vs Reality

From the very first trailers, the new Need For Speed has hinted that something unusual awaits us. All these videos in the style of dashing street races with police chases probably created a not entirely correct impression in the minds of people who bought the game. I wouldn't be surprised if many, like me, were waiting for something like the reincarnation of the masterpiece NFS: Underground.

To me, as an old Underground fan, the game shown in the trailers felt like that.

Old idea with new cars and modern game mechanics like reckless police chases. Just like in the trailer for the Coolio track. Yeah, I was dreaming.

https://youtu.be/vLQGXHy5m6Y

NFS 2015 doesn't smell like exciting police chases. The game can be described in two or three words - this is Underground 2 (if anyone remembers) with a screwed-on perverted social component, into which, for some reason, ridiculous police idiots were stuck.

Why ridiculous? Very simply, the cops here are not ferocious beaters, hunters who are trying in all real and unrealistic ways to stop you, an illegal street racer. No, these are timid, intelligent gendarmes who cautiously keep their distance from you, not wanting to create much trouble for you, slowly trudging after you along the night Ventura Bay.

Yes, even to find a policeman like that, you have to try more than to hide from him. It's not just easy, it doesn't create any hindrances.

Why screw up all this nonsense? It is clear that for show, but there is no interest or any sense in this.

Of particular concern is the fleet of Need For Speed 2015, there are a number of important points, thanks to which the game looks even more awkward.

It is very strange to see cars for $ 100k and more in the battered garage of a night street racer. The guys hang out in eateries and cheap bars, and then get into their Porsche GTS3 and go to twist bagels. Ridiculous? Even more.

Still, this game is not about the rich, dissecting their creepy expensive supercars, but about street tramps who chase with their own kind for an extra couple of thousand green and "street authority".

And here Lamborghini (?) ?! How did they end up in a street racing game ?! The buddy who was responsible for the selection of the licensing of NFS 2015 machines, knowingly or not, planted a serious logic bomb under the setting of the game.

After all, if the guys from the street have 150k on the Aventador, then why should they compete, like homeless people for a couple of bottles on the night streets of a provincial town? Isn't it easier to come to a beautiful track with good coverage and drive there? There is no logic here.

Take a look at the list of cars in the first Underground:

Acura Integra Type R
Acura RSX
Dodge Neon (Mark I) Coupe DOHC ECC 2.0
Ford focus ZX3
Honda Civic Si Coupe
Honda s2000
Hyundai Tiburon GT RS Coupe
Mazda miata MX-5 NB
Mazda RX-7
Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
Mitsubishi Lancer ES
Nissan 240SX
Nissan 350Z
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V
Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)
Peugeot 206 S16
Subaru Impreza
Toyota Celica GT-S
Toyota Supra
Volkswagen golf GTi (Mark IV) 1.8T

Do you see at least one really expensive car, supercar or at least a powerful sports coupe here? That - that and it.

This was the interest to take an ordinary serial car and bring it to mind, making your own coolest sports car on your knee, thanks to non-standard details and an external body kit. The player was interested in poking around in the tuning, I myself remember sitting for hours in the garage, perfecting his beloved Acura RSX. 🙂

Now take a look at the "modest" 2015 NFS vehicle list:

2006 Acura RSX
1988 BMW M3 Evolution ll (E30)
2014 BMW M2 Coupè
2014 BMW M4 Coupe (F82)
2006 BMW M3 E46
2010 BMW M3 E92
2008 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392
2014 Scion FR-S
2012 SRT Viper GTS
1987 Ferrari F40
2009 Ferrari 458 Italia
2015 Ford Mustang GT
1991 Ford Mustang
2015 Ford Focus RS
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302
1965 Ford Mustang
2004 Honda S2000
2000 Honda Civic Type R
1992 Honda NSX Type R
2006 Lotus Exige S
1996 Mazda MX-5
2015 Mazda MX-5
2001 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R
2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR
1989 Nissan 180SX Type-X (S13)
2002 Nissan Silvia Spec-R (S15)
1971 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (C10)
1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) V-spec
1993 GT-R Nissan Skyline GT-R (R-32)
2014 Nissan GT-R (R35)
1978 Nissan Fairlady 240ZG
2014 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4
2011 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
2009 Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 SV
1999 Lamborghini Diablo SV
2015 McLaren 570S Coupé
2014 Mercedes AMG-GT
1972 Porsche 911 (901) Carrera RSR 2.8
2012 Porsche 911 (991) Carrera S
2015 Porsche 911 (991) GT3 RS
2015 Porsche Cayman GT4
2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2013 Subaru BRZ
2012 Toyota GT-86
2001 Toyota Supra IV SZ-R
1986 Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86
1976 Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI
1975 Volvo 242

This is a serious contrast. Only 50 perfectly copied virtual cars, which is many times more than in the first Underground.

Take, for example, a 1975 Volvo 242 - this is such a ridiculous iron trough on wheels, which even at the time of its release on the market could not be considered an interesting acquisition for those who like to drive.

I absolutely cannot understand what such a car can do on the streets of a modern city, let alone be used by a street racer to ride.

And that's just one example of the sheer absurdity of 2015 Need For Speed. After all, the same can be said about supercars, which also have nothing to do on this list, but for different reasons.

It follows from all this that it is simply not interesting to seriously engage in tuning your car, and at all.

Well, why, tell me, disfigure the already perfect McLaren 570S Coupe with wretched stickers and third-party body kits. The only thing I'm going to do is put more powerful unofficial parts under the hood, if they can be found.

We can safely say that the former excitement of customizing their car EA was killed, if not completely, then at least seriously discrete with these supercars.

Now imagine that this was just one and not even the most serious drawback of Need For Speed 2015. It gets worse.

Good and bad

If you set a goal and break the game into good and bad components as succinctly as possible, then you get the following list. Good first, as the list of bad things is much more comprehensive.

Bright moments:

Drive... There is a drive in the new Need for Speed, this cannot be taken away from the game. Especially there is to put a movie camera, it becomes much more interesting to play with it.
Graphics... As practice has shown, the FrostBite engine scales well and is able to show a good, even beautiful picture. True, all this is spoiled by the eternal night of Ventura Bay.
Online... An interesting idea with online. Here, not everything is as smooth and good as we would like, but the idea as a whole is promising. It is pleasant to compete on the streets of Ventura Bay with live opponents, to look at their body kits, to show yourself. Perhaps this was the dream of many in the Underground era. It is a pity that sometimes this pleasure can spoil the imperfect network code.
2016 BMW M2... This is one of the few bright spots that can delight in the ever-gloomy Ventura Bay. The car turned out to be so excellent that a separate trailer was even specially removed for it.
Really cool styling tuning. There has never been such an abundance of settings in NFS.

Unfortunately, there is much more bad in the game:

Thresh cinematic inserts... They begin to annoy from the very first minutes with their pathetic falsity. It is clear what effect the developers wanted to achieve, but they did not achieve it, the effect of immersion or even participation in the "street racing life" does not appear either at the beginning or after ten hours of the game.
Street racers, diners in eateries ride cars for 150k and above. It's about super-expensive cars that have nothing to do in street races.
Timid cops who seem to be afraid to touch the rich racers, preferring not to get involved. Finding a cop on the night streets turns into a real challenge.
Deranged physics... Yes, I understand, this is arcade racing, blah blah and so on. But not to that extent! It is banally strange when for an ordinary tuned car it is chasing at 300 km / h around the city. And these magic bumpers that stop the car at the slightest tangential collision almost to zero. Frostbite is clearly not the engine where you can set up an adequate physics model. Indirectly, the developers agree with this, otherwise why leave the control of the car to the judgment of the players?
For all types of races (drift, sprint, etc.) the same car... In principle, this disadvantage also stems from an incorrect physical model. Every time you want to drive a drift, you will definitely have to drive into the garage and change the control.
Soundtrack for an amateur... It is not a failure, but it does not take into account the taste preferences of different players. There is no trace of such a variety of musical genres as in Underground OST (which in fact became a bestseller).
Lack of challenges... NFS 2015 does not try to be difficult at all, some problems may arise only because of the physics curve.

In the remainder

If you are waiting for the release of the game on the PC, then I assure you, there is nothing special to wait, pass by. 4K resolution and better textures clearly won't make NFS 2015 dramatically better.

Purchase NFS 2015 for full cost(4000 rubles) in the PlayStation Store will be a form of madness. It would be more or less reasonable to purchase the game at big discounts, as I did when I bought it for 1,700 rubles.

Need For Speed 2015 is a soulless compilation of the series' past ideas. The far-fetched social functions, working sideways and at random, cannot be called new ideas. At the same time, the Ghost developers managed to do a lot that was much worse in previous games, take the same police chases for show.

'a. It is worth noting that this time the direction was chosen at least meaningfully and clearly, in contrast to several previous parts, which seemed to be made with a purpose, but in the end it turned out some kind of fuss with a plot or without. Looks good, sounds the same, but did the Ghost games return the series to its former glory, or have we been fooled again? We will try to answer this question.

The night belongs to us

Such an inscription flaunts on the box of the foreign version of the toy, thereby hinting that we will once again need to gain a reputation in illegal races on the open spaces of the night streets of a noisy metropolis.

Sometimes it seems as if what is happening on the screen was filmed on Michael Bay's mobile phone ( Michael bay), and stolen by the developers for insertion into the game. Because, often game process will be interrupted by video clips with the participation of real actors, understandably young and as yet (possibly) unknown, a kind of B-Movie inside the game. Actually, this is also such a tribute to the classic games of the franchise, like Most Wanted and Carbon.

Let's start with positive notes - visually, the game really looks great, albeit a little monotonous, because the night in the game does not change during the day, only occasionally passing like dawn. The sound in the game is also made soundly, there are no complaints about the toy sound of cars, but the question of game music is a different story, because the tracks seem to be not terrible, but to say that they are always in place, too, the language does not turn ...

There are quite a few cars in the game - fifty-five. Someone will find this funny against the background of the same Gran turismo, where the number of cars does not reach almost a thousand, but Need for speed This is primarily an arcade race, not a simulator, and this number of cars is quite enough. The best part about the cars is their tuning, which is excellent here, you can change almost anything. There are a large number of stickers, coloring pages, you can even hang the flag of your country (Russian and Ukrainian are also present). But there is not enough space in your garage, only five places for cars, so you will have to sacrifice some in order to buy new ones. But on the other hand, this way you will focus not on collecting, but on the selection of the best unit.

But what they screwed up with, so screwed up, is with the physical model of the cars. To control them, sometimes, well, it's just wildly inconvenient and often you need to sit for almost hours over the selection of the necessary parameters of the car's behavior.

The game has five main characters, each of which represents one of the five game types race. These characters are performed by real legends of motorsport, which is undoubtedly cool.

In the game, the police are waiting for us again, but it looks like the city is weak with the budget and with jobs strained, because it is sometimes so difficult to find fighters with illegal racers on the streets that you literally have to run into them in order to increase your own reputation. The game is not at all long and to complete it, you will need to drive only seventy-nine races, that is, if you wish, you can complete it in two evenings.

What do we end up with? It seems that it looks good, and sounds too, the videos are well filmed, spectacular, but on the other hand, the artificial intelligence of rivals does not shine, allowing itself to be overtaken almost immediately at the start, extremely annoying physics, empty streets and in general, the emptiness of the open world, and in fact the game requires a constant connection to the Internet, which seems to be conducive to the fact that you will have fun chasing with friends, that on the contrary, the city should be even more lively, but no - it is empty. Unfortunately, Ghost games we didn’t manage to restart the series well, which is a pity, because there was a lot of hope.

P.S. The developers promised to add neons to the game, which we met in Underground 2, but this is unlikely to help save the deplorable situation.

The idea and essence of all the games in the Need for Speed series is simple and trouble-free, like a bouquet of white roses presented on a first date. Beautiful expensive cars, fast-paced races (with rivals, the police or just against the clock), ease of control and general arcadeness - these are the basic values of most of the franchise's projects. Of course, there have been deviations from the ideal recipe - after all, the Need for Speed series has been around for over 20 years, and more than ten studios have been developing games at various times, each of which strove to bring something new. So, for example, Porsche Unleashed offers realistic physics and only one brand of cars, in Underground 2 there are crossovers, in ProStreet competitions are held in closed racing tracks, but in Rivals you can and should use weapons for defense and attack ... The new project, simply called Need for Speed, is a medley of the most typical features of the previous installments of the series, plus a few interesting innovations.

⇡ Ghost town

Following the trend of modern arcade games, Need for Speed of 2015 offers the player a large open world and complete freedom of movement. The fictional city of Ventura Bay serves as a racing arena, on the streets of which the hottest battles of the fastest and most powerful supercars unfold. It is a modern metropolis inspired by Los Angeles and its suburbs. Ventura Bay has six neighborhoods that differ in building architecture and road quality. The Burnwood Car Depot is a great drifting platform, the slippery serpentines of the Crescent Mountains are perfect for toge, business center Royal Park is teeming with challenging 90-degree bends, South Port with its narrow streets the best place to get the police off your tail, El Rey Mountain is another dangerous mountain ride, and Franklin Terrace, with its freeways, is a great option to check out. maximum speed car.

Eternally rainy and empty Ventura Bay

The locations turned out to be really different, and the world itself was big. However, exploring the virtual spaces of Ventura Bay is not particularly interesting, and this lesson gets boring after an hour of playing. Even the bonuses dotted around the secluded corners of the city do not help, of which there are only three types: places for performing annealing of rubber in a circle (the so-called "donuts"), free tuning parts and viewing platforms where you can park a car and admire it from an unusual angle ... Fortunately, in order not to waste time on empty trips around the metropolis, Need for Speed provides a mode of instant movement to the selected key point - whether it be one of the campaign tasks or just a competition for extra reputation points.

It is a little embarrassing that with all the considerable area of Ventura Bay ... it is almost always empty! There are no pedestrians, very few moving cars, and there are not so many parked cars as in real cities. You can, of course, write it off for the night time, which usually takes place in races ... But the effect of a ghost town is present. And the cars of citizens from virtual reality do not shine with variety - only no more than fifteen models, which is too modest for the six large areas of Ventura Bay. Although even these rare and small clones regularly end up in the wrong place and at the wrong time, adding spice to the already hot races! A truck slowly rolling into the middle of an intersection, an SUV suddenly appearing due to a blind turn, or a sharply rearranged taxi - albeit banal, but still spectacular tricks that make you grip the long-suffering controller even tighter in your hands.

⇡ Cars for pumping

Fortunately, when developing cars for the player, Ghost Games did not bother with the hack - there is a whole fleet of them! Only fifty-one copies, among which there are both obligatory guests of any racing arcade (like the Chevrolet Camaro SS or Subaru Impreza WRX STI), and really unexpected devices, like the Nissan Skyline C10, produced in a short period from 1968 to 1972. It is noteworthy that all models are open and available immediately after the start of the game - you just have no money to buy them. But no one bothers to look through the catalog to the end, which, unfortunately, destroys all the intrigue and the very sacred mystery of obtaining a new four-wheeled beauty, previously hidden from prying eyes by a veil of secrecy.

Modifying cars in Need for Speed is really fun!

It is also embarrassing that in just a couple of hours of play, you can easily make money on any car from the first half of the Need for Speed virtual garage. Before you can blink an eye, you will change from grandfather's old Volvo to the Honda S2000 roadster, which any teenager dreams of. By the way, such rapid progress did not like many players who participated in testing the beta version of Need for Speed. Then Ghost Games promised to work on it and better balance the economy of the arcade. Alas, the situation remained the same by the time of release.

Another flaw is the system of buying a new and selling an old car. In Need for Speed, there is no way to get rid of a single car, even if you lack the crisp bills to purchase the next coveted supercar for many tens of thousands of dollars. But at the same time, no one bothers to crank up such a scam: buy the cheapest car, then change your main shell (of course, all in tuning - and therefore expensive) for money, after that you buy the model you dreamed of, and then you get rid of unnecessary junk. acquired at the beginning of the fraud ... Why it was impossible to implement the mechanism of selling a single car with the obligation to purchase another is not clear.

One of the main innovations in Need for Speed is a deeply thought-out car tuning system that sets the game apart from the ocean of racing arcade games and in general from the entire NFS franchise. Fussing with a virtual wrench here is perhaps even more interesting than the races themselves around the city! There are a lot of things that can be changed in machines - especially for "cosmetic operations". The technical improvement here is absolutely linear, and the whole point of "pumping" comes down to the consistent installation of more expensive components that open up over time. No creativity! .. What can not be said about the modification of the car's exterior: landing height, camber angle and removal of wheels, all kinds of body parts (fenders, spoilers, front body kit, hood and so on), tires, rims, stickers (both template and and unique), glass tinting and others. It is the possibility of such comprehensive tuning that justifies the presence of several old "buckets" in Need for Speed, like the already mentioned prehistoric Skyline C10, from which you can assemble a stylish 550-horsepower projectile that folds the asphalt into a small accordion.

The dream of a young customizer - Subaru BRZ and complete freedom of action

There is also a multi-level system for setting the character of the car's handling with two polar ideals - Drift and Grip. But it makes no sense to delve into the subtleties of balancing - it's easier to use already ready-made templates by moving the corresponding slider in the menu. In the conditions of unrealistic arcade physics, to which the new Need for Speed has remained true, all these subtleties of a scrupulous search for "their" settings for the chassis do not particularly affect the final result. Because the cars in Ventura Bay are as convincing and believable as some circus clown playing Jack the Ripper. And if you are even a little familiar with fascinating world cars, you can't help but notice such funny curiosities, such as, for example, the dashing annealing of rubber with the rear wheels ... on a Mitsubishi Evolution equipped with symmetrical all-wheel drive! Of course, the damage system in the game is no less fantastic, which, however, logically fits into the boundless world of racing arcades.

⇡ Blockbuster

Nevertheless, despite the motherly arcade nature of the project, the generally monotonous gameplay, which boils down to completing plus or minus the same tasks, as well as inexpressive multiplayer, playing Need for Speed is ... exciting! True, no more than a few hours a day, so that the linear process of earning reputation points (to increase the driver's level) and money (to "pump" cars) for winning monotonous races does not have time to get bored, and the races themselves do not get bored. The main thing is that the guys from Ghost Games managed to convey the excitement and dynamism of the dark universe of illegal competitions. Which would be impossible without charismatic characters.

There are many videos in the game, in which your constant virtual companions participate, helping to master the world of Need for Speed street racing. All characters are played very convincingly, and their characters are well thought out. One cannot fail to note the excellent localization of the project, with high-quality dubbing of actors and decent translation of texts, which makes the videos even more atmospheric, and the immersion in the style of the game deeper. A significant contribution to the formation of the effect of presence is made by the obligatory and sometimes intrusive communication with the heroes of the action, who constantly call (of course, at the most inopportune moment) and regularly send text messages.

You will definitely not yearn for socializing with people after playing Need for Speed

An interesting feature of the Need for Speed cinematics is their combination with the 3D graphics of the game. This is implemented mainly in the garage, where your actual car is in the background, "inscribed" in the video. The idea is really cool, but the execution is a four with a minus: the 3D models stand out noticeably from the general background, unnaturally reflecting light and treacherously shining with fake metal. In the promo video shown at E3 2015, the car models looked better.

In general, the graphics of the game are commendable. Need for Speed is powered by the well-known Frostbite 3 engine, which, among other things, is at the heart of the multiplayer blockbuster Battlefield 4 and the previous part of the franchise - Rivals. It can be seen that the guys did a great job to improve the visual component of the project, and therefore the new product compares favorably with the same Rivals. However, the sophisticated player Need for Speed is unlikely to be overwhelmed by unprecedented beauties - just a good picture, replete with almost cinematic effects. And yes - on consoles, Need for Speed only offers a stable 30 frames per second.

Night. The silence of the sleeping city is disturbed by the roar of engines, the squeal of rubber and the hum of powerful audio systems. These are street racers. Only they accelerate the flow of blood in half-empty road arteries, wanting to charge with adrenaline, earn extra money and tease the police.

The topic of street racing entered popular culture in the early 2000s with the release of Fast and the Furious. became not his first follower, but it was she who made a splash in the gaming environment. Everyone seemed to be playing it, and a year later they switched to the second part.

No matter how much Ghost Games claims that it is developing a game that will become the pinnacle of the NFS series, it still created an heiress, complemented by ideas from other parts of the cycle.

To each his own

It starts very slowly. Our hero gets acquainted with a crowd of street racers in the city of Ventura Bay, decommissioned from certain districts of Los Angeles. The hero quickly becomes his own in this company, rides with friends in local cafes, garages and clubs. Very soon, the rumor spreads that the very same ones - Morohoshi-san, Ken Block, Nakai-san, Magnus Walker and the Risky Devil team - are coming to the city, and the street racers are eager to impress them at all costs.

New acquaintances now and then incite the hero to participate in certain competitions in order to earn the attention of every celebrity and challenge her. We are regularly invited to parties and cut off the phone, suggesting new races. By participating in them, we earn credits to buy and improve cars, as well as style points to improve our reputation, which, in turn, opens up access to new parts and opportunities for car modification. Each such race will develop a simple but entertaining game plot. We are free to choose the order of advancement in each of its five branches: violation, drift, style, speed and team.

Amy (style), Robin (team), Manu (drift) and Spike (speed) - each of them looking for us to race in their own direction. The mechanic Travis and the mysterious intruder are also assistants.

Ventura Bay opens up all its neighborhoods and opportunities from the start. What's nice, cars are also available all at once, just save up credits.

And the car park is good here. There are the iconic BMW E30, Ferrari F40, the classic Ford Mustang from the sixties and the Lamborghini Diablo, which has been in the rooms of many nineties kids on posters or as a toy. The BMW M3, familiar from. Modern supercars are represented by the Lamborghini Aventador and McLaren 570S. Not without iconic street racing cars like the Mazda RX7 and Nissan Skyline.

All these beauties can be changed beyond recognition and even the most unsightly car can be turned into almost a sports car. For example, the muscle car Ford Mustang from the 1960s, after several modifications, is almost transformed into a hot rod with a huge supercharger sticking out of the hood. And on some cars with opening headlights, you can literally saw off the front bumper and put the usual square lights.

Tuning in Need for speed- feast for the eyes. One "but". All modifications are authentic, in NFS there is not a single bumper or threshold that does not exist in reality. So if interesting body kits have not yet appeared for the new Mazda MX-5, then in the game it is equipped only with a wing and a pair of deflectors.

This is how, with a couple of modifications, the classic Datsun turns into ...

Into an aggressive sports car.

An example of a radical modification of the Nissan 180sx.

NFS feels, shall we say, differently, which is facilitated by fine-tuning management. The behavior of any machine is calibrated with an emphasis on control (option "Grip") or slip (option "Drift"). Fiddle with sliders and then experience new scheme on the roads of Ventura Bay - pure pleasure. The customization covers almost all the behavior of cars from past parts, so if you liked to fit neatly into a turn in Underground or drift in, similar behavior patterns can be formed.

In fact, we have an arcade race in which you can choose your own driving style and appearance cars. Thanks to this, in Need for speed it's just nice to ride between competitions, challenging other players from time to time.

Multiplayer Rivals moved here unchanged, and that's good. No one forbids racing alone and driving around the city, ignoring other street racers, but if you wish, you can always arrange a duel, try to break other people's records, or assemble a team and compete in a co-op. It's convenient when everything is in one place and you don't have to go into a separate menu to open a network game.

Best the enemy of the good

New Need for speed was going to draw the line, combine best ideas from different parts of the series. In fact, before us is the heiress of the good old Underground 2 with all its features and disadvantages, embellished with elements from (mostly) subsequent releases NFS... Here are the canyons from, here is the plot for which he was famous Most Wanted, here is the multiplayer as in Rivals, here is the police who became " business card»Many parts of the series (in Underground, if you remember, many complained about the lack of cops). Old friends are gathered, and a new generation is with them.

Cars in Need for speed durable. You can break them only by crashing into the bump stop at high speed. Visually, they wrinkle like this.

Ventura Bay at night resembles Bayview from Underground 2... Only street racers do not sleep in it, and this is the whole trouble. The city is empty, there is nothing to do outside the races, only to ride, run away from the police (we will talk about it separately) and toil around the foolishness: take pictures of the car in picturesque places, look for parts for modification and twist "donuts".

Staying in the city outside of the races is boring, especially since your phone is simply bursting with calls from local street racers inviting you to measure your strength in an extraordinary competition. And it's easier to get to the place by fast movement, since it is here.

Have Need for speed there is no definite pace, it does not keep in constant tension. Good arcade racing is as energizing as coffee NFS it is more boring. The races are simple enough and do not pose a serious challenge. Plus, they almost always boil down to drifting. Competitions with him are the most, but they somehow come down to passing the route for as many points as possible (alone or in a team). Even the notorious "Dzhimkhana" by Ken Block runs only on slightly more inventive tracks. For comparison, special sites with an abundance of trampolines and objects such as bulldozers, cargo containers and concrete rings were created for "Dzhimkhana", around which it was possible to drive a unique route. And it really felt like Blok's videos garnering tens of millions of views on YouTube.

Only a couple of circuit races through narrow streets forced us to adjust the steering with an emphasis on control. Need for speed more comfortable in drifting, yet this is the signature driving style in the series for several years, starting with the last one. If there were slightly more circuit races, sprints and competitions at the time, and the tracks for them were tailored for cornering, and not for drifting, this would bring much-needed variety to the game.

For photographs against the backdrop of mesmerizing game views, we are given credits and style points. True, in this case, the picture is spoiled by the pillar.

The loudspeakers could be added by catching up with the police, but, alas, local law enforcement officers are just sleeping at the post. It's not difficult to get away from them, and the cops make their trademark turns with such laziness that it seems as if they are stereotypically eating donuts while driving.

Yes, the developers said that the police will only be in certain areas. But why doesn't she work out her own at least in them? For all the time we were caught only twice, once because of our own mistake, the second time we ran into thorns. But even with a punctured tire, the chase lasted fifteen minutes (!), Until we were miraculously squeezed into a box.

In addition, there is little point in disturbing the police, unless you are passing the intruder's branch. And in the same Rivals every exit from the garage promised a hassle. To keep the points earned in competitions and catching up with the police, it was necessary to be able to take the jackpot to the shelter. Only then were points added to the total score for car purchases and upgrades.

Here, exceeding the speed or breaking some other rule in front of the police, we get a fine, which grows in the course of the chase. We have a choice - pay and immediately get rid of the pursuit or try to throw off the tail. That will not be difficult, you just need to actively maneuver through the back streets. Well, a well-pumped car will easily break away from the standard Ford Crown Victoria, which does not stand out for its speed.

The higher the fine, the greater the level of persecution, but even cordons, barriers and thorns, which law enforcement officers begin to expose out of despair, do not deliver special problems, especially since they appear only in certain areas. The easiest way to hide is to leave the city in the canyons, where the powers of the law enforcement officers end, or in any area where there are no patrols.

As a result, the open world turns out to be practically unnecessary for the game, because for its passage it is enough to complete all the story tasks. He could be saved by an emphasis on research, as in. There it was necessary to open points for fast movement, mini-tasks were placed along the roads, such as sections that need to be passed at the highest average speed, and the radio host could give a test of the category at any time: “Whoever finds a rare car in area N first will take it away ". So even on a long trip, the player did not stay idle, rather the opposite - he was distracted by all new activities. Alas, this is not the case with the new NFS.

We wondered for a long time what the soundtrack would be. Aggressive or, on the contrary, light, but atmospheric? Will he focus on any genre? ..

As a result, a curious mixture of alternative, hip-hop and electronics plays in the music system of our car, which, however, does not add excitement. The playlist is very bland and doesn't feel like a single album. Hardly many songs, other than those played in the trailers, will move to your player.

Need for speed barely accelerates towards the end. The police become a little angrier and more assertive, and the opponents - a little smarter and more persistent. The general situation does not change from this, but the question arises: "Why it was impossible to make the whole game like this?" Life in Ventura Bay is bustling with workshops and clubs where street racers hang out, but fades out on the highway and, sadly, in the races.