Need For Speed is one of EA’s biggest franchises and it has been that way for many years now. This latest game in the series Need For Speed: Rivals was one of the most anticipated launch games for the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One.
Story & Presentation
Need Of Speed: Rivals is just a beautiful game to sit and look at. The exotic cars in this game are a car fans dream. The game looks so great that this is one of those rare games where it is really fun to sit and watch your buddies play. When you are playing the game you are so focused on the racing action that you do not really get the chance to take in the amazing car models and the gorgeous scenery as well.
There is a career mode in Need For Speed: Rivals that in many ways is a throwback to the Hot Pursuit games. The career mode here has two sides to play as either cop or racer. Playing as a cop you are on the side of the law trying to put a stop to this underground street racing and some other less than legal activity as well. Whereas playing as a racer as I am sure you have guessed sees you trying to prove that you are the ultimate street racer and in some parts trying to avoid the cops as well.
Now while this is not a real “story” mode you have to give EA a bunch of credit for making the single player mode in a racing game actually have a reason apart from just an endless series of races for you to play through. To be fair the Need For Speed series does usually have a good single player mode to it and this one is no different.
Gameplay
Need For Speed: Rivals in its game play like we said before is very much like Hot Pursuit and that is no bad thing at all. Playing as the cop and as the racer are both a ton of fun. Playing as the cop sees you have three career paths you can do these are patrol, enforcer and undercover. You are required to uphold the law, but upload the law while traveling at a ridiculous high speed in a bad ass car. The cop assignments in the game are really cool. While you need to have the pedal to the metal to complete many of the missions the game throws at you. You also need to actually think about what you are doing as well and be a bit more tactical.
The racer portion of the game is what I am sure you already expected it to be. You take part in various races showing the rest of the racers that you are the ultimate racer. While the racer parts of the game are really cool to me playing as the cop was more fun as there was more variety to the game play.
Speaking of the game play. One thing you can guarantee about the Need For Speed series is that the game play is pure balls to the wall fun. This game moves at an incredible rate and this is pure arcade style racing at its best. There are a few simulation aspects to the game, but for the most part this is all about driving as fast as you can, while looking really cool in the process.
The social aspect of the game is really cool. You can be driving around just minding your own business when suddenly another human player will enter you game playing as a cop and decide that you have broken the law and start chasing you down. Or it can be the other way round with you trying o bust the other players. I will say right now that Need For Speed: Rivals is the most fun I have had playing a racing game online.
Final Thoughts
Need For Speed: Rivals is another great addition for the Need For Speed franchise. There is a great deal of game play here. The single player mode will keep you busy for a while and having two different sides to play as is really cool and will take you a while to beat all of the missions. The online multi player though will literally steal hours and hours of your life away as it is just so much fun. If you like your racing games to be about fun and break neck speed then this is the game for you.
