The Need for Vision

I am going to keep hammering on this point because I am convinced the folks at EA will listen if I write a strong enough essay, especially considering NFS Unbound is 9 dollars right now (same price as NFS 2015, which is also on sale) which tells me two things. Firstly, you guys are probably in pre-production on the next NFS or you are already in full production with Criterion at the helm (which has me uneasy to say the least). Secondly, EA is probably getting sick of losing money on NFS, and if the next one does not deliver the NFS IP could get sold off or shelved indefinitely which is a nightmare in its own right.. 

So, here is what I think Need for Speed desperately needs.

Confidence. The IP first and foremost, needs confidence from the heads of departments, executives, and investors. Let me explain why NFS is an IP people care about starting with a little history lesson. 

Need for Speed Underground 2 & Need for Speed Most Wanted are the most sought after titles in the franchise, ever, to date. Both games sold a combined total of 38 million copies give or take on release. I am positive no other two titles in the franchise came close. 

Now, as we entered the 2010s-2020s era of gaming, publishers realized games were more expensive to make and required more time and people.. EA learned this (and are still learning this) the hard way. How? By giving Blackbox two IP's to work on at the same time. Skate/NFS.. unfortunately, because Blackbox had spent so much time on NFS, the developers (you know, the humans who make the art) were burnt out on NFS, not because they hate it, but rather, they were overworked in EA's pursuit of keeping up with some weird internal timeline of development they thought of.. not to mention, Blackbox made NFS World in 2011..an online-only NFS MMO if that idea does not sound bad to you, take a walk. 

Cut to Spring of 2015, fans of NFS were itching for the next NFS title after the catastrophe of NFS Rivals in 2013.. (including myself) We get that iconic reveal trailer that immediately felt like we were finally getting another NFS like Underground 2 and Most Wanted, then cut to June of that same year (amazing marketing campaign btw) and the gameplay was revealed, when I tell you everyone I knew who were fans of NFS went ballistic, trust me, We. Went. Nuts. It felt like the series was finally returning to form, we had a Ghost Games comprised of some developers from Blackbox as well as new talent taking a stab at NFS and it had icons of urban car culture in the game! We had live action cutscenes which we hadn't seen since Carbon that had the likes of Ken Block and Nakai-San and Magnus Walker all acting together in the same project!!! Screw video games, at this point we got an urban car culture movie AND a game?!

Then the game came out.. now, there are a LOT of things that game got right so lets start with that:

-Nailed the Identity (aka the vision wink wink) meaning, the game marked the franchises' return to its roots in pop culture as The Urban Car Culture Racing Game. Bravo. Seriously.

-Grounded car customization, the customization options of NFS 2015 especially with the Evolution Works mod on pc is surreal. It is the best modern NFS when it comes to customization options and I bet that is thanks to input from legends like Nakai-San and Ken Block.. stick to that, as of now, Unbound is pathetic when it comes to customization.

-Modernized the visual tone and style of Most Wanted without the pee filter that plagued that game (btw graphics are getting its own point but wow over 10 years later and NFS 2015 still looks better than every single NFS since)

-Bold and ambitious direction for the context of the game, I am talking about the setting not the story. The concept of the game taking place in one night is spectacular, not only does it solve tons of problems for the developers while also giving them a toolbox to craft a visually stunning experience (like rain, darkness, and intentional lighting..which btw..in cinematography those are essential elements) but that setting literally lays the foundation for modernizing the identity crafted by Undergound 2 and Most Wanted.

-Knowing. Its. Audience. Notice how I bolded this one? Yeah. It matters. Art is subjective, when creating art you don't create it for everyone, you create it because you are so passionate about something in real life, that you need to create a piece of art to express your passion for it. I already know Nakai-San and Ken Block informed the developers of what THEY would like to see in the game, because that direction feels extremely informed, from the handheld walk around of the car when you're parked with the music transitioning from in your ears to as if its literally in the car in front of you, to the sounds of the engine, to the sounds of the oil dripping off the engine block when you turn off the car.. These. Things. Matter. In. NFS.

Now, thats about where the good ends but don't be fooled. Those are FUNDAMENTAL and NECESSARY for a successful NFS game.

Now the mistakes and what I learned from playing through them, therefore having an informed opinion on the shortcomings of NFS 2015.

-Progression was barebones, now the progression could honestly be left untouched as it is in NFS 2015 but the main reason I say barebones is due to the fact that the only way to not progress is to get caught by the cops after racking up a huge fine..which..is rare..but we will get there. This games progression lacked consequence..and a game dealing with lawlessness as an urban car racing game seriously undermines the "danger" the game almost convinces you of. It deflates the stakes. What I learned? Do the Blacklist again, where if you lose the race, you lose something, money, parts, a car, reputation, whatever, make it something.. a lose should be..a loss.

-The Story, along with, **bleep** near all the stories for all the NFS titles, is a parody of itself. Go watch Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift and forgive the cringe dialogue of the time period and pay attention to why the story still resonates. I will spoil it for you now, the stakes are not a joke. When the main character does a street race in America, in high school, and causes an immense amount of damage in the process, almost killing himself and risking everyone else's lives when he crashes? That sets the tone and stakes for the movie.. it is real. When you race a car on the street, the consequences are catastrophic.. shying away from that is shying away from the identity of NFS and urban car culture.. that danger is a limb of urban car culture, don't dismember it. The story of NFS 2015 was pathetic, it had these big names in REAL urban car culture and it completely wasted their presence and shallowed the entire experience by not taking itself seriously, from cutscenes to in-game dialogue, it felt like a parody. A problem that Unbound has in Spades by the way. What did I learn from this experience? You're dealing with an IP where danger is a necessary risk for these racers, why is it necessary? Because these racers are all criminals. They cannot, or will not choose a normal life because the system they live in either refuses to forgive their past mistakes or they themselves refuse to forgive themselves for their mistakes and view themselves as nothing but criminals, so whats the best way a criminal can make money? By betting on themselves in a street race, thats where the Blacklist mechanic kicks in, the better one does the more money, parts, and cars they get but also, the more notorious they become (throwback to Tokyo Drift) the story almost writes itself, it just takes someone who understands the reality of a criminal underground organized racing syndicate, and I mean... NFS 2015 literally had Nakai-San, hell, Justin Lin and Chris Morgan would have been over the moon to offer their creative input (they directed and wrote Tokyo Drift) 

-The soundtrack, listen guys, I know you learned your lesson because The Heat actually had a surprisingly good soundtrack but it still wasn't quite my tempo. Drifting should be phonk, racing should be EDM, pursuits should be a mix of in-house compositions and licensed music. Free-roam should have a radio that lets you pick whatever, or better yet, let people import their own music, or cut a deal with spotify/apple music.. there are tons of options and it matters. You're in a car for the entire game... don't cheap out on the tunes and the sound design (sound design of NFS 2015 is solid af but still, dont cheap out on that stuff)

-The cops, hoooooly what a disaster. The cops in NFS 2015 are a JOKE without mods, and it was not until I got a harder cop overhaul mod (part of the Evolution Works mod pack btw those guys should be hired as developers tbh) that I realized how NFS could be a Dark Souls on wheels. Listen, the cops should be mean, unrelenting, they should make it personal. The fines one builds up as one avoids the cops for longer should not only track how much they will take from you when you are caught but the escalation of their tactic in stopping you.. this was such a sad detrimental miss in vanilla NFS 2015. For the next NFS if I am pursued by police for a long time the danger wink wink, should be reflected in the potential for my car to get impounded if i get caught and cant pay the fines, or totaling my car and having to use another until i can repair it.. or both. This is fundamental in establishing the stakes and cementing the tone NFS deserves. 

TLDR; if you are going to make a cool urban car culture racing game, then commit to it.