SpeedLounge

So after reading a host of mediocre reviews of the latest Need for Speed, I thought it would be a good idea to right a review from the perspective of a car guy and not a career game reviewer as that will be one that you may be able to relate to more.

So the game has been out for awhile and if you have ANY interest in the game you’ve probably heard alot about the game thus far so I’ll give a brief synopsis for everyone that has avoided it just because it’s from EA or because it’s a Need for Speed Game.

• they got rid of the whole street racing theme and have created this official leagues of organized races for street racers that are setup like the X-Games, in a way, where there is drag racing, road racing (called “Grip Races), drift races, and “Speed Challenges” which are just races where the bulk of your time is spent above 130mph and having good aerodynamics is helpful.
• there is damage in this version and you have to fix your car before entering a race day, which can get expensive. also, it is possible for you to total your car and then you need to use special markers that you win in order to use that car again
• the racing itself leans closer to realism than the fantastical so no driving around a city

I really like the idea of organized race events that incorporate drift, drag, and road racing. It is definitely a direction that I can see import tuning racing going in the future; especially if drag racing wants to keep the sponsors involved. Is the game fun? I personally found it to be fun to dominate race days which means you blow out the competition and accumulate a certain amount of points in each race. The AI is pretty good but not as great as many sites make it out to be. It is nice to see cars trying to catch you and missing their braking markers and going off-road. However, I’ve seen the same things in the Japanese version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The good ol’ EA AI cheating is still there but in different ways. For example, once I got to my 5th race day, my turbo Civic hatch was nowhere near as fast as it needed to be out the 9 second cars I was facing in the drag race. And unfortunately, there was no way I was going to beat them out. I ended up selling my car and switching to an 06 Civic Si coupe but the K-series power didn’t help enough either. After giving another car a shot, and taking some of my race winnings from other races to the car dealership, my 600hp Supra is finally winning races. Now while this sounds crazy to most of you, what’s even crazier is compare it to the fact that my 195hp is beating out all manner of 400hp machines in grip races and that my 129hp AE86 is destroying the competition in drift races.

Drag racing in this game is the closest I’ve ever seen in a racing game. You actually have to do a good burnout, which is a mini-game in itself, if you want to shave a few tenths off as well as being quick at the tree. When I did my first few drag races, a friend of mine told me to go when I saw the last yellow before the green and in the game that philosophy has given me perfect timing off the tree.

Drifting in this game is also really great in that you have a clutch button and once I got the hang of it, I constantly pop the clutch to help control my drift angle. For those of us that like drifting but have never done in real life, this portion of Need for Speed can be alot of fun.

The game still have the adaptive AI which means that if you hold on to a car and upgrade it hear and there, you can beat faster cars with it in later levels. For example, I’ve been destroying M3’s and Supra’s with my 195hp 240sx in Grip Races for awhile now.

So what did I not like about this game? The Speed Challenges really got on my nerves by the end of the game and really sucked alot of the fun out of playing. The tracks for the Challenges are nothing but bumpy and narrow back roads with not too many places to pass and plenty of opportunity for your car to get dinged up and/or totaled with the slightest mistake. When I finally finished the game, I was more relieved that it was over.

The ending is interesting because it tells you that you have to beat 2 of the Category Kings before you can race the Showdown King (who has been talking smack about you ALL game) but after becoming the Drift King and unlocking the path to the Speed Challenge King, Mr. Showdown himself called me out for a set of one on one races. I was very unprepared at that point so I quit out and went back to my domination of all other races but I eventually beat him without becoming a “King” of anything else.

In conclusion, do I recommend this game? I recommend that everyone who is into cars should play it because its very fun. If you are into drag racing in real life, you’ll appreciate the drag racing in this game. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to a drag racing simulation in a game. The same goes for the drifting portion with it giving you the ability to kick the clutch to help adjust your drift angle. Should you BUY this game? Only if you are all about playing your friends or playing online; otherwise I’d say rent it because you may find that it will get old by the time you beat it.