My NeedFor Speed Journey
**Jerry‘s Personal Views and Opinions (Compiled from Conversation)**
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### My NFS Journey
I started playing *Need for Speed* when I was 5 years old. My first games were *Need for Speed II SE*, *Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit*, and *Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed*. I have played almost every mainline *NFS* from *NFS II* up to *Need for Speed Unbound* (2022).
**The Golden Era**: *Need for Speed: Underground* (2003), *Underground 2* (2004), *Most Wanted* (2005), *Carbon* (2006), *ProStreet* (2007), and *Undercover* (2008).
- *Most Wanted* (2005) is a masterpiece; I have completed it countless times. It had perfect launch, speedtrap events, lap knockout, and drift races.
- *Carbon* (2006) had two distinct drift styles: track drift (auto‑countersteer) and canyon drift (manual countersteer).
**Shift era**: *Shift* (2009) and *Shift 2 Unleashed* (2011) were realistic, sim‑oriented, with great manual‑countersteer drifting.
**Hot Pursuit (2010)**: I played it as a crack in 2010, then bought a genuine CD‑key in 2013 on Paipai. It is the pinnacle of “handcrafted tracks” – every course is manually designed, police chases have scripted setups. It also has a free‑roam open world.
- *Hot Pursuit* (2010) is “Criterion’s version of *NFS III*, *IV*, and *Hot Pursuit 2*”.
**Most Wanted (2012)**: The pinnacle of arcade handling. It combined the agility of *Undercover*, the weight of *The Run*, and realistic physics/drift judgment – a “controllable out‑of‑control” feel. It had instant one‑click tuning and quick car swap (features later abandoned). Also had a neutral gear animation (driver’s hand on the shifter). Police were fragile.
**Rivals (2013)**: Handling combined *Hot Pursuit* (2010) and *Most Wanted* (2012), leaning toward *Hot Pursuit*. Quick response in low‑speed S‑turns. From *Rivals* onward, neutral gear simulation was removed – this made reversing and accelerating much faster, but lost the mechanical realism.
- *Rivals* (2013) is “Ghost Games’ version of *NFS III*, *IV*, and *Hot Pursuit 2*”. It has the richest weapon system in the series.
**Need for Speed (2015)**: A refined version of *Rivals*, with an incredibly deep tuning menu (tire pressure, steering angle, handbrake strength, etc.). This tuning system was later used in *NFS Online* (China).
- The game had a standard edition cover with a Porsche 911, but the **deluxe edition cover featured the M3 GTR** – pure nostalgia baiting.
**Payback (2017)**: Handling felt like “*Most Wanted* (2012)’s feeling + *The Run* (2011)’s weight”. The map was the largest in the series but empty. Introduced a speed‑card system (performance parts obtained through loot boxes) – copied from the mobile game *Need for Speed: No Limits*.
- Story was a generic revenge plot similar to *The Crew 1*. The main character’s name (Tyler Morgan) mirrors *The Crew 1*’s Alex Taylor.
**Heat (2019)**: The turning point – EA gave up on it after the Denuvo crack (half a month after release). No more updates.
- The city lacks life. My uncle said it looked like “the end of the world.” Weather system is broken: you have to go back to the garage to “refresh” the weather. Sunny days have puddles that never dry; rainy days last forever.
- Drift physics are scripted and auto‑steering, especially bad for RWD cars. The economy is broken: race payouts are low, cars and parts are expensive.
- Police are extremely tough; player’s health is low. During night, you can only repair your car three times – a pure frustration mechanic.
- It is Ghost Games’ last work, and Matt Webster was brought in as a temporary fix.
**Unbound (2022)**: Essentially a reskin of *Heat* (2019) with slightly improved handling. It had a performance rating system (B, A, A+, S, S+), but the economy is terrible: entry fees for races, losing means losing the fee, and only 2 retries on the hardest difficulty. It feels like gambling – you end up poorer the more you play.
- Gas stations have cooldowns, preventing repeated repairs. Police are as fragile as in *Most Wanted* (2012) (F‑150s explode at 200 km/h).
- Pedestrians are finally present – but they’re 2D sprites (paper‑thin). *Midnight Club: Los Angeles* (2008) had 3D pedestrians.
**M3 GTR Nostalgia Exploitation**: From *The Run* (2011) to *Unbound* (2022), EA kept selling the M3 GTR – first as a livery, then as DLC, then deluxe edition cover, then a weekly wrecked car, then a boss’s car, then a side‑mission reward. Over a decade, they milked it while gameplay stagnated.
**My Ideal NFS**: The next game must return to *Hot Pursuit* (2010)’s linear track design. Handcrafted tracks with scripted police chases, not an empty open world.
> “The core of a racing game is tracks you want to run over and over, not a city you look at once.”
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### On EA’s Mismanagement
- **Development teams**: EA Canada (first generation), Black Box (*NFS* 2002–2011), Criterion (*Hot Pursuit* 2010, *Most Wanted* 2012, *Unbound* 2022), Ghost Games (*Rivals* 2013–*Heat* 2019).
- **Black Box** was forced into a “death march” – one game per year. They succeeded with *Most Wanted* (2005), but *Undercover* (2008) failure got them shut down.
- **Ghost Games** stabilized the series with *Rivals* (2013), *Need for Speed* (2015), and *Payback* (2017), but EA dissolved them after *Heat* (2019).
- **Criterion** was gutted – its founders left to form Three Fields Entertainment (makers of *Wreckreation*). The old Criterion is gone.
**Convenience features**: *Most Wanted* (2012) had one‑click tuning and fast car swap – never seen again. Quick return to hideout existed in *Underground 2* (2004), *Need for Speed* (2015), and *Heat* (2019), but disappeared in *Payback* (2017) and *Unbound* (2022). Fast‑travel points were plentiful in *Payback* (2017), almost none in *Unbound* (2022).
**The Shift legacy**: Slightly Mad Studios made *Shift* (2009), *Shift 2 Unleashed* (2011), then *Project CARS* (2015) and *Project CARS 2* (2017) (the latter a peak simulator). *Project CARS 3* (2020) failed, the studio was closed. The spiritual successor *Project Motor Racing* (2025) was a disaster.
**EA’s fate**: In 2025, EA was acquired by a Saudi consortium. *NFS* is now dormant – Criterion was renamed “Criterion Games – A Battlefield Studio.” No new *NFS* in sight.
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### My Relationship with Other Games
**Grand Theft Auto**: I started with *Vice City* in 2011 (a cracked version with no sound). I got into *San Andreas* in 2012 and have completed it over a dozen times. I own it on Steam, Xbox remaster, PS5 remaster, iOS, and Android.
- *GTA IV*: I bought the Taiwanese version (4 discs) on Paipai in 2013. Inserting the first disc repeatedly wore it out. In 2015 I bought the US version.
- *GTA V*: Completed on PS3 in 2014, pre‑ordered on Steam in 2015, got banned in 2016, then re‑bought in 2017.
- My favorite Rockstar game is *Midnight Club: Los Angeles* – the pinnacle of open‑world racing. Its Los Angeles felt alive (2008).
- I criticize GTA V’s heists: “choice still needs improvement.”
**Assassin’s Creed**: I have finished *Unity*, *Syndicate*, *Origins*, and *Odyssey* (Atlantis DLC unfinished). I think *Origins* has a better story; *Odyssey* is gameplay‑driven with too much “RPG checklist” repetition.
**Other racing games**:
- *Driver: San Francisco* – unique car‑jumping mechanic, great San Francisco recreation.
- *The Crew 1* – the “complete version” of *Need for Speed: The Run* (2011). Realistic art style, huge US map, deep grinding system. But the server shut down in 2024.
- *The Crew 2* – pure arcade, but oversaturated visuals hurt my eyes.
- *Forza Horizon* – I started with *Forza Horizon 3* in 2018, later bought 1 and 2, and pre‑ordered 4, 5, 6. Nothing to criticize – they’re masterpieces.
- *Ridge Racer* – a sadly dormant series. I bought the digital version of *Ridge Racer 6* on Xbox and *Ridge Racer* on Steam via Hong Kong region (120 HKD). The last proper entry was in 2012.
**On mobile games**: 2012 was the last year of quality premium mobile games. Since 2013, F2P gacha games took over. I despise this trend. *Genshin Impact* is not a “3A game” – it’s a gacha simulation.
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### My Identity as a Player
I am **not** a blind fanboy. I remember what *Need for Speed* used to be, so I cannot accept what it has become.
I know every detail:
- *Most Wanted* (2012) had a neutral gear animation (driver touching the shifter).
- *Heat* (2019) had a broken weather system.
- *Unbound* (2022) had 2D sprite pedestrians.
- The M3 GTR was exploited across a decade.
- Black Box studied Frostbite for *The Run* (2011) and achieved unlimited frame rates without speed‑up, while *Rivals* (2013) had game‑speed tied to frame rate.
I buy games I love, even after playing cracked versions: *Hot Pursuit* (2010) CD‑key, *San Andreas* on five platforms, *GTA IV* twice, *The Crew 1* disc, *Ridge Racer* from Hong Kong store. I even kept the battery from my broken 2014 PS Vita and put it into a newer Hong Kong model – it is about preserving what matters.
I block trolls. I do not need anyone to teach me about *Need for Speed*.
**Conclusion**: I am not a “filial son” of any series. I am a **guardian of memories** – I remember the best of them, and I criticize because I want them to be great again.
EA revoked my license to run NEED FOR SPEED THE RUN ,I can't open THE RUN right now
