Need for Speed: The Run – Review
Platform | Release Date
360 | November 15, 2011
PS3 | November 15, 2011
PC | November 15, 2011Developed by Black Box
Published by Electronic Arts
The Pitch:
The intense thrill-ride of the best-selling Need For Speed racing series shifts into a new gear on the Xbox 360 with Need for Speed: The Run Limited Edition. Developed by EA Black Box, Need for Speed: The Run is the first non-shooter game to be powered by the Frostbite 2 engine, used on the popular Battlefield series. You’ll experience unparalleled racing physics and visuals as you race cross-country from San Francisco to New York.
Need for Speed was one of those franchises that I thought EA had nailed down. Fast cars, cop chases, competitive racing – the three tenets of NFS. I thought they knew that! Somehow, some way, Black Box, the developers of this release, have completely forgotten tenet
number three, and pumped out this bland time trial joke.
Need for Speed: The Run focuses on a cross-country… run from America’s West Coast to the East Coast. You start in San Francisco, the basics of a boring ‘bad boy on the run’ plot established by Christina Hendricks looking less than boobalicious. After a yawn-tastic six hours of campaign gameplay, you’ll find yourself in New York.
Now, I’m not sure if you are aware, but America’s highways are not race tracks. I know, I know, settle down in back. America’s highways are, in fact, highways. This means that every single track in Need for Speed: The Run is a rush from point A to point B. You only ever play them once in the campaign, so the notion of getting better as a driver is out. Worse than that, these tracks feature asinine objectives.
Yes! Objectives in a Need for Speed game. Spectacular. Just what I wanted. Instead of actually racing, you overtake. You know, just like you do on your way to work, or the supermarket, or to pick up that body of the hooker you killed after enduring this boring crap. It’s OK guy, it was justified.
The notion of competition is completely ruined by this, but it’s ground into tiny pieces when you realise that the entire experience is scripted. From the start of a track to the end of a track, whether in a one-on-one battle or a ‘pass 10 cars’ snore attack, the rubber banding makes sure you have to run the perfect race, and you have to run it exactly how Black Box wants you to run it. Overtake when told, do not think, do not pass Go. Go was in San Francisco anyway, and that was two hours of open weeping ago.
Is the game all bad? Yes. Almost. The fast cars are here, but the handling is terrible. Individual vehicles are rated in terms of their ease 
of use, but choose anything but “Normal” and you’ll spend all your time in the ditch. Going in the ditch is bad too, since it means you will have to endure the games ‘Rewind’ feature. It isn’t really a rewind feature, not like you know. Basically, it’s looking at a flashing ◄ symbol for a minute while the game loads the last checkpoint. By now, two hookers and a liquor store clerk are dead. You happy Black Box?
Multiplayer innovates and makes you want to tear your boredom glands out all at once. Essentially, nobody ever waits in a lobby. If a race is in progress, then you join it with enhanced boost that should allow you to catch up. In theory, this sounds quite clever. In practice, it just means that everybody is always in a lobby, and no proper competition ever gets underway. You are all, always just chasing the next load screen.
Laughably, the quick time events are some of the most enjoyable moments in the game. Contrary to popular relief, they only appear a couple of times and require minimal button pressing. The scenes themselves are well directed, presented with some nifty graphical touches, and provide a welcome break to the drudgery of the fudgy driving. This direction creeps into the set pieces contained within the driving itself, like the avalanche you experienced in the demo. That is the game’s most impressive scene, but a success it fails to repeat.
It tries. The last event in the campaign, the race to the finish, the climax of the story, the crescendo of driving thrill is the most scripted thing in this entire nightmare. The only time the game ever actually lets you WIN, and they make it scripted? I don’t want to drive past
an oncoming train, or rush to a narrow street, I just want to race. Please, why oh why won’t you let me actually race?
The cops are annoying, it’s the most rubberband loving game ever, and the unlock system for vehicles makes absolutely no sense. At times, you think that Black Box deserve some credit for trying something new, but then they make a mess of it and bastardise Need for Speed. Given that these guys have developed a few of these games, although that includes the horrendous ProStreet, you would have thought they would get it. I hate this. I hated every god damn minute.
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Nice Read, i keep on reading reviews for this game, i want it to be good, but it really seems like there is no redeeming features…
I wonder if the idear could have been executet well, if Criterion had been in charge.
I dont understand why they still use the rubber band effect. It’s a really frustrating mechanic which made me dislike driving games in the 80-90th
Yep. You’d think that some developer would be able to find a way to bring in actual difficulty to an arcade racer. If I’m good at a driving game, I want to DESTROY the competition, not barely beat them. Rubberbanding doesn’t make a game exciting, it makes it frustrating.
Hi, Jim – hmm it Was supposed to be a reply, but i pushed the drog button.
Well, here we go ! – i like some rubber-band In my Racing game, let say like flatout, where you could earn “boost” and then catch up to Your opponent, yeah guess the other opponents used it a lot when they where behind, but i love a god Racing-fight to the finish Line.
What i hate In my Racing games, (forza) is … I dont know what to Call it, but “out-tuning” opponents, when my car is so good, that i get the lead with In 10-15 sec. And drive infront the rest of the race, where is the Fun In that ?
One of my favorite racing games is, sega revolution, not the arcade one, but the disc one – if you search Xbox be sure to load the rights demo (the disc one) its hard as hell, but at great feeling when you win.
Yeah, I’m more talking about arcade racers. Forza doesn’t have rubberbanding, but I also don’t find that type of sim experience any fun. I’m talking more along the lines of Burnout or Need for Speed. You’re always in a same class of vehicle, so theoretically you should be able to use pure skill to win.
I cant Think of any arcade racer i enjoyed more than burnout paradise City, i Think we agree
, same car, and you should be able to win, with pure/mostly skill – just not too easy. – there Was another one, open world – cant remmenes right now – the one where the bad guy is called Jericho ? , i wan’t that one 
but … To Many games , playing Skyrim, and .. Picked up hitman: blood money the other Day.
Oh Burnout Paradise, how I love to purchase thee multiple times.
You’re thinking Driver San Francisco. I’d really like to give that one a shot, I’ve heard good things.
Yep, driver thats the one – I spent some time with both the online demo, and offline demo, and its was super fun.
Back on Topic, the whole Ned for speed – RUN, I just thought there had to bee something good in it, but i guess i was wrong.
I have Hot pursuit, but none of my friends boughts it, so im kind of alone on the leaderboards… but i also got a little tiered of it, i dont know what i hoped for in the RUN, …just happy i saved the money.