Yes! I hated that Autolog and whatever else they insisted on forcing in some of the earlier games to try to get you to play with other people.
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With the new game in the Need for Speed franchise coming later this year, I wonder how many of you have played these gems back in the day.
Underground for example is from 2003, almost 20 years ago 
Also, the best track from Underground imho.
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That looks quite nice! I hope this gets closer to the Underground games than it was with Heat.
Also I am glad they take a more unique path visually, it is no Forza or Grand Tourismo. I am not fully sold on the style but I appreciate the courage!
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All of them, actually. And I always revisit them! There’s a certain charm about Black Box’s era of Need for Speed. Before then, It was all about High-end European sports cars. Then the first Fast and Furious came out, starting a trend of heavily-modified import tuners and illicit urban street racing. These three games are so influential that they basically define the series’ identity.
Let’s be honest, 2000’s is far enough from now for us to have nostalgia, right?
Ah I like The Only by Static-X as well, so I can’t really pick a favorite. But there’s no doubt that all three games’ soundtracks are great!
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That’s cool 
I also remember that time in the early 2000s with the first Fast & Furious movies and the tuning focussed Need for Speed games. Back then I couldn’t get enough vinyls and decals on the car, while today I prefer a cleaner and simpler look, both for cars in game and my own in real life.
Just last year I played through all of these games again, which was great fun. So many memories coming back and finally playing the game with highest graphics settings, that my GPU couldn’t handle back then. The rubber banding AI is not great, but other than that I’m impressed how well these old games hold up. And I agree, that the 2000s are long enough in the past to have nostalgia 
That’s fair. After all there are many great tracks in the game, fitting the underground street racing vibe very well
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Okaaay!
I really like the style! The Spider-Verse 3D-2D animation blend has now infected video games and I hope it spreads!
Really hoping some of that footage is gameplay, because the smoke effects, outlines, and winged animation for big jumps is a really unique detail!
Tons of games have been pushing for prettier and more realistic graphics, it kind of feels like the “style” of gaming has flatlined at that point. Especially for Need for Speed.
But this blend of realistic cars and environments with flashy animated effects and 3D animated characters is very cool! I’m on board to see more!
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Hard disagree for me. I turned off the Spider-Verse movie about 30 minutes into it because of the animation style. If this is mandatory for the game, I guess I’m passing on it. Real shame too as I’ve always championed the Need for Speed series.
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I think it’s a fresh take for the series, and I don’t mind this kind of presentation. NFS has a record of changing and experimenting its approach with whatever’s trending, like becoming a tuner-themed game since F&F came out, or when Transformers was a thing, having Michael Bay style cinematic set pieces and even hiring him to create a trailer. (Speaking of which, I wonder if it’s possible to recreate the Chicago chase in Unbound 
)
I guess the only way to avoid animated characters is to skip all the cutscenes then. Good news is according to the C8 Corvette part in the trailer, at least tire smoke effect can be turned off, so there’s a chance to have a realistic looking game.
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It’s that specific style of animation that I’m most dreading. It’s like watching a 3-d movie without the glasses.
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NFS Most Wanted year 2005 is the best NFS game/racing game of all time.
With Nine Thou remix track in racing and tensed soundtrack while police chase really nailed any racing game. NFS The Run is second best NFS game. I remember my high school days back then. Toru Sato was the coolest boss.
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I liked the sepia filter of this game even though it was a thing of it’s time and would not fit new games.
Also the gameplay was great it just was lacking the tuning I loved so much in the Underground games just before MW. 
I also disliked the introduction of sports cars, though that is also more a thing of the Underground theme that MW was not part of.
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A new trailer is out! This one is all about driving effects.
“We wanted to take players to that next level in Need for Speed Unbound with our driving VFX, which we call ‘Tags.’”
Interestingly, the screenshot also shows something else. Here are my speculations:
-
Driving effects/tags have classes. All of which the trailer shown has a ‘common’ green tag. Maybe this is a hint of loot boxes
or event rewards where you have chances to win rarer items. -
The top right corner shows a letter “B” and a progression bar. It could mean a car’s current class and its performance rating. I’d assume you can move your car into the next/better class by upgrading it. Later a gameplay clip shows the roofless S14 became an S class car as shown below.
And speaking of gameplay,
Tags come to life when you deploy your boosting powers; which are earned through actions like drifting, jumps and near misses, and appear as dramatic, customizable effects that paint the surrounding world, including illustrative lines that etch around the curves of your car.
- Stunt-generated nitrous are back! This could be said as one of Criterion’s iconic feature since Burnout. You drive dangerously to replenish nitrous bottle, allowing you to boost more. Just like the above image showing the “Airborne” text below the boost gauge.
Visual customization wise, another feature is confirmed:
You will now have access to new wrap content and full kit selections, as well as exciting new ways of customization with part removal – where you can expose the mechanical guts of your car and intimidate competition before you even creep up to the starting line.
- So this confirms part removal, as shown by the trailer’s topless
S14 as well as A$AP Rocky’s 190E that has its rear bumper removed.
And finally, an answer to what @schatenjager asked:
- Yep, that confirms you can have a realistic looking game, at least gameplay wise.
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Excitement restored then! Those graphic effects just look horrible to me. I get that some may like them and if you do, please enjoy, but they are not my cup of tea by any means.
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Ooh, I’m really liking this reveal (sorry schatenjager)
It’s definitely gonna add some style and extra bit of personalization to making a sweet ride. Hopefully they don’t fall into the trap of monetizing the really impressive ones for real money.
The sound effects sound awesome as well!
And right, this is being developed by Criterion! Yes, that probably means it’ll be feeling like a Burnout spinoff more than a classic NFS title, but I’ve enjoyed their works with MW 2012 and Rivals more than I have recently with NFS 2015 reboot and Heat under Ghost Games.
There’s a bunch of customization coming back in this one so that’s great news and a big departure from Criterion’s last NFS titles!
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You can say that one again, i still haven’t upgraded toan Xbox series X
All of my main games are disc so a Xbox series S would be pointless! 
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A new trailer is out! This time with some actual gameplays! 
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take control of the chase with new escape mechanics and places to lay low in Lakeshore’s underground
I didn’t really see anything “new” with escaping the cops in the video, but hopefully there’s maybe a couple dedicated spots to hide and let the heat die down?
Hopefully there’s less extreme rubber-banding cops in this one at the very least.
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I hope rubber banding in its entirety goes away forever, frankly. I get why it’s used, but if I’m in a car that completely outclasses everyone else, they shouldn’t be able to keep passing me unless I’m actually screwing it up, cops and other racers both.
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Yeah, the official blogpost mentioned the city’s underground, maybe that’s where the spots are meant to be. This could be a hint of Most Wanted 2005’s hiding spot mechanism returning.
Ah you see, in reality police work in packs, meaning they don’t have to really pursue you as hard as they can. They can just set up some roadblocks and send a helicopter to track you down. I do hope this time there’s actually a tons of cops chasing after you, like how the trailer shows. Those pick-up truck roadblocks are supposed to be pretty tough too!
Ha! You can say that to the highway heist mission in Payback! Despite how many times they boasted about the Koenigsegg’s performance. It would still get caught up by officers who drive Dodge Chargers. Well I suppose they have to make pursuit somehow interesting.
Anyway, the trailer also shows the weekly qualifiers and side bet mechanism, these two new features does seem a bit interesting! They might create some strategies to tackle the game progressions, like having multiple different classed cars, taking parts in events that the players have the most advantages on, etc.
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I hope so too, MW 2005 did this really well. I always tried to take down a helicopter by provoking them to bump me while near a water tower I could take down. 
What was really cool is that the story character Sergeant Cross could appear in pursuit too. It felt much mor epersonal to have him at your back bumper than the otherwise faceless cops.
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