EA drops Need for Speed Unbound reveal trailer, out December 2

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: EA has dropped its official Need for Speed Unbound reveal trailer, highlighting a new art style designed to set the title apart from the sea of other racers already on the market. In NFS Unbound, players will "race against time, outsmart the cops, and take on weekly qualifiers" in a bid to reach Lakeshore's ultimate street racing challenge, The Grand.

The game blends cel-shading with "the most realistic looking cars in Need for Speed history" to create a unique art style, and puts a heavy emphasis on expressing yourself through driving effects, exclusive wraps and cutaways, and customizable win poses.

Unbound also features rapper A$AS Rocky as both an in-game character and on the soundtrack. If you are into the new age, underground street racing scene, this will likely be right up your alley.

The Need for Speed franchise looks far different today than it did when it debuted in 1994. The first game in the series included just a handful of exotic supercars with a heavy emphasis on realistic interiors, handling and real world audio. It was as close to the real thing as tech of the day could deliver and scratched the itch for millions of auto enthusiasts.

Related reading: 27 years of Need for Speed

The franchise evolved over the next several years, notably adding police pursuits to spice up the action. The focus was still on the cars (as evident by entries like 2000's Porsche Unleashed) but that started to change in 2003 when EA shifted gears to spotlight a different facet of car culture: street racing and tuning.

Open-world racing became a mainstay in subsequent NFS games with a heavy emphasis on multiplayer modes in later titles. With Unbound, it seems EA wants to revisit the underground street racing scene.

What are your thoughts on the direction EA is taking the franchise? Are they catering to the correct demographic or would you rather see them focus on a different area of car culture?

Need for Speed Unbound races onto Xbox Series, PlayStation 5 and PC on December 2, 2022. Will you be buying it?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96226-ea-drops-need-speed-unbound-reveal-trailer-out.html

 

[George Keech]

Am I getting old for thinking this trailer is pure crap and it feels like the animation is in the way of the game I wanting to see.

 

[axiomatic13]

Boring.

 

[R00sT3R]

If you're old enough to remember how it used to look & play, You're not the customer EA is after..

 

[yRaz]

I wish they had another need for speed like NFS Hugh stakes

 

[3ogdy]

NFS UNDRGND 1 & 2 are my favorite editions. I'm not sure about this one, as it clearly caters to a younger generation, but I will certainly give it a try. After watching the trailer, I'm not hoping for an Unbound hiding Underground 3 under the hood, but the vibe is still there.

We shall see.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Am I getting old for thinking this trailer is pure crap and it feels like the animation is in the way of the game I wanting to see.

No.

Boring.

Yes.

If you're old enough to remember how it used to look & play, You're not the customer EA is after..

True.

My own sentiments to the reveal can be summed up with one word:

sigh

 

[Geralt]

The anime thing sucks big time! It is some crap like Heat, with all those childish animations. I miss Underground 2.

 

[OortCloud]

I'm so old...

 

[Nobina]

NFS San Andreas looks good. From Pro Street onwards I could never get into NFS but I will at least check this one out.

 

[ssjben]

As someone who has played since NFS2, this actually doesn't.... look too bad, surprisingly.

 

[Mugsy]

WTH EA?

Either go "Super Realistic" or "full cartoon". Let's not "Roger Rabbit" a classic franchise.

 

[MaXtor]

I miss the days when I could launch a racing game and race right away. Now they jam them full of story, characters, customization, cut scenes and forced missions. I used to love racing games to just shut off my mind and race at blistering speeds. All the recent NFS games are too involved and bloated for me to get into.

 

[GettCouped]

Will it have wheel and pedal support?

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I miss the days when I could launch a racing game and race right away. Now they jam them full of story, characters, customization, cut scenes and forced missions. I used to love racing games to just shut off my mind and race at blistering speeds. All the recent NFS games are too involved and bloated for me to get into.

Plus it’s EA, so lots of grinding to unlock cars. Remember when you could drive whatever car you wanted and the only locked ones were locked behind a cheat code?

 

[ron baer]

Sheeeeeeet are we back in 2006?

 

[In Car]

No, not for me.

I wish they would just do a proper sim follow on to 'The Need For Speed' (1995) with in car view option, realistic performance & open road segments (City, Coast, Alpine) with wheel, pedal support.


Today, Assetto Corsa pretty much fills the gap, but TNFS was a better overall package with its Menu, Multimedia, Music, Voiceover, Leaderboards.