Need for Speed Unbound is undoubtedly a solid racing game. Cars have weight and are satisfying to drive, and although a spoonful of more variety could've gone a long way, the simple gameplay loop of roaming Chicago-inspired Lakeshore City was enough to keep me coming back for the 30 hours I spent in it. Conversely, the story mode of
Unbound was more of a hinderance to my enjoyment than a reason for it. Despite this, I recommend
Need For Speed Unbound to any fans of
arcade racing.
The fundamental gameplay that made up about 90% of my time with
Unbound (And just about any racing game) was driving. Thankfully the game doesn't disappoint in this field, with car physics and mechanics that felt simple to understand and rewarding to master. I especially liked the "Nitrous" mechanic, which incentivizes risky and varied driving. A bar made up of three segments is filled as you execute actions like drifts, near misses, and even "grip turns." Here's the catch: You may only redeem this Nitrous for a small bonus when at least one bar is filled. If you wait until all bars are filled, you get a significantly larger speed boost. If no nitrous criteria is filled in a short space of time, you will lose that which you've gained. This encourages the player to make consistently skilled and dangerous moves, much like a combo system. This allows for more varied gameplay, as you can choose to tune your car for either drifting or grip turns, which means taking the racing line and judging braking points. While this added much needed variety, Many cars didn't feel very different from each other aside from whether they were more tuned for grip or drift. Police pursuits are also present here, however I found them to be mainly minor inconveniences during races and in the open world. Unlike
Need for Speed Heat, where players can choose between legal day racing or illegal night racing, you'll always gain heat after completing events, no matter the time of day. You'll lose heat after each day/night cycle. Other than the obvious visual differences, there is no mechanical difference between the two which makes the mechanic feel redundant and at times over looked.
In terms of graphics, the game looks great, especially during rainy conditions. The way rain drops are rendered on the various surfaces and materials stole my attention from time to time. The art direction can only be judged subjectively, but in my opinion the cartoonish effects look fantastic and was what got me interested in the game in the first place. The cell-shaded characters and smoke look great in contrast to the hyper-realistic car models, and the graffiti-esque effects that appear when using nitrous or in the air provide a breath of fresh air in the arcade racing genre. Although they can be somewhat intrusive, they never led to any frustrating, avoidable collisions in my experience. The amount of car customization was another pleasant surprise. The garage was where I spent the other 10% of my time, tinkering with the various body kits, colors, and wheels available to me. Although the amount of options was admittedly overwhelming at first, I quickly became accustomed to all the ways in which I could adjust spoilers, rims, and even headlights. Many of my competitors cars served as inspiration for my own, and even if you aren't interested in creating your own ridiculous looking ride, there are a plethora of custom cars that can scratch that itch.
Speaking of Competitors, there aren't many of them. This leads me to the most underwhelming and forgettable part of
Unbound, the story and its characters. Now don't get me wrong, I don't expect Shakespeare level writing from racing games, just an excuse to go racing that doesn't make the player cringe too hard. With this entry in the
Need for Speed series,
Criterion Games just about achieves the former but fails miserably at the latter. I'll summarize the plot: Your lifelong friend betrays you and steals your car, you need to compete in four high-profile (and repetitive) street racing events to win it back. Like the other modern
Need For Speed games, gone is the piss-yellow filter and grungy, underground aesthetic of 2000s era
Need for Speed: Most Wanted and
Need for Speed: Carbon, with characters now resembling over-the-top personalities seen on popular social media platforms of today. Criterion is definitely making an attempt to reach a new demographic here, which, while understandable, does not excuse the terrible writing. Most characters have decent voice actors, however none are able to disguise the terrible quality of the countless irrelevant, pointless quips and jokes that miss almost every time. The story seems to want to be anti-authority with themes of self expression and individuality, which could've worked if the story wasn't so focused on a revenge plot with feels irrelevant given the politics of Lakeshore being such a huge focus in-between events. Consequently,
Unbound has a simple premise: Spend each week performing well in events to earn money, which allows you to upgrade your car and prepare for the big event at the end of the week which allows you to progress to the next week. While I definitely felt there was at least a reason to race, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the "key" moments each week built up to.
Ultimately,
Need For Speed Unbound was an experience made fun by its solid gameplay and great customization options. While the story falls flat on many occasions, it does justify the moment to moment action which is wrapped in a layer of stylistic flair which is at its worst a minor distraction and at its best innovating art design in arcade racing. Although
Unbound doesn't reinvent the wheel, it certainly encourages players to try.