Ghost Games is done but not dead

Need for Speed has floundered for the better part of a decade, and Electronic Arts evidently expects more horsepower from its most recognizable racing series. After an underwhelming stretch, Need for Speed has been taken from Ghost Game??s and reassigned back to Criterion Games.

EA confirmed the shift to GamesIndustry.biz, saying "With a strong history and passion for racing games and vision for what we can create, the Criterion team is going to take Need for Speed into the next-generation." Criterion is UK-based and is most well-known as the developer of the Burnout games that were beloved in the early 2000s. Criterion also led development on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which were both received very positively.

As for Ghost Games, EA has new plans for the Swedish studio. It'll?? be renamed EA Gothenburg, and ?the team will be assigned to engineering support on the Frostbite engine. EA says it's trying to transfer people in creative roles over to other studios. There are 30 employees whose jobs are up in the air right now.

The next Need for Speed title will mark the first time Criterion developed a new game as the primary studio since 2012's Most Wanted. It has spent the past few years providing support for EA DICE on the Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield franchises. Maybe this is the tune-up Need for Speed needs, because the past decade saw better racing series like Forza Horizon blowing right past it.

EA will move Need for Speed development back to Crite??rion [GamesIndustry.biz]

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This series can't seem to catch a break

On the one hand, I'm glad EA and Ghost Games waited to open up about Need for Speed Heat. I like to think that we don't need a year-long marketing rollout for a game like this. We're 20+ insta??llments into the series; a few months is plenty. But on the other hand, gosh, it sure is easy to forget how close it is.

Here's a slightly premature launch trailer to remind us that Need for Speed Heat hits PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 8 – and an extra reminder from me that, for what it's worth, there aren't loot boxes this time and you can play the game offline. Surely it'll be a step up from Payback. Surely.

This one is leaning into a night-and-day duality. At night, you'll try to earn cred in illegal street races and dodge the cops until you reach a safe house. During the day, you'll try to be an upstandi?ng citizen.

For a lot of players, it's going to come down to the map. Is it fun to hunt for collectibles? Does the world lend itself to high-speed pursuits? Can you see where you're going? That'll be the difference-maker.

Leaving the desert behind, Heat is set in a Miami-inspired area called Palm City. "We wanted a big city location that could deliver dense urban action and open-world cop chases while capturing the feel of fan favorites Need for Speed: Most Wanted '05 and Underground," according to Ghost Games.

I can see people using EA Access to get their fill (or waiting for some holiday discounts to kick in). If you're thinking of going that route, note that the NFS Heat Play First Trial starts on November 5.

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Maybe it's time for another Burnout instead?

In my review in progress of Need for Speed Payback I said: “I wouldn't dare attempt drinking and driving in the real world for obvious reasons. But, in the seemingly lawless land of Need for Speed Payback, I think it's the only way to play and enjoy this game.” N??ow, aft?er beating the game and with over 30 hours invested into it, I've come to the conclusion that maybe you're just better off simply drinking, instead of playing this game altogether.

The concept and goal for Need for Payback Payback sounds simple enough on paper: Create an open-world arcade racing game with a heavy emphasis on action-packed set pieces, taking cues and inspiration from the Fast & Furious films -- specifically the ones with a certain "electrifying" individual. However, due to a mixed bag of awful business decisions, an uninteresting story with some of the worst dialogue I've heard in recent memory, thrown in with a dull open world, we now have a new low point for?? this 23 year old franchise.

Need for Speed Payback (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Ghost Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 10, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

For those curious what I?? mean by “bad?? business decisions,” Need for Speed Payback may contain pos?sibly on?e of the most egregious uses of the loot boxes I've seen yet in the form of the “shipments” and “speed cards" which completely jump the shark in how they're utilized. For context, Need for Speed?? as a franchise is iconic for the heavy amount of tuning and customization options you're given for various vehicles. From adding various tire smoke colors, rims, hood options, splitters, and spoilers -- all of this is stil?l present in Payback, it's just all simply cosmetic now.

Instead, progression for the most part is built around the newly introduced speed cards, allowing you to upgrade various aspects of your vehicle, from the engine block, exhaust, ECU, and so forth. All of this th??en adds to your overall “car level” -- similar to that of “light” in Destiny 2. You earn these speed cards from completing various races throughout the game,?? buying them at tuning shops i??n the open world, opening up premium shipments (loot boxes), or spending trade-in tokens.

Where this system completely falls apart, however?, is in how this progression is handled within the game itself. Races and various events around the open-world will have a “recommended level” that clues you in on how challenging the race will be, or the types of ve??hicles that might be utilized. During my time with Payback, I generally found myself below the recommended level, roughly by about 20-40 levels or so. Despite this, thanks to the odd free shipment and replaying older races occasionally for more speed cards, I was?? generally able to progress, not of course without being annoyed by it all. That annoyance though, became a feeling of hopelessness once the final act of the game rolled around and I checked the recommended level.

Here is where the game became an awful, mind-numbing experience as I then found myself?? grinding various races repeatedly, simply so I could progress. Mind you, you can st?ill run these various races or events despite being under recommendation, but I found some of them, the drag races in particular, to be almost impossible if you weren't near the recommended level. Even worse yet, as I began grinding races, I found myself constantly earning speed cards that weren't even as good as the ones I had currently equipped.

As for the racing itself, Payback does offer a nice variety of events around the open world. Everything you've come to expect, from off-roading and hitting huge jumps, drift events, and tons of street and drag rac?ing with a heavy ?focus on tuner cars. The vehicle selection is also decent, everything from my personal favorite (and cover star, no less) the Nissan Skyline GT-R, to pricey and glamorous super cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador Coupé. The vehicle selection isn't gonna be as massive as what you'll find in the recent Forza titles, but it's larger than most arca??de racing games, with plenty of cosmetic customization and tuning options, with the vehicle models themselves looking solid.

I enjoyed tuning my McLaren 570S into a drag racing monstrosity... once I'd finished ??grinding for the speed cards I needed. Because, for whatever reason, you can't transfer them over from other vehicles -- I guess that would be far too convenient. So, if you're like me and want to experiment with a number of different vehicles, prepare yourself for one hell of a grind. As for the multiplayer side of things, Payback features the bare-minimum in the form of casual unranked playlists and ranked playlists. Obviously multiplayer will be different from person to person, but generally it's the typical NFS multiplayer experience I've come to expect over the years.

As for the main campaign and premise of the game, you'll be playing and swapping between three different characters: Tyler, who specializes in street racing and drag-racing, Mac, who specializ??es in drifting and off road racing, and lastly Jesse, who specializes in the runner missions (out-running cops). Throughout?? the game you'll be racing and competing against various crews in order to move up the food chain and compete in an event known as “The Outlaw's Rush,” as well as attempting to stop a criminal organization known as “The House” from rigging races across the fictional mock Nevada known as Fortune Valley.

The end of each act culminates into a large scale mission, usually a heist, in which you then swap between various characters at given points through to perform various tasks. This is an interesting concept, similar to that of Grand Theft Auto V, but ??overall, the missions can b??e summed up as driving through various checkpoints, watching a cutscene of a cool stunt or set-piece, and then escaping the cops. It all comes off feeling extremely scripted and lazy.

Much of Payback's story and writing also comes off similar, the character motivations in the overall story are extremely weak, almost comically so. The whole setup for this basic revenge story can be summarized as Tyler and crew attempting to rob a casino owner of his super car, only to be betrayed and have the car they were attempting to steal taken from them in the process -- resulting in this game's supposed namesake. Some of the general dialogue and delivery in this game is just downright awful at times, Tyler alone ended up being one of the most unlikable protagonists in a video game I've play??ed in ye??ars.

Much of the open world looks extremely dr??ab, with very little in regards to notable landmarks or locations??, as well as being seemingly lawless, as the open world is devoid of any police vehicles outside of story missions or the occasional side-quest you'll stumble on. Worse yet, the police pursuits are now nothing more than a series of linear timed checkpoints which you'll need to drive through to escape. There is pretty much zero strategy in escaping the police in Payback and this, once again, comes off feeling lazy in terms of implantation.

Once the servers for this game inevitably go offline, with no way to obtain loot boxes, earn speed ??cards or trade tokens, I can't help?? but wonder if the casual consumer would genuinely ever have the patience to fully complete this game. Need for Speed Payback is another result of EA meddling in the concept of ??“games as a service” and taking an otherwise mediocre entry in the series and completely butchering it in the process to achieve this goal.

Here's hoping this trend of free-to-play business strategi??es in full priced games comes to an end sooner, rather than later.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Fear and loathing in New Fortune

Growing up, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Need for Speed: Underground 2 were easily some of my favorite arcade racing games, and Underground 2 specifically has? become a fan favorite of the series for many. Since then, I've gone back to revist these games with each new entry in the series, as sadly, the seventh generation of hardware wasn't very noteworthy for the franchise.

But in 2015, we would witness the reboot of the series simply named Need for Speed -- from developer Ghost Games. With a welcomed return to focus on tuning cars, street racing, a large urban open world, and all the while looking g??orgeous to boot (despite the weird, boring live-action cutscenes and other notable issues), Need for Speed showed some p?romise. It could still easily have been expanded upon.

However, Need for Speed Payback comes off feeling ???like one step ahead and half a dozen steps back, followed up with tumbling down a flight of stairs.

Need for Speed Payback (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Ghost Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 10, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Need for Speed Payback splits up the action between three different characters, each with their own distinct types of vehicles they specialize in. The first and primary character in the grand scheme of things is Tyler Morgan, who specializes in? standard street racing and drag racing. Next, you have Mac for off-road racing and drifting, followed up lastly by Jessica Miller who specializes in police getaways with the “runner” class of vehic?les, with a personality I can only describe as: the badass one.

But, to be fair, storytelling in Need for Speed has never been anything special. Payback however, comes off feeling like a B-tier Fast and Furious movie. Except now with an unlika?ble cast of characters with weak motivations and some of the wor?st dialogue delivery I've heard in a long time. Which, mind you, is still normally acceptable if it's at least contained within cutscenes.

But, Payback  is a special experience, as characters will spew comedically bad dialogue as you drive around the open world. Tyler, for example, has an odd obsession with tunnels I've learned. Almost every time I drove under a major tunnel in the open world, he'd mention just how cool it would be to race in a tunnel (despite the fact I've done that already, numerous times), or just how great the engine sounds going through a tunnel. Painfully bad dialogue such as this is common throughout the entire open world and game itself.

As I mentioned earlier, the gam??e in many ways tries to also mimic Fast and Furious -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as Need for Speed meets Fast and Furious sounds like a great conc??ept for a?n arcade racing game. But Payback's execution of this is downright la??zy, as pretty much eve?ry major set-piece or stunt I've seen so far has simply been a cutscene

Take for example the first major heist (which was also showcased at E3), in which you drive alongside a semi-truck in an attempt steal the vehicle inside the trailer. The entire thing can be summarized as taking out the muscle around the truck in a Burnout-style fashion, dodging things the truc?k has crashed into, then driving next to it and watching a cutscene of the vehicle being stolen.

Od??dly, the game also looks worse ??compared to the previous Need for Speed (2015). This might possibly be due to the larger open world, I can't say for sure, as both games utilized the same engine. With that said though, the open world of New Fortune (the game's fictional se??tting and mock-up Las Vegas) is lifeless and drab, with very little in noteworthy landmarks to see. Outside of the car models, the game also has plenty of flat and ugly textures overall, with plenty of pop-in as well on the standard PS4 version of the game.

As for the racing and gamepla?y, I can't quite yet give my full opinion, since I've only had limited access to the super cars and haven't fully dabbled in all the various vehicle classes or race events. But, the arcade racing?? from what I've experienced already is about what I've come to expect from a Need for Speed game. Completely over the top (and ?forgiving) physics, and vehicles that are fairly easy to drive (especially now with Payback introducing “live tuning” options, allowing you tune y?our vehicle anywhere??, at any time), all of which makes this a very accessible game to newcomers to the series.

However, the progression system in this game is possibly ??one of the worst and most egregious use of loot boxes I've seen so far in a relatively single-pla?yer experience. Fitting, considering its setting is based off Las Vegas and one of the characters is a casino owner no less. Payback refers to these as “shipments,” which are bro?ken into two categories: base shipments and premium shipments.

Base shipments include: one cosmetic item, one part token (we'll get to that later), and one bank token (in-game currency) and can be earned through doing in-game challenges, daily rewards, leveling up, etc. Premium shipments, on the other hand, offer the same as above, but include two additional “speed cards.” These premium shipments can be purchased with “speed points” -??- the in-game premium currency.

Speed cards are essentially how you upgrade your vehicles and continue to progress in ??this game. Each of your vehicles now has an overall “level” (think of the light levels in Destiny for comparison). Tuning and customizing?? your vehicle is still present in Payback, however it's? now all simply cosmetic. Different things such as spoilers, rims, rooftops, and the like can be earned from doing various side challenges around the open world.

As you continue to race and perform in events, you'll also continue to earn speed cards, which will then add to your vehicle's level. But, as you progress, races and events will have "recommended" levels you'll need to meet, otherwise you'll get completely smoked by the AI. Within only the first few hours of the game, I had already found myself replaying previous races in order to try and earn more speed cards, since I ran out of in-game currency from purchasing other vehicles and could no longer afford speed cards at tune-up shops.

So, you can either get your grind on, pony up and buy some speed points, and start opening up them premium shipments, or begin utilizing those "part tokens" I mentioned earlier. Part tokens can be earned from base shipments or trading in speed cards you don't need. With these tokens you can then access the “trade-ins” menu of tune-up shops found in the open world. Here, you can potentially earn new speed cards for various tuning categories in what is a essentially a slot machine style of presentation for earning these speed cards, but that's okay, because you're always getting something! (At least according to the ESRB.)

Now throw all this in with a notable lack of any police cars in the open world outside of various missions and scripted events. I wouldn't dare attemp?t drinking and driving in the real world for obvious reasons. But, in the seemingly ??lawless land of Need for Speed Payback, I think i?t's the only way to play and enjoy this game.

_{[This review in progress is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publ??ish??er.]}

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Burning down The House

We've seen the sprawling open world of Need for Speed Payback. Now it's time to get a feel for its story, which sees a crew of racers -- each with their own specialty -- taking on The House, a major player in Fortune Valley's cr?iminal underworld that exerts control over casinos and cops.

"Play a variety of challenges and events as Tyler, Mac, and Je??ss," reads the summary. "Each driver must take on race??s, missions, and challenges to earn the respect of the Valley's underground and compete in the ultimate race to finally take down The House."

I tend to prefer racing games that place less of an emphasis on having a tradit?ional story arc, if I'm being frank. The genre's stories, for me, are often something I work through as a means to unlock cars, locations, and what have you before I'm left to my own devices and can drive the way I want to drive.

Maybe it's the ??trailer, but this seems?? like it'll be fine while you're playing and then quickly forgotten.

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That's not necessarily a good thing

The last time I touched on Need for Speed Payback, I said I wasn't sure what to make of the game. It hasn't left a strong impression -- for better or worse. And while we do have more to go on with this overview trailer highlighting the setting, Fort?une Valley, my sentiment hasn't really budged.

This may be "the biggest open world Need for Speed has ever seen," but there's no shortage of great open-world racers these days and I feel like Payback is going to lose out and get lost in the shuffle.

We know what the map looks like now, though, if yo??u're curious abou?t such things.

Payback is still on for a No?vember 10 release on PC, PlayS?tation 4, and Xbox One.

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Ahead of its time

A game so scary players emailed the developers imploring they make it less frightening so they can beat it, or even horrifying enough to drive them to suicide? Such stories developed around this game similar to the mythical Polybius arcade game??. The former I still see posted around the web, with people citing the emails as the reason multiple ?difficulty levels were created with different amounts of scares, the latter not so much.

I could not find definitive proof that either was true, but with those stories and a lack of a release outside South Korea, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School developed a cult following and gained a reputation as one of the scariest games (somewhat) available at the time despite being relatively unheard of. Now it's not only been given a full, official localization treatment including English voice-overs, but the game h??as ??been remade with new semi-modern graphics and animations.

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (PS4 [reviewed], PC)
Developer: ROI Games, Gachyon Soft
Publisher: PQube
Release Date: August 22, 2017 (Europe-PS4: August 25, 2017)
MSRP: $29.99

ROI Games has done a fantastic job on the remake, not only having the game run very smoothly and consistently with shiny new graphics, but fixing all the bugs and glitches people had trouble with in the original game. The PlayStation 4 ver??sion is cleaner and has better textures than the mobile version of this remake wh??ich released back in April, but not by a lot (which is not a bad thing, in fact I'm surprised how they managed to make a game like this on a phone).

It's no Until Dawn in the graphics depa?rtment, looking like it could work on a PlayStation 2, but the stylized design looks great and captures the feel of the origi?nal. Some of the ghosts still feel a bit dated in their model and animations, and a few seem a little too clean or cartoon-ish, but those are negligible nitpicks at worst.

In White Day you play as a Korean male student who has a crush on a beautiful girl named Han So-Young. To both return a diary she dropped and give her a White Day gift, he follows her into the school at night, which is haunted to say the least. Inside are two other girls and based on choices you make with the three girls, you earn one of eight different endings. New to the remake is a section of gameplay that unlocks if you get the best "White Chrysanthemum" ending with So-Young on hard difficulty and get "certain collectibles." It probably i?ncludes the?? pig-tailed girl seen in trailers, because I never encountered her in the main game.

Weaponless, the core gameplay revolves around solving puzzles while avoiding an ins??ane baseball bat-wielding janitor and of course, ghosts. The ghosts are mostly just for scares; the janitor is your only real threat as he hobbles around the school halls with a flashlight and whistle. If he sees you, you must run and duck away to hide in a room or perhaps a bathroom stall. Most of the ghost scares are entirely optional, many you'll never ever see without a guide telling you exactly how to see them which is a bit disappointing since it's the best part of the game.

Difficulty changes various things, including the janitor's AI, how dark the game is (null with brightness options), number of felt tip pens (needed to save a la Resident Evil ink ribbons), and help. On hard you don't get hints on your phone, and you d??on't get an eye on your HUD telling you when the janitor is nearby. Certain ghosts and puzzles are only available on higher difficulties, so y?ou will miss out if you play on easy. Even if you play on hard though, many of the puzzles are as missable as the ghosts.

Throughout the game you will find miscellaneous inventory items as well as interactable objects which s??erve as a puzzle, but in my playthrough many were left undone. It would warrant more playthroughs to see all the ghosts and solve all the puzzles, but the core gameplay of avoiding the janitor, which involves a lot of just sitting and waiting for him to pass or running in circles til you find a room he doesn't follow you into, isn't worth it.

Longtime fans of the game will vehemently disagree, but the janitor is really not that scary after the first encounter or two. He becomes nothing more than a nuisance, especially when he seems to love staying in the?? stairwells which is the hardest place to lure him out of while not getting caught. It feels like you're fighting the game at times. He is so difficult to avoid on hard difficulty that I became frustra??ted to the point of quitting and started over on easy, sacrificing the extra scares and new content.

I don't know what the puzzles I didn't solve amounted to (some I couldn't even access, likely due to the difficulty setting), but I achieved 35% of the ghosts and watched the rest on YouTube from the mobile version. Turns out most of the ones I saw were on the critical path, only discovering one or two optional ones on my own. They are good scares, far spookier than the janitor ever is, which makes it a shame that they are locked behind certain difficulties and are hard to find without explicit instructions??.

To be fair, a large reason those optional scares are spooky is because they are optional and you c??an just stumble upon them, which makes you feel more vulnerable than when ??something scripted happens in a story cutscene. Having a lot more isn't quite the answer, as too many would dilute the effect of building tension, which this game does excellently with great sound design. A ghostly threat would be better than a janitor though.

Your experience with this game will be greatly imp??rov?ed by A) playing with headphones, and B) not turning the brightness all the way up. I never played the original so I can't compare, but there is a nerve-wrenching ambiance throughout much of the game. Sudden banging on the window or sounds of objects moving or falling seemingly right by you never let you feel safe. They sound great and terrifying, but they repeat regularly and never manifest as any real scare or threat, so in ways it feels a bit cheap.

When you have to adjust the brightness to make some logo barely visible when starting most games, it tends to make the game too dark. The same is true here, but I advise you not? turn the brightness up so high that you can s??ee everything perfectly; you'll be robbing yourself of a creepy environment.

Puzzles are a mixed bag of both unique and clever, such as getting a combination from medals, as well as familiar like changing a clock according to one of your many, many notes and documents. There is one puzzle that?? really helps if you are familiar with Chinese characters (or Japanese kanji), which will require a bit more thinking if you don't and I'm curious to see how people deal with it.

The cool thing is that all the puzzles and combinations?? change on each playthrough, so accor?ding to the game description you can't just look them up in a guide. Though at times when stuck a certain combination was exactly the same in a video as in my game, so either not all of them randomize or there are not many possible combinations.

Reading about the old game, I saw many claims of bugs and glitches, but I encountered almost none. Near th?e end when I had to trigger an event to get a pair of keys, I died from the janitor, reloaded, and then suddenly I couldn't get the event to trigger again no matter what I did. I couldn't progress until I loaded an earlier save and did it all again, but that was it.

The choices with the characters aren't particularly deep. They don't need to be overly elaborate, but with multiple endings, affinity score, and unlockable costumes I feel there could have been just a bit more. I can't speak for the extra section after clearing the best ending on hard?, but the ??endings aren't particularly satisfying, like the story overall. It functions to put you in a scary environment, which is enough I suppose.

In any case, White Day has some good scares and decent puzzles that you have to play hide-and-seek to reach, but it doesn't quite live up to its legends. In 2001, it was probably one of the scariest games in existence, and you can'?t fault it for not matching modern horror heights, but in any era the backtracking and waiting for the janitor to pass over and over isn't the greatest gameplay experience. Still, this will do the job if you can't wait til Halloween for a six- to eight-hour ride.

_{[This review is based on a retail bui?ld of the game provided by the pub??lisher.]}

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Compared to the last game

As familiar as Need for Speed Payback looks -- it's been described as "Need for Speed filtered through the lens of a Hollywood blockbuster" -- I might still be up for it. There's nothing inherently wrong with some mindless action now and again. At least, this speaks to me more than 2015's NFS title.

Following that scripted-looking heist scene out of E3, Ghost Games is showing off customizatio?n.

When you're roaming the world, you'll be able to find "derelicts" that you can turn from rusted-out vintage cars to souped-up monsters. And aside from stat-boosting part upgrades, Payback w??ill also let you go overboard with vanity items ??like underglow, nitrous flames, and even tire smoke.

Need for Speed has become one of those series that I just can't get a consistent read on anymore, which means I'll probably be stu?ck in wait-and-see mode right up until release on November 10.? The single-player campaign is playable offline this time, though, so that's one concern out of the way.

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Been driving all night, my hand's wet on the wheel

If you've ever played Forza Horizon, then Need for Speed Payback will seem very familiar. They're both open-world driving games set in the desert, they both feature a stunt chain system that doles out experience based on how well you do for how long, and both games have derelict old cars hidden around the world that you can fix up. None of those aspects are exclusive to Horizon, but they work in concert to make Payback a recognizable experience.

But the glue that holds Payback together is the game's sense of flair – something Horizon had in spades. Whereas Horizon was set in and around a neon-tinted Coachella-esque music festival, Payback follows three car-based criminals as they take down a group of worse criminals, who? also do a lot of car stuff.

So if Forza Horizon is the video game equivalent of this Pepsi commercial, Payback is a full-length Fast and Furious game.

Although everyone and their mothers (and their mothers) has made the Fast and Furious comparison, Payback is actually inspired by films like Bullitt or The French Connection, according to producer Jeremy Chubb. "It's not just a game about racing circuits," Chubb said. "We're doing a Need for Speed filtered through the lens of a Hollywood bl?ockbuster."

Part of that inspiration can be seen in the game's story, which seems boring and not very interesting. Even though that's partially intentional – Chubb told me it was just "an excuse for the action" – a bad story is still bad. But you can also see the Hollywood influence in the game's Burnout-style crash system. The enemy cars you have to take out during campaign missions can wipe out in spectacular fashion as the game slows down and depicts the crash in slow-motion. It's kind of like the execution systems you'd see in games like Shadow of Mordor,&nb?sp;right down to the enemy health bars dictating when it's time for you to send these fools ?to clowntown.

I was concerned about the frequency of the cinematic crashes, but the game apparently has a system behind the scenes that determines whether a crash goes into slow-motion. Payback will ostensibly take multiple factors – the speed of the cars, the time since the last slow-mo crash, and how the car will interact with the game's phys?ics – all into account before taking control of the camera for the player. The crashes I saw looked great, but there were way too many of them; hopefully the crash determination system works in the final game.

The cars handle as well as can be expected – Payback is more of an arcade racer than a full-on Gran Turismo style simulation, so there's really only so much you can mess up – so the only real x-factor is the open world. Forza Horizon had a wide variety of sandbox activities, with plenty of collectibles, races, and challenges for players. The exhibition races where players raced against hot air balloons or trains were exciting as hell! If Payback can bring the Hollywood bombast it seeks to emulate to an open world, that could be rad. Or the open world could have a handf?ul of collectibles and some races, all completely bereft of flavor like an appetizer platter at Applebee's.

For what it's worth vis a vis flavor, both Chubb and Payback designer Andy Manches seemed excited for Edgar Wright's upcoming film Baby Driver, which is practically dripping with flavor like an appetizer plate at the Outback Steakhouse. Although Chubb and Manches couldn't talk about the game's licensed music lineup (another thing Forza Horizon does so well), eventually we started talking about the Baby Driver soundtrack. Chubb got really excited about the Baby Driver Spotify playlist and Manches wrote down one of my song recommendations – it's good ?to know that&nbsp?;some of the dev team has good taste.

I will say this about Payback – I tried the preview race again because I was really enjoying myself, so there's absolutely something here. Open world racing can go real bad if the world doesn't support balanced racing, but I had a blast with my street race, thanks to long stretches of road and properly telegraphed turns. The Nos feels immediate and responsive, the AI drivers were just challenging enough to keep my interest, and everything looked gorgeous. So Need for Speed Payback can obviously handle moment-to-moment gameplay, but it's unclear whether the game will have any leg??s. I hope it does; I wouldn't mind playing?? it for long stretches at a time.

Now put "Radar Love" in there and we're golden.

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The speedy and the really angry

Electronic Arts showed off a new trailer for Need For Speed: Payback at their E3 conference today, introducing the characters you'll be playing as and demonstrating one of the game's missions. The title appears to be heavily influenced by the Fast and Furious movie franchise, giving the racing a story and tasking the player with taking down a corrupt casino in between smashing up tons of Detroit steel and outrunning the ??police.

The three characters are named Tyler, Jess and Mac, and the mission on display had two of them pursuing a semi trailer through a southwestern desert, taking down pursuit vehicles before jumping to the trailer's side to swipe the supercar within. The open world structure looks like it borrows some ideas from the Burnout series, although Need for Speed Payback will use the Frostbite engine, and Ghost Games are behind ??th?is title rather than Criterion.  

Before the trailer, one of the game's producers spoke about the premium his team placed on customization, both visual and performance, and that you'll be able to find junkers in barns throughout the map that can be upgraded into supercars. If you want to play a Fast and the Furious game on your console, this might be as close as you'll be able to get for now. Need for Speed: Payback will launch November 10, 2017.

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I like how we know that tidbit before the game's name

Electronic Arts isn't waiting until E3 to begin dishing out a few Need for Speed details.

This year's installment, once again developed by Ghost Games, is focusing on customization ("it wi??ll play as strong a role as ever") and an open-ended world, including cop chases ("??you're going to want a world that not only looks beautiful, but offers you the space in which to do the things you want").

Oh, and this crucial detail: "you will be able to p?lay through a single-player experience completely offline. Before you ask, and we know you will, this does mean you will ?? be able to pause the game."

"To say that [always online] is a topic you're passionate about would be an understatement, and whenever there's a topic that gathers as much attention and fee??dback from you as this did, we take note," the studio wrote in a blog post.

The online requirement in Need for Speed (2015) was poorly received, so it makes sense EA would want this we-learned-our-lesson news to be one of the first talkin?g points. Sharing that now, ahead of E3, will help keep it from getting lost in the June news sh?uffle. It's a start, but I'll need to hear more.

Need for Speed 2017: Paying it Back [Need for Speed]

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Another Ghost Games entry

Ghost Games is continuing its work on the Need for Speed franchise with a new game in 2017.

While last year's Need for Speed reboot left some longtime fans disappointed, to say nothing of common criticisms regarding the title's always-online nature and irksome AI rubberbanding, I think Ghost stands to make a much better follow-up out of the gate knowing what it now knows. Lots of people want lots of different things from this series depending on when they got into it, but that feedback is out there, and it sounds like the ??team is actively taking it under consideration.

"We'll be working with our community and there will be multiple opportunities to bring many of you into the studio in the coming months to get your feedback?? on where we're headed," reads a blog post.

Work has begun winding down on Need for Speed (2015) as of the recent SpeedList update. That was the? "last free content update for this game." Pretty good run there, I have to say.

Taking Stock [Need for Speed]

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Seemingly not worth the hassle

In January, Ubisoft filed a complaint with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, threatening Electronic Arts with legal action over a trademark application for? the word "Ghost."

EA presumably wanted exclusive rights to the word, at least as it pertains to video games, to protect the brand of its subsidiary Ghost Games, the new studio behind Need for Speed.

But, apparently the trademark wasn't that important to EA. Rather than go to court and spend a bunch of time an?d money dealing with lawyers, the publisher formally abandoned the trademark application wi??thout prejudice on Wednesday, February 24 with Ubisoft's consent.

In Ubisoft's Notice of Opposition, the company maintained a "Ghost" trademark would cause the French publisher harm, as consumers were likely to mistake EA's products for Ghost Recon. Now that may sound silly, people confusing racers for Tom Clancy shooters, but trademark law is inherently silly. If companies don't constantly ??fight for their rights, they'll lose them.

Withdrawl of Application [USPTO via NeoGAF]

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Console players will get an update

When Need for Speed heads to PC on March 15, 2016, it'll support manual trans??mission, and the oft-requested feature will also show up in a future update for the game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Electronic Arts announced this morning. A sign of things to come for the series? Perhaps.

Ghost Games is calling this port the definitive version given its uncapped frame rate,? support for resolutions up to 4K, and compatibility with select wheels from Logitech, Thrustmaster, and Fanatec.

It will launch with the Icons and Legends updates included, the latter of which re-balances the AI drivers to be less of a rubber-banding annoyance. Another content update, Showcase, is expected ?to surface on PC soon after the game's mid-M?arch release.

EA hasn't divulged pricing details at this time.

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Ghost Recon vs. Ghost Games

Publishers Ubisoft and El??ectronic A??rts are primed to go to war over the word "ghost."

The former filed a Notice of Opposition with the? United States Patent and Trademark Office this Friday, disputing a pair of trademark applications EA ?filed for the spooky term last March.

The French company argues EA's trademarks will "cause confusion" with its Ghost Recon series, contending that "consumers are likely to believe, mistakenly, that the goods and services [EA] offers under [its trademark filing] are provided, sponsored, endorsed, or approved by [Ubisoft], or are in some way affiliated, connected, or associated with [Ubiso?ft], all to the detriment of [Ubisoft].

While that argument might hold water if EA were attempting to use the name to compete with or cash in on Ubisoft's Tom Clancy shooter f??ranchise, that doesn't appear to be the?? case.

EA seems to be filing the mark for its subsidiary Ghost Games, the Sweden-based studio known for developing racing games like Need for Speed: Rivals and last year's Need for Speed reboot.

In any event, Ubisoft is asking the USPTO to refuse EA's applications, and has given EA until March 29 to respond to its notice before pote??ntial court proceedings begin on April 8.

Notice of Opposition [USPTO, USPTO via NeoGAF]

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Get your motor running

Ghost Games has detailed what's new in the upcoming Need for Speed patch, "Icons."

Community lead Ben Walke stated in a blog post the developer was aware of issues with AI catch-up (AI cars that magically keep up with you when racing)? and while the details haven't been specified, it has "made changes to the AI behavior which should improve your overall experience."

Two new Icon?? cars will be available - Morohoshi's Lamborghini Diablo SV and Ken Bl??ock's Hoonicorn - complete with an enhanced colour selection tool, new daily challenges, a rep boost and three new cheevos/trophies, depending upon your console of choice.

The main menu is also being refreshed to better indicate when? the n?ew community events are live. There will be three types of events - bonus cash events will grant an increase in money, discounts events will offer discounts on various in-game items, and bonus REP events will reward you with more REP.

The rollout begins November 25, 2015.

In our Need for Speed review, we said that: "When you factor in Need for Speed's ?fo??rgettable story, you're left with a slightly above average racing game that's not as enjoyable as past series entries.

"From a ??pure gameplay perspective, it works, but it never manages to elevate itself. If you're in the?? mood for a new cinematic racer though, you could do a whole lot worse."

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Slow and steady wins the race

Need for Speed's PC launch has been delayed u??ntil next spring, Ghost Games announced today, saying PC gamers' desire for an unlocked frame rate was the driving force behind the move.

"This decision on PC gives us the necessary ??development time to increase the visuals that we can deliver on PC," Ghost Games explained. "We will also include content updates that? will have been released on console up to that time, making them available to all PC players from day one."

The racing game will launch worldwid??e in early N??ovember on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Need for Speed Update [EA]

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Or don't

The new Need for Speed reboot is one of those always-online abominations, so you can bet? your swee??t ass there is going to be a beta. Gotta stress test those severs/promote that product.

If you'd like to take the racer for a spin prior to its November 3 release, (Why not?) you can sign up right here, though there is no guarantee of getting in. Al?so, you should know that while the game is coming to PC, this particular beta will only be taking place on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The registration process will run until September 25, after which time new prospective testers will no longer be abl??e to enter the lottery. There's currently no word on when testing will commence.

Side note: I love when every promo image includes a watermarked logo, with publishers fearing that without o?ne folks might mistake their game for another non-distinctive member of the same genre.

Need for Speed closed beta signup [Electronic Arts]

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The experience is built around Autolog

The new Need for Speed reboot is an always-online experience, which might be a bit of a damper if you live in an area with a less than s??tellar Internet connection. But them's the breaks, I guess.

According to executive producer Marcus Nilsson, online connectivity is a key component of the experience, which apparently place??s a heavy emphasis on social el??ements. 

"We’ve been pretty big with Autolog throughout the years and, as we know, it’s a really powerful feature," Nilsson told Official Xbox Magazine. "This time around we’re going to give it more of a human voice. It will treat? your friend’s play as if it is part of the narrative experience." ??;

"We also have a new snapshot system as well," Nilsson said. "Which is taking pictures of a lot of different moments – [they go] out to the Need for Speed ne???twork where people can ‘like’ them, and those likes are being pushed back into the game as currency.

"So you?? get progression from sharing your photos," Nilsson added. "The Xbox One has really good built-in systems to make videos and stream them, which we are also going to?? use."

When EA announced the new Need for Speed back in May, the publisher stated it aimed to deliver "on what the fans want, and what Need for Speed stands for - deep customization, authentic ?urban car culture, a nocturnal open world, and an immersive narrative that pulls you through the game."

I'm willing to bet more than a few people would be willing to trade the fancy narrative and a few social gimmicks for the ability to ??r?ace cars offline. Guess they'll have to do so in a different game.

Ghost Games explains why Need For Speed Al??????????????????????????ways is always onli??ne [GamesRadar]

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We're well above Night Trap quality now

EA has released a new trailer for the upcoming Need for Speed,?? showing off some of the FMVs that will be featured in the game and some of the main characters who we’ll meet in it.

I’m not a big driving game fan, but the FMVs seem pretty well acted, and it looks like it’ll just hammy enough to keep me interested. This really is the year of the FMV by the look of it, what with Guitar Hero Live also featuring them too.

Need for Speed releases on November 3.

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Whoopsie

The Xbox Games Store may have accidentally leaked the release date for EA's latest Need for Speed instalment.

According to Reddit, the mistake was rectified and the page pulled pretty sharpish, but not before a clever soul used the magic of screen capture and snapped it for prosperity. 

Since then, however, it appears as though the page has been revised again and the release date re-added -- November 3, 2015 for North America, and November 5 in Europe.

We knew a new Need for Speed game was coming following EA's financials earlier this month, but the description of the game, and accompanying release date, had not yet been disclose??d formally by EA.

"Carve your own unique path, via multiple overlapping stories, gaining reputation on your journey to become the ultimate icon," reads the blurb. "Discover the nocturnal open world of urban car culture, driven by 5 ways to play and win in this thrilling reboot of Need for Speed".

The five ways to play are detailed as: Speed, Sty?le, Build, Crew, and Outlaw, with Ventura Bay listed as your "urban playground" -- "from downtown, the harbour and the canyons, the city comes alive while you sleep."

Yeah, that last bit confuses me too. Are we s??upposed to be sleep-driving, EA?

Need for Speed release date spotted [Eurogamer]

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The series could use some breathing room

During Electronic Arts' fourth quarter fiscal 2014 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson said that the publisher won't release a new installment of Need for Speed in 2014.

At the very least, Need for Speed: Rivals developer Ghost Games' new title will arrive next year. Speaking to IGN, series executive producer Marcus Nilsson said "We've decid??ed to take the time to build the game we really want to build in the next fiscal year.

"Looking at where the racing market now is, and looking at the Need for Speed brand, we se??e a pretty clear strategy of what we need to achieve. And to achieve that, we need time."

Well, good. It's an attitude I'd wish ?we see more freq??uently for established franchises like this.

Need for Speed: No Game Releasing in 2014 [IGN]

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Crash, into me...

Like any good racer, the Need for Speed franchise never stops moving. They've come a long way since the early '90s, though the last few years' releases have been more about refinement of the formula than anything else, moving more towards an open world structure??.

The latest in the franchise, Need for Speed: Rivals, takes a big step by going all-in on one mode that combines a single-player campaign with online multiplayer. The rest -- including the cops, the cars, and the crashing -- stay the same. In a sense, they've made it so players can jump ??in and go fast without having to worry about the details.

And it's all the better for it.

Need for Speed: Rivals (PS4 [reviewed], PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC)
Developer: Ghost Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release: November 15, 2013 for PS4, November 19 for Xbox 360,  PS3

Need for Speed: Rivals is an open-world racing sandbox that you're free to do whatever you'd like in. Sure, there's a single-player progression and a light story to follow, but that stuff really doesn't matter in the long run. It's all about going fast and doing what you want as either a racer or a cop, speeding around in a big, crazy ??racing world.

When you boil this game's structure down, it's a series of checklists to complete. While that might not sound exciting, it works pretty well as a way to keep players engaged. Since Rivals lets you play as either a cop or a racer, there are branching paths to follow to work your way? up through the p??rogression. Along the way you're free to take on any of the branches, called Speed Lists, picking the objectives you'd prefer to tackle, or the ones that suit your racing style best. Completing items from these Speed Lists will earn you Speed Points, which can be used to buy and upgrade your cars, while completing the Speed Lists themselves will unlock more cars.

Rivals goes light on the customization. Beyond the basic paint job and trim customization, progressions that add to a car's speed, acceleration, control, and durability are also available. The only true customization comes from Rivals' Pursuit Tech, which lets you ad?d offensive abilities to your cars. Shockwaves, EMP blasts, jammers and more can be equipped in the two available slots of each car. Each of the Pursuit Tech types al??so has an upgrade progression. 

For the racer side of the game, the Speed Lists focus on either racing, driving, or messing with the cops. For the most part, by picking carefully, I found that I could avoid the challenges I didn't care for -- like the interceptor cop chases -- sticking to the fun ones that had me jumping off ramps for distance, or bashing other cars o?ff the road. There are points where the progression forces one objective on all o??f the paths, though these cases are rare. For the most part, the constantly evolving stream of challenges keeps things fresh, though I found that after I had tried most of the challenge types, it started to feel more like a grind.

It works the same way on the cop ??side, giving the choice to patrol or enforce with challenge types that are more in line with what a cop with a super-fast sports car might do to uphold traffic laws. While taking down racers with sirens screaming is always fun, some of the challenges, like the "go-fast-but-don't-mess-up" Rapid Response mission are somewhat boring in comparison. 

Need for Speed: Rivals' AllDrive mode has you playing your races alongside the rest of the world, effectively mixing single-player and multiplay?er experiences together. Every time the game is loaded, you're logged into EA's servers. Other players will show up i?n your game, and you're free to challenge them in races. Through Autolog, friends' race times and other records are also tracked and compared as you race, adding another competitive layer.

Between the story progression, the speed lists, and AllDrive, you're never at a loss for what to do next. You can keep your head down and keep to yourself if you'd like, but I found that openly engaging other racers makes for a much better time. As nicely done as Rivals' open world is, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting without real racers zipping around you as you try to run from the cops. For the most part, it gets rid of its predecessors' scripted races and messy multiplayer, giving you action that feels more real. AllDrive is the real deal, and?? it makes for some pretty lively gameplay.

As great as the open world and its always-online connectivity are, there are a few speed bumps in Rivals' game balance. While the cop campaign is mostly problem free, racers' patience will be tried with some supremely frustrating design choices. While both cops and racers earn Spe??ed Points for completing challenges, racers are always at risk of losing their earnings ??at any time. Cop busts or full wrecks will drain all of a racer's earnings; the only way to ensure keeping these points is to race to a hideout to 'bank' earnings before being busted.

There are multiple issues here. First off, the more Speed Points a racer earns, the higher their point multiplier goes, letting them?? increase earnings exponentially if they're daring enough. But, with this multiplier increase comes a heat level increase, which means that the cops are more likely to attack. And, with faster cars, the?? heat level starts out higher.

By the middle of the racer campaign, you're certain to have cops on you at all times, and there is no break or breathing room. Even if you're flying at over 200 miles per hour with nitrous flaming out the back of your car, the cops are on you, coming from all directions, plowing at you at any given opportunity. Chances are you will be busted, and you will lose all of y??our Speed Points. Since Speed Points earnings are tied directly to the acquisition of new cars and their upgrades, you're essentially losing your progress with each bust. 

There were sessions of play where I was being busted six times an hour, which means that aside from Speed List ch??allenge checkmarks, I was literally spinning my wheels, going nowhere. In the later levels cops are so aggressive that the game's open-world s??ense of freedom is completely drained. Cars can be pulled over for not moving at all, first off -- that's ridiculous.

I had points where I had pulled my car near hideout after b??arely breaking free from multiple attacks, mashing L1 to make sure I'd be able to bank my Speed Points, only to find the cops flying at me from every angle, coming out of nowhere to bust me before the game even registered my button presses. I streamed a couple of these sessions via PS4 la?st week, and my viewers got a kick out of me losing my mind over Speed Point losses. I didn't think it was funny at all.

There are a couple of other design holdouts from Most Wanted that they still need to fix. When you need to set a waypoint most -- during a pursuit where you're in danger of losing all of your Speed Points -- Rivals' conveniences no longer feel convenient. You can use either the EasyDrive mini menu by tapping the d-??pad, or the overworld map, by pushing the Option button. Either has you taking your eyes off the road when you should be going full speed. With no way to stop and look, you're going to either crash or get busted. There's nothing even close to a pause button.

The mini-map is pathetically small, poorly placed, and barely usable. Just like with Most Wanted, it's too far away from the action in the bottom left corner to look at, which means you'll have to take your eyes off the road to know where to go. Doing so at 200 miles per hour never ends well -- and with that kind of speed you're actually out-driving the map! The colored? path lines are slow to appear anyway, but at that speed they appear far too late. Worst of all, the range the map displays is too restricted, leaving you unsure of what's ahead until its too late. Ghost Games have added street-level graphical indicators to help guide you in the right direction, but they're hard to see, and they still don't give enough of a clear view of where you need to be going.

That all said, I want to thank Ghost Games for dialing back the crash animations. In Most Wanted, they lasted so long that it felt like the game was making fun of you for losing, and were sometimes so disorienting that I had to look away. In Rivals, they're big and flashy, but not drawn out.&?nbsp;

Need for Speed: Rivals looks great on the PS4, though there's nothing inherently next-gen about it. It looks like a souped up current-gen title with added areas of polish. All of the cars are shiny and highly detailed, and the day-night cycles and weather changes are impressive. Ghost Games' California-inspired world, Redvies, is particularly lovely in its desert areas. Again, no complaints, but I can't wait to see what a ground-up built, next-gen Need for Speed will look like.  

My only gripes on Rivals' presentation are the story elements and their narration. The tutorial narrator sounds bored or annoyed, which does little to get you excited about the race. The story itself is nonsensical, and the cutscenes are so silly that you'll likely end up skipping them. But the voice bits assigned to each level's Speed List are so bad that you might get some enjoyment out of them in that unintentionally funn?y kind of way. It sounds like some dope with a nose cold trying to mock designer cologne commercial one-liners. "Fate is out there. Somewhere," one says.

Rivals cr??ashed on me a few times, with one crash so bad that the PS4 asked me to send a crash report. Twice, when trying to use the PS4's Share button to upload clips,? the game crashed and closed out on its own, losing my progress. Another time, in checking the map during a race, I was kicked out of the game. A few graphical glitches also popped up in the distance, though they were nothing major.

Even with the balance issues and design missteps, Need for Speed: Rivals is a blast. Literally. Plowing into cops to watch them explode off the side of the road as you zip by is never not fun. So is blasting them with EMP to watch them flip in the air. And through AllDrive's connectivity, I loved being able to race up alongside someone and mash L1 to instantly challenge them to a head-to-head showdown. Ramping jumps, drift contests, dodging speed traps -- it's all a blast. There's simply too much fun to be had here t??o get hung up on the gripes.

Just be sure to t??ake breaks when playing ??the racer campaign, as the grind, and the suicidal cops can wear on you.

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