Need for Speed Rivals is an open world racing video game. Developed by Ghost Games and Criterion Games, it is the 20th game in the Need for Speed series. The game was released for Windows, PS 3 and Xbox 360 on 11/19/2013, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as launch titles in the same month.
General Gameplay
Need for Speed Rivals is the 20th game in the Need for Speed series. The game was a launch title for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game as others in the series is about racing, but this title comes with a twist, you can be the street racer or the cop. This new twist takes you in either career mode in which you play as either a street racer or as a cop that is assigned to stop illegal street racing. A newer concept that does with for this game. Also one of the first in the series that the gameplay takes place in an online world in which players will race with both online players in real time as well an offline story mode.
Audio
The game is on point with a soundtrack that takes the feeling of racing and makes you feel that you are on the road racing with the tunes that you are expected to hear from a movie soundtrack. The developers do a great job to make you feel that you are in a living, breathing world in which you are racing in. From tires screeching to “trading paint” during the race, Need for Speed does a great job with sounds that are going on in the game. Families that have a 5.1 surround sound will notice that the soundtrack is in Dolby Digital and comes in crystal clear. For younger gamers, the sounds and loudness may be a little too loud at times, so again parents be sure to monitor the volume levels with younger gamers.
Visuals
The visuals are great as well. With colors of the cars that look like they just got a fresh coat of paint to the level of details of the sides of the road and everything else that is seems that the game is living and breathing creature. The game showcases the curves of the cars as well damage during the race and other hazards that come with this style of driving. From beautiful countryside to beachfronts, buildings and even shortcuts, the game does a great job showing details that are mostly ignored in other racing games. For families that own a 1080P HDTV, the game is displayed in great detail. However a word of caution for families with gamers that have a harder time seeing different shade of color, you will have to go into the setting to change the color setting to make sure that all members can see the colors. Also some that are partial or full colorblind may find this game more challenging as the game is very vivid and may be too intense for some gamers. Parents be sure to adapt game color changes to both the game and or your monitor to help both color challenge and younger gamers.
Controls
Controls for this game are very basic as for any other racing game out there. You have your gas, break, nitro and e-brake that come almost standard to most racing games. The controls for the most part are very responsive for the game. However for the force feedback is an issue at which times during our gameplay we experience an over rumble in the controller. Also at times we have notice that the combination of controls (even though for a racing game) for our special needs family members way a little challenging, so parents please be aware of this while gaming. With it being an online racing game, we have also seen with some younger gamers as well older gamers that the controls may get daunting and the complexity of the game controls may overwhelm some gamers. Other than those concerns the game controls are fine for most members of the family.
Delivery
If you are looking for a racing game, then this is a game that may satisfy that need for a while but the repetitive gameplay and lack of a true offline mode may turn off some gamers (there is a way to make sure that you can play totally offline, but it does take away from the point of racing others) In our play through of the game we have notice some glitches and some lag to the racing online. Also with the age of the game, not many racers are online, so you may face a lack of online gamers playing this title. With other racers out there we would recommend going with another title that is deeper into the racing dynamic of this genre. The soundtrack is a great one for racing and this is one of the high points for this game, however with the glitches and also some control issues this is a game that is shadowed by other titles out there. A good racing game but it is showing its age.
Family Friendly
For the family the game is a decent racing game for the whole family, however we did run into some concerns and problems while playing this title. One of the things that we ran into was glitches. The game is very glitchy at times where there is game breaking glitches. For an example, we were playing a session and the car drifted to the side of the road and then got stuck into a tree, or a bush, or even when trying to get away from the “cop vs robbers” mode where we got stuck into another car. Also there were at times we notice that some controls were not responding to the gamer input. We tested this with other controllers and other consoles and saw that this was across the game and not the user input. For our special needs family gamers, the game music is great but at times can be overwhelming to some, so please be aware of this as well some lyrics to the songs may not be appropriate for all family members. With game bugs, glitches and some control issues we would recommend to pass on this title as this may cause anxiety in gamers and rage issue because of these issues. Also Need for Speed being a launch title the online gaming community have moved on and that there are not many gamers online playing this title. So if you have family members looking for a racing challenge with others, they may be hard pressed to find like-minded gamers to race online. As Need for Speed is a visually good looking and sounding game it still has flaws. With more playtesting we have notice this things and wanted to bring this to our readers attention. Our best advice that if you have the EA vault that this is a good title to have for gamers to try out, however do be aware that with the game bugs and limited online community support that there is not much gaming to be had for all family members.
Closing
So with our review of Need for Speed, we can say that it is a game that starts off fast but does sizzle out and slows down during mid race. With game breaking bugs, glitches, limited online community gameplay and repetitive mission, this may be a title that you may want to pass up for more engaging racing games out there.
