As the incredibly prolific Need for Speed series gets set for another instalment this November, all eyes are turning EA Black Box’s Vancouver developed Need for Speed: The Run. Following on from shift to: unleashed which was released earlier this year, and last year's Need for Speed: hot pursuit on The Run certainly has big boots to fill, and Black Box certainly hasn’t shirked away from experimentation in order to give their own look and feel to a series that has already spawned 17 previous titles.
Rather than simply opt for the same old tried and tested arcade formula of previous games, Black Box have bravely decided to take the action out of the car for the first time in the history of the Need for Speed franchise history. However, things may not be quite what you think… Rather than opting for the most obvious approach, such as third person based sandbox adventure dynamics, they have instead decided that a series of quick time events was the best way to go.
We’ll admit that we were a little worried for the game when we heard this, but after having a chance to get up close and personal with it while giving things a closer look, you’ll be happy to know that things haven’t actually turned out to be the disjointed mess that you would perhaps expect. Yes, it’s certainly a hell of a deviation and, if we’re being honest, it’s the last thing we would ever have considered for a Need for Speed game, but it’s fun and it does add a bit of variety to things.
Fortunately, whatever you think of it, The Run is all about the racing. With a story that follows a race between our main protagonist, Jack, and a group of mobsters from San Francisco to New York, you’ll be pitted against some of the most infamous drivers and hardened criminals within the game’s universe, while also needing to avoid the attention of the police
The control system has received a few changes, placing the game firmly in the middle ground between the Shift side of the franchise, and last year’s Hot Pursuit, which can prove to be a little confusing at first, and may frighten newcomers away. Fortunately, with a little perseverance, things start to feel a lot better. Despite the fact that the arcade style tag will most likely follow The Run around, something that isn’t helped by the out of car QTE sections, there is a serious racer just underneath the surface, waiting to be discovered.
And you’re going to have plenty of time to find it, given the fact that the game takes place across more than 3000 miles of road between the two cities, taking in a breathtaking array of different locations and vistas. Black Box are claiming that it’s the largest Need for Speed title to date and, thanks to the fact that it’s powered by the Battlefield 3 Frostbite 2 engine, it already looks like it’s going to be the most visually stunning title in the series so far.
With the success of the Autolog feature from the last two games looking set to continue with The Run, it looks like Black Box have managed to cover just about every avenue so far, however it’s still too early to fully predict whether or not it’ll reach the heights of previous titles in the series, but we remain optimistic that it’ll be another fine foray into one of the most enjoyable franchises ever created.