Need for Speed Payback

It's hard to believe that there are so many games into the Need for Speed franchise. Over twenty years of more than yearly releases, the series has been around for quite a long time now. It's hard to stay fresh after being so long on a single game market. Car games can either be too realistic or too arcade-like, and Need For Speed has been on both sides of the story.

So, after being on both sides of the spectrum, does this game really changes something? And more importantly, is Need For Speed Payback doing enough to stay relevant even after a break?

Half a step into the right direction

While Need For Speed Payback does a lot of things right, most of those things were already there. Sure the "open world" mechanics and the more-than-races missions seem new, but they've been present in past titles.

Innovation can be a double-edged weapon, longtime fans may find it hard to accept drastic changes, but some changes would have been appreciated. From a graphics perspective, the game looks solid, not the best but looks good. However, just good isn't enough to justify the hiccups and problems with performance.

Need For Speed Payback leans more to the side of arcade-like racing than realism, and that's alright. But after a little break in the franchise, you'd expect them to come up with something more original than this title. It's a nice, solid title, but it isn't great.

Can you believe that the Need for Speed franchise is over 20 years old! Also, that Need for Speed Payback is the 23rd game in the franchise. This is actually the second game after EA decided to reboot the series.

There Is A Story???

Need for Speed Payback is an open world racing game, but there is an overarching story throughout the whole game. You play as three different characters. Ty, Mac, and Jess. The story is super cheesy, but it takes its self, very, very seriously and this is funny in an unintentional way. The story has heists, police chases, betrayal and everything in between. The three playable characters all play the same, but it is the cars they can drive that separates them from each other. In all honesty, the story is cheesy, but it is also kind of fun in a dumb way. I just wish that they kept in the FMV from the last Need for Speed.

Arcade Racing Action

The actual driving of Need for Speed Payback is really tight. It is way more arcadey than it is a sim and that is a good thing. There are over 70 cars to drive and there are all kinds of cars ranging from fast sports cars, badass dragsters, and powerful off-road vehicles. The actual racing feels really good and one thing that I feel they nailed is the drifting. It feels just right, but sometimes when you are trying to drift, the AI will go out of its way to smash into you. This can get super annoying as it happens more often than it should.

Lots To Do

There is so much to do in the world of Need for Speed Payback! The main story is what you will be spending most of your time doing, but I do feel that EA went all out to give us a ton of things to do in the large open world. They have brought back cop chases which is great. They are a little on the linear side though as they kind of feel more like a regular race with the cops on your tail. One thing you can do though is smash into them and then the game will do this kind of Burnout effect which I really liked. EA has also brought back dragster races and these are something that people were really into. In all honesty, they did not exactly float my boat, but I can see why this is something that a lot of people love. There are also these stunt type missions you can do and I love the idea of these and they do make for some exciting cut-scenes. My problem though is that whenever something cool happens the game takes control away from you and you have to watch it in a cut scene.

EA And Their Cards!

Even a racing game is not immune to EA’s need to have card packs in their games! Need for Speed Payback has a very annoying system where to customize your car you have to take part in this unfun card-based game. It is completely random as to what you get and the whole thing feels like a major chore and it feels like EA are just trying to entice you to spend real world money on the card packs. I hate how they have put this in the game and for me, it ruins any sense of upgrading the cars that the game has as it is just not fun.

Need for Speed Payback to me feels like a step back from the previous game. Sure they actually let you pause this one and play it offline, but that is the only upgrade it has over its predecessor. The actual racing is fun, but the linear nature of this open world makes it not as exciting as you would expect a Need for Speed game to be. Then we have the card packs, I hate, hate, hate this! Why does EA keep putting this in their games, it really has no place in a racing game, especially when it comes to upgrading and customizing your car.

6/10

Pros:

• The story while dumb is kind of fun
• Lots of different cars
• The actual driving is fun
• Drifting feels good
• There is lots to do

Cons:

• The card pack upgrade system flat out sucks
• Not the most exciting game in the series