Can Need for Speed Payback Bring the Series Back to the Spotlight?
Upcoming racing game seemingly equal parts Need for Speed and Fast and the Furious. Will it be any good?
Putting on my rose tinted spectacles here, but I remember when the Need for Speed franchise was pumping out games annually. For a while, they were on a huge roll, with the “Underground” series raking in big bank on the height of Fast and the Furious fascination. After a some stumbles and missed marks, the series’ relevancy fell off, and the spread out release dates reflected that. Equally noted is that although the NFS franchise has been an EA staple, the companies who actually produced the games seemed to change every other release. Surely, not a solid indicator of the NFS brand health.
After a few quiet years, the Need for Speed name is back, and that name seems to reflect it’s attitude: this is Need for Speed Payback. With an aesthetic that is very clearly Fast and the Furious influenced, and a revenge theme, it’s clearly going to be a fun to ride along explosion-a-thon, racing game. The plot is typical NFS fare, with several spurned racers band together to take down the evil cartel running the city. There are three characters to choose from: Tyler, the Racer; Mac, the Showman; and Jess, the Wheelman. Our trio of heroes combine forces, become legends in the underground racing scene, and then, presumably, attempt to oust said cartel.
Release date: November 10, 2017.
Interested? You can pre-order now through channels like GameStop or Amazon. What do you think of the latest NFS reboot? We will snag a copy of the game and have a review up in due time.
