It doesn't have a complete story
It doesn't have a screen shake off button
It doesn't have car balance, moreover one car is leagues better than the rest
It doesn't have fair cop chases
It does at least have fun races, but that doesn't matter when every time that the steer button is moved, the screen moves with it
It does at least have customization
It doesn't have tuning, everything is preset minus camber and the barely working downforce
It does at least have a M3 GTR Race Car, but wait, it can't be customized
So why shouldn't I say that the game isn't all that great?. Sure it doesn't suck, but it isn't exactly a fun NFS game that will live on through the ages either.
I'll tell you now. With the exception of a NFS Underground 2 remaster, I won't be buying anymore NFS games. I'm done throwing away money on a NFS that will never be; it's nothing more than a carrot on a stick.
Very close but missing one thing. What I mean is that the specialized vehicles have no options to tune the engine sound. I had to use the regular M3 with an 4.0 V8 engine swap just to get the sound that I originally wanted out of the M3 GTR race car. While this is small, it's very significant when the sound that I got from tuning is considered.
Anyone who's played MW 2005 should know exactly the sound that I was aiming for when I tune the sound of the 4.0 V8. The M3 GTR race car doesn't have that option and as far as iconic goes, the livery is popular however..; had I the option I'd do my own, simple as that. I never used the M3GTR race car livery, not even when I played MW 2005, back in the day. I removed the livery, since I don't subscribe to popular and want my own look.
As to everything else that I said. Consider NFS Underground 2. The tuning - weight reduction which has long been forgotten - front / rear individual downforce settings - the customization - pretty much everything necessary to get the handling that you want from a car, minus camber. Consider the story - the buildup - the progression - the end. Consider the city - how the traffic spawns. Consider the races - the easy to learn handling that even driving with the stock settings is a solid driving experience. Need For Speed Underground 2 was designed with not only customization in mind, but very fulfiling and very detailed tuning. The game was very much about tweaking, tuning, and getting your car running the way that you want to.
Now consider NFS Heat and pretty much every NFS after underground 2. Presets. Sure the customization was there, but NFS isn't just about piling on a kit, piling on parts, adjusting downforce, brakes, and steering sensitivity, and going to a race; it was about deep customization (or at least, underground 2 was). Story. 2015 was solid, Payback was solid, sort of; they removed the silent protag and any idea that you, the player, were in said city. Heat, not bad but I prefer the silent protag, however the end left all kinds of holes in the story. Not to mention nausea inducing screen shake, why EA, just why; it makes no sense.
The difference is huge between the old vs the new, and this isn't old school nostalgia talking, since I still have a working PS2 in 2021.
So I dunno dude. The game doesn't exactly have that something to keep me playing. As to everyone else well, the player count speaks for itself. Most have moved on, some stay because they really like and enjoy the game (and why not, it's not a bad game), but in the end the number of players that play this game now is quite low.
