Need for Speed Unbound – now available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X – stands out from the competition by adopting a unique street art-inspired style while still offering the fast-paced action that the NFS -Franchise accounts known for. We’re getting police chase scenes with real dangers, a racer AI that’s happy to get you out, and a high-risk, high-reward system that keeps the action from ever getting boring. A classic underdog story awaits us in “Story” mode. All of these things combine to create an exciting arcade racing experience.
Set in the fictional town of Lakeshore, NFS Unbound’s map is on the smaller side given the size of most open-world games today. It still serves as an effective backdrop for the street races with different tracks and terrains. Petrol fans will be excited to see a selection of the most famous cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche and BMW. In total, Need for Speed Unbound initially includes over 140 cars. Specific body modifications and extensive customization options are also available for each vehicle. These are some of the most realistic car models ever seen in an NFS game.
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NFS Unbound Review: Gameplay
Rather than asking you to take the perfect ideal line, Need for Speed Unbound rewards players for taking a turn in the most flashy way possible. Drifts, near misses, slipstreams and high jumps increase the number of your two nitrous gauges – one for long blasts and the other for short bursts. Right from the start line, perfectly timed acceleration can give you an instant boost. However, if you tip over the edge slightly or the deceleration is a bit too little, the engine will stall, allowing you to get stuck and give other racers an edge. It’s this high-risk, rewarding approach that kept me intensely engaged for most of my playthrough.
While learning how to operate the slots was a breeze, it took a long time to master. (I’ll admit there were a lot of crashes.) NFS Unbound can be a bit adamant in this regard. The game doesn’t have a rewind option that has become a staple of modern racing titles. Instead, you get a limited number of story mode retry attempts based on your race. The only saving grace is that cars reset almost immediately after an accident.
Unbound’s racing AI doesn’t make things any easier either. Other racers fight for every little spot and cause some frustrating collisions. On the other hand, it’s just as satisfying to watch them crash into oncoming traffic when they make mistakes – or when you force them to. Need for Speed Unbound also features police cars that add to the excitement by disrupting the race and continuing the chase even after you’ve crossed the checkered flag.
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Returning to the garage after victories on the road, NFS Unbound has plenty of performance parts and body mods to spend your money on. You can choose from a selection a list of 140 cars if you have enough money in the bank. There are also plenty of options when it comes to colors and foils. I’m glad there is an option to copy designs created by the community. However, if you are more artistic than me, you will spend hours creating the perfect look for your vehicle.
NFS Unbound Review: Story and Multiplayer
Need for Speed Unbound features a single-player campaign that could have easily felt cheesy and forgettable. The premise borrows heavily from traditional action film tropes – betrayal, friend-turned-rival and dirty police. But it’s the authenticity of the characters that keeps this underdog story alive. Their hearty banter made me appreciate it more than I thought. More importantly, it does a great job of building the world of Lakeshore. Without going into spoilers: Our protagonist has four weeks to qualify for “The Grand”, Lakeshore’s ultimate road race. Every week you hit the streets day or night to win races and earn enough money to enter the weekend qualifiers.
Races are broken down by vehicle tier, encouraging players to make conscious decisions about upgrading their vehicles. You can’t fit all of your cars with top-of-the-line performance parts and take them to the top “S+” rating. If you don’t have the right vehicle, you might miss out on high-stakes races. You also need to think about which vehicles you want to upgrade and which ones you want to keep as best-in-class. It’s a slight change from the norm – but one that brings surprising depth to NFS Unbound.
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While you make money from racing, you get heat from the police with every race. Challenges like speed traps and drift zones are the only way to avoid attracting the cops and still make money. The police become more and more present as the heat rises. The real thrill of the chase is that if you get caught, you’ll lose all the money you’ve earned in that particular session. When you consider that taking part in the big weekend races requires a significant amount, these NFS Unbound encounters get even more nerve-wracking. The only way to reset your heat is to get caught or return to your garage without getting caught.
Unfortunately, police vehicles are limited to story mode only. In multiplayer mode there are no chases and no fear of losing money. This immediately makes the online experience more boring than in story mode. There are no live events, direct head-to-head matches, or other interactive means of bringing Lakeshore to life. Without these features, the whole city feels like a glorified hub in multiplayer. And since NFS games have been terrible in terms of post-launch content, I don’t hold my breath when it comes to notable additions to the online scene. All in all, NFS Unbound’s multiplayer feels like a massive disappointment compared to the well-executed single player.
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Review of Need for Speed Unbound: Music and Graphics
The graffiti-inspired theme and artistic flair complements the realistically designed world and vehicles of NFS Unbound. Even the character models have a cartoon look. But none of that detracted graphically from the game on PC – it all came together seamlessly. My trusty AMD Radeon RX 570 8GB was able to output 55-60 fps on a mix of Medium and High. While Need for Speed Unbound ran smoothly and there were no major crashes, the game often experiences visual glitches that can be annoying.
Music has always been a central part of NFS games and Unbound is no different. There are countless tracks that complement high-speed racing. Annoyingly, however, the music only plays during races, which is an odd choice. Why can’t I enjoy music just crossing the freeway? Additionally, there are no radio stations – and there’s no option to skip tracks, either. During intense races I heard horrible songs that spoiled the experience.
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NFS Unbound Review: Verdict
Overall, though, there’s a lot that works in Need for Speed Unbound. The arcade controls are easy for newcomers, but a real challenge to master. Vehicle body customization is miles ahead of Forza Horizon 5. Its unique visual style and character models help the game stand out from the crowd as most racing games are increasingly opting for lifelike graphics. Add to this sympathetic characters and a simple premise that make story mode a fun affair.
On the other hand, NFS Unbound fails to take advantage of its open-world setting in multiplayer. The absence of the police on the Internet is particularly painful. The way music works in the game is also annoying. All of these shortcomings mean that Unbound has a few problems with what is otherwise a solid entry into the NFS series. If you’re playing on PC, I recommend opting for the EA Play Pro subscription, completing story mode (and skipping the abysmal multiplayer), and logging out.
Advantages:
- Unique visual style
- Exciting police chases
- Rewards risky driving
- Likeable underdog story
- Vehicle variety, individualisation
Disadvantages:
- Common visual disturbances
- Boring multiplayer experience
- No music radio stations
- No police vehicles in online races
Rating (out of 10): 7
Gadgets 360 played Need for Speed Unbound on a PC with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, an AMD Radeon RX570 GPU and 16GB of RAM.
Need for Speed Unbound was released on December 2nd for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
Prices start at Rs. 3,499 on PC about steam, Epic Games StoreAnd EA store; and Rs. 4,499 respectively Xbox store And PlayStation Store.
Need for Speed Unbound is also included with EA Play Pro subscription which starts at Rs. 999 per month. The standard Rs. For $315 per month, EA Play membership gives players access to a 10-hour trial of the game across all platforms.
