June 19, 2017 by Paul Curtin
Need for Speed fans who loved 2011’s The Run will be happy to know that the series is going back to its high speed racing roots with the upcoming launch of Need for Speed Payback.
Announced at this year’s EA Play, Payback looks to be also returning to the cinematic story-telling style that EA tried somewhat successfully in the past with The Run. We say “somewhat” because players usually have a love or hate relationship with the way in which cutscenes are forced upon them in the middle of gameplay. And while Payback looks to be also bringing back the canned animation sequences, the developers are also introducing new Burnout-style crash cuts during exhilarating high-speed chases in super cars.
In our hands-on time with the game at EA Play, we can confirm that Need for Speed: Payback feels just like The Run. The demo we played took us through the exact same sequence of events that were shown in the debut trailer with the same exact cutscenes occurring no matter where we were on the road. The only real difference between the gameplay premier and what we played were the beautiful slow motion crashes which were always different and dynamic to the environment.
The Run did a good job of keeping the cinematic cutscenes in the singleplayer mode and allowing players looking for a straight racing experience to have that online when battling against others. We didn’t get a chance to play against others, so hopefully EA has improved the multiplayer’s netcode since The Run to allow for a much smoother experience online.
Need for Speed Payback is set for release on November 10, 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
