I’ve held off on posting about the latest NFS game for a few weeks. I was super hyped when it got a surprise reveal a few months back and then they said it’d be here before Christmas. I couldn’t believe it, finally a new NFS.
This one is next-gen only, so if you’re on PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch then you’re out of luck. Otherwise, there is a lot to love about this game. The graphics are great and it runs very well. I’ve maintained 4K and 60 FPS on PS5.
The racing itself is amazing. It’s highly competitive and there isn’t the annoying rubber banding that sometimes makes a racing game annoying to play. Drifting is just as fun as ever and you can slide around every single corner if you wish to.
There is a day and night cycle much like NFS Heat had. This means that cops are less aggressive during the day and you earn slightly less cash. During the night, cops are all over the place and damn relentless. You’ll find races that offer higher rewards, but also higher risk.
It’s the whole gambling aspect that really makes this game so fun and frustrating. You have to go back to your safe house to bank any of the rewards you have earned that day or night. If you get arrested by the cops before you make it, then you lose it all. On top of that, you can place side bets against specific racers which means you can win even when you lose.
The city of Lakewood is a pretty cool map and easy to navigate. I don’t think it’s my favorite NFS city ever, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad one. One thing to love is that there are all sorts of huge jumps and shortcuts to take. Think Burnout Paradise in terms of how often your car will be flying through the air.
The story is entertaining enough and A$AP Rocky even makes quite a few appearances. It’s not anything to write home about, but it’s an okay narrative to tag along with some awesome racing.
Multiplayer is totally separate from single-player. If you want to race with friends in an open world, then multiplayer is where you need to be. I’ve had a lot of fun winning races in the few that I attempted online. In fact, I’ve yet to lose out of the three races I’ve played.
The only thing that will carry over from single-player to multiplayer is the cars that you win in single-player. There are a lot of free cars, but the races are not easy to win. Once you have those award cards, they’ll appear in both your single-player and multiplayer garage. However, any purchased upgrades or customization options will not transfer over.
Speaking of earning money. It’s difficult to do at first, but eventually, you will get to the point where you can afford anything in terms of upgrades. It’ll take quite a while if you wish to purchase every single car though.
On top of being such a fun time, NFS Unbound also has one of the best gaming soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time. Most of which was curated by A$AP Rocky himself. I love the music so much that I’ve even been listening to it while at the gym.
Here’s the playlist including all of the songs:
The thing that has always interested me most about NFS is car customization. No other game goes quite as far into the underground scene as NFS. If you like adding absurd body kits, neon, rims, and custom wraps then you almost certainly are already in love with NFS.
NFS Unbound is the best car customization yet. There are so many options and it’s very easy to create something that is extremely unique and fits your personal preference. Perhaps the best part is the extensive wrap editor.
You will see a few of my early cars in the photos in this post:
1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse - This was my first car and I went with my favorite colors for it.
1990 Ford Mustang Foxbody - This design is ultra gritty. Black and white two-tone with graffiti-style designs all over it.
2011 Mazda RX-8 - This JDM tuner car had to be flashy. I went with the vibe of the early Fast And Furious movies.
2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX - one of my favorite designs ever. This Oni mask paired with tons of Japanese script is just too cool to me.
I’ll show off more of my cars in future posts.
I spent almost as much time customizing these cars as I did driving them. Both sides of the game are equally entertaining. Don’t worry, if you don’t want to take the time to design a cool wrap, you can download creations that are shared by the community.
I just finished the main story and I already have a garage filled with well over a dozen cars. I’ve only purchased two cars so far and I have over a million dollars saved up. There are multiple cars in the game that cost over 3 million, so there still is plenty left to do.
I think I will probably work on beating some of the extra challenges and collectibles next. Along the way, I’m sure I’ll purchase a few more cars. I’m also excited to switch over to multiplayer and see how long it takes me to be the best racer in Lakewood.
I only have a couple of gripes…
I wish they did a better job of implementing the PS5 DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. Gran Turismo 7 went above and beyond to make the controller feel like a steering wheel. NFS Unbound makes use of the controller’s features but doesn’t push it to the limits.
The cops can sometimes be annoying. During the night you will basically be in a cop chase all of the time unless you’re really good at looking at your map to avoid the vision of the police while driving 150+ MPH. It’s not easy, but a seasoned racer can manage.
Lastly, this photo mode is god-awful. There are only like two settings and every single photo seems to look pretty much the same. Even previous NFS games had more options than this. I have a feeling they’ll add more in a future update, at least I hope so. This is another area where GT7 spoiled me. The Scapes photography mode in that game is literally perfect.
If I had to give this game a rating, I’d probably say 9/10. At least for me, it’s basically everything I was asking for from a new NFS game.