Want for Velocity Unbound is the twenty fifth major installment within the franchise for the reason that very first sport launched in 1994, and that have is clearly packed into its core racing gameplay. Each race feels clean from begin to end, however sadly, the vast majority of Want for Velocity Unbound doesn’t really feel as refined as its core gameplay.
Want for Velocity Unbound takes place within the fictional metropolis of Lakeshore, the place the mayor and native police are looking for to remove unlawful avenue racing forward of elections. An enormous-money racing occasion will get arrange and takes gamers throughout 4 weeks and 4 main, multiple-race occasions: three qualifiers and the Lakeshore Grand. Gamers should race day and night time throughout on daily basis of those four-week intervals with the intention to earn sufficient money to purchase their method in and construct their vehicles as much as snuff.
Arguably, few look to a Want for Velocity (or any racing sport) for an excellent narrative, however NFS Unbound‘s story is maybe essentially the most generic of the previous a number of years. It retreads the overused rival racer trope, repeats the identical plot twists, and fails to make something really feel private. As a substitute, the story pushes how cash and the pursuit thereof are secondary to respect, honor, and household, however gamers will simply be pursuing cash continually regardless of supposedly being funded. Ignoring that, although, followers will be capable of take pleasure in a few of the finest core gameplay within the franchise thus far.
Gamers are capable of improve their vehicles via a sequence of tiers (B, A, A+, S, and S+), with numerous upgrades for each a part of the engine. If gamers hit their limits, they’re even capable of change their whole block and unlock new upgrades to push it even greater. The substance in these upgrades is there, and so is the fashion. Each a part of a car comes with a ton of customizable physique components, together with the entire elimination of fenders, and the paint and wraps ensure that followers can specific themselves correctly. Surprisingly, although, the driving results in Want for Velocity Unbound really feel like minor add-ons as a substitute of an vital customization possibility, which is odd given how closely marketed they had been.
Each automobile drives and feels totally different in Want for Velocity Unbound, and the power to tune the autos is second to none. Gamers are capable of modify how properly their automobile drifts or how tightly it manages turns, utilizing that to their benefit in each race. Numerous Want for Velocity video games drop any actual problem, making it straightforward for even essentially the most novice participant to return in first continually. That is not the case right here. To match how clean driving a automobile feels, Want for Velocity Unbound makes positive gamers are continually challenged. One wreck, one misstep, or one miscalculation will simply see gamers chasing the pack as a substitute of main it. Sadly, regardless of how good the sport feels second to second, that is closely undermined at each flip.
The racing sorts in Want for Velocity Unbound are lackluster, with gamers spending 90% of their time doing sprints or circuit races. What’s worse is gamers will see repeat maps earlier than they even end the primary week. The races are typically altered with modifiers like large cash, low danger, excessive danger, required warmth ranges, and so forth, however each Tier has a handful of races and nothing extra. There are a few head-to-head occasions, automobile deliveries, drifting occasions, and Want for Velocity Unbound‘s new Takeover mode (which is only a drifting occasion with further steps like getting factors for jumps and hitting issues), however there are not any conventional eliminators outdoors the qualifiers. No drag races, no main offroad occasions, no real-time assaults, or something revolutionary.
Gamers may also cope with police regularly, however it looks like a performative characteristic as a substitute of one thing with depth. It appears promising at first, as Want for Velocity Unbound pits gamers towards totally different police autos based mostly on warmth stage (commonplace, AWD, undercover, interceptors, heavy models) that it says gamers ought to cope with otherwise, however there is not any actual have to. The results of this method is a small handful of autos that may chase the participant, as a substitute of epic police chases that require fast decision-making akin to older video games, and these are straightforward to flee. The AI of those police autos is, at finest, questionable. Throughout chases, they’re going to name out that they’re about to pit the participant or ram them, however then by no means do. They’re going to deploy spike journeys, however that is so telegraphed and sometimes misplaced that they’re simpler to keep away from than in some other franchise sport thus far.
When gamers encounter police in Want for Velocity Unbound‘s open world, they’ll go flying by them at an unreasonable pace, hit three or 4 different autos, and carry out a plethora of unlawful actions, however so long as gamers usually are not straight in entrance of them and don’t contact them, the police AI won’t work together. Even after they start recognizing the participant, it’s straightforward to duck out of their method. It is nearly amusing to play with the AI, however undermines any synthetic risk they create. For instance, if a Want for Velocity Unbound participant is busted, they lose all of the money they have not banked by ending the day or night time. Nevertheless, it is tougher to get caught by the police than it’s to flee them, and that is one thing gamers might, sadly, wish to do sometimes.
The four-week day and night time cycle looks like plenty of padding, particularly as gamers may have tricked out their autos and be rolling in dough by the tip of the third week. There are some races the place gamers can unlock vehicles, in order that’s encouraging, however typically they’re going to start a gameplay session the place there are solely races with low financial rewards. Gamers will exit their storage and notice there are fewer and fewer fascinating, non-repeat races to do as they transfer ahead, and hope to maneuver it alongside. Outdoors this, Want for Velocity Unbound‘s generic setting of Lakeshore ensures there’s nothing to push gamers to care extra about attending to the subsequent race. There are just one or two setpieces that stand out from others (and these are additionally repeated).
There’s additionally no quick journey characteristic, even for gamers to simply get again to an unlocked protected home, and that is possible as a result of gamers may very well be theoretically busted at any level. However once more, these pursuits lack any actual depth and simply really feel like a performative characteristic than a fully-developed core side of gameplay. Had the remainder of Want for Velocity Unbound acquired the identical polish as its core gameplay, it will be a totally totally different story, however there’s not a lot right here for gamers outdoors the subsequent race.
Want for Velocity Unbound additionally options a web-based mode, the place the issue is upped as gamers race towards actual individuals. There are full race playlists the place gamers can compete towards others, and the server dimension is excellent to make sure there are fixed races going. Right here of all locations, the extraordinary gameplay manages to shine even brighter. The issue is that it is introduced precisely just like the story mode, which means every little thing improper with Lakeshore and NFS Unbound’s basic design is clear right here too. It is unimaginable to foretell the long run, however except it’s closely supported with a plethora of renewed content material, NFS Unbound’s on-line mode is prone to fade into obscurity.
In consequence, Want for Velocity Unbound feels prefer it involves a cease earlier than it ever will get going. The polish within the moment-to-moment gameplay can’t be ignored, however as a complete, Want for Velocity Unbound is simply one other forgettable entry within the long-running franchise.
Want for Velocity Unbound is offered now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Sequence X. Sport Rant was offered an Xbox Sequence X code for the needs of this assessment.
