Need for Speed: Payback review

By Steve Boxer

Electronic Arts’ arcade-style racing franchise Need For Speed has been around since 1994, but recent outings have earned it a reputation as the videogame equivalent of a Dan Brown book. That’s because it sells fantastically well, but nobody can fathom why. How refreshing it would be to assert that the latest iteration, Payback, marks a triumphant return to form for the series. But alas, having played it, that would be an impossibility.

The Need For Speed games have had various high points in the past such as 2010’s Hot Pursuit and 2013’s Rivals, but the series’ most recent outing, a reboot released in 2015, attracted a critical mauling mainly due to its annoying online-only structure.

Both Hot Pursuit and Rivals were made by Criterion, British developer of the revered Burnout series of games. The shadow of the far superior Burnout – an IP still owned, although apparently shelved, by Need For Speed publisher EA – still looms large over the Need For Speed series, and the likes of Microsoft’s Forza Horizon games have offered stiff opposition recently.

Taking on The House

Past Need For Speed games often featured a cops versus robbers theme, but Payback eschews that in favour of street-racing – along …read more

Source:: techradar.com – Gaming