Drizzlehell
Banned
Bear in mind, the following list is pretty arbitrary and I basically came up with it during a toilet break (where best ideas are born) so take it for what you will. I also didn't include the mobile or online-only titles since I never played them, and that online game is dead now anyway. A shame, though, it seemed like a cool idea but it was long dead before I even bothered to look it up.
Anyway.
The Classic Era:
The Need For Speed - Need For Speed 2 - Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit - High Stakes/Road Challenge - Porsche Unleashed - Hot Pursuit 2
All part of the classic series where the primary focus was on exotic cars, police chases, and racing through a series of open road circuits located around a variety of different locations, set to a collection of rock and techno music tracks. All absolute classics that may not be the most pleasant games to look at these days, and with the exception of HP2 the gameplay is positively quaint. Nevertheless, there's an undeniable sense of longing for the simpler times hanging in the air whenever I go back to play them.
The Underground Era, a.k.a. The Street Racing Era
Underground - Underground 2 - Most Wanted - Carbon - Pro Street - Undercover
This era saw the most successful decade for Need For Speed brand, but sadly ended on a complete dud of a game. Regardless, mid-2000s was a period of import tuners, illegal street racing, and some of the best licensed soundtracks for the series. Not my favorite theme overall, but damn if Underground 2 and Most Wanted aren't fun to play, even to this day.
The Identity Crisis Era
Shift - Hot Pursuit (2010) - Shift 2 Unleashed - The Run - Most Wanted (2012)
This is where the series started going off the rails a little bit in my opinion, because each of those games feel drastically different from each other and because each one was made by a different developer, there simply wasn't any clear and consistent vision behind any of those games, aside from the logo. From simcade, to reboot of the classic era, to another simcade, to whatever the fuck The Run was supposed to be, to a gimped Burnout Paradise clone that was missing everything that made Paradise fun... It was just all over the place. On a positive note, though, at least we got 3 good games out of this era of experimentation. I must assume that after failure of Undercover, EA apparently was trying to find the next fad comparable with what kicked off the Underground era.
The Modern Era, a.k.a. The Frostbite Era
Rivals - Need For Speed - Payback - Heat - Unbound
Even though the series continued with the trend where each game went for a different motif, I think that what finally started to bind those titles together is a bit of consistency in the overall direction for the series. Similarly to how Black Box helmed the Underground era, now the series had a new dedicated development studio, and it also started using the same engine from game to game, had a driving model and physics felt like each game actually belongs in the same series, and it carried over some consistent features that were first introduced at various points in the past (with some minor exceptions). Including car customisation, open world maps, arcade gameplay style, police chases, etc. Although, regrettably, I feel like games from this era include some of the worst entries in the series, with each one suffering from its own unique set of problems that always got in the way of fully enjoying them. This consistency that I mentioned also came with how consistently mediocre those games feel.
So, which one is it?
Also, if you were to pick one, which is your absolute top Need For Speed game?
Anyway.
The Classic Era:
The Need For Speed - Need For Speed 2 - Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit - High Stakes/Road Challenge - Porsche Unleashed - Hot Pursuit 2
All part of the classic series where the primary focus was on exotic cars, police chases, and racing through a series of open road circuits located around a variety of different locations, set to a collection of rock and techno music tracks. All absolute classics that may not be the most pleasant games to look at these days, and with the exception of HP2 the gameplay is positively quaint. Nevertheless, there's an undeniable sense of longing for the simpler times hanging in the air whenever I go back to play them.
The Underground Era, a.k.a. The Street Racing Era
Underground - Underground 2 - Most Wanted - Carbon - Pro Street - Undercover
This era saw the most successful decade for Need For Speed brand, but sadly ended on a complete dud of a game. Regardless, mid-2000s was a period of import tuners, illegal street racing, and some of the best licensed soundtracks for the series. Not my favorite theme overall, but damn if Underground 2 and Most Wanted aren't fun to play, even to this day.
The Identity Crisis Era
Shift - Hot Pursuit (2010) - Shift 2 Unleashed - The Run - Most Wanted (2012)
This is where the series started going off the rails a little bit in my opinion, because each of those games feel drastically different from each other and because each one was made by a different developer, there simply wasn't any clear and consistent vision behind any of those games, aside from the logo. From simcade, to reboot of the classic era, to another simcade, to whatever the fuck The Run was supposed to be, to a gimped Burnout Paradise clone that was missing everything that made Paradise fun... It was just all over the place. On a positive note, though, at least we got 3 good games out of this era of experimentation. I must assume that after failure of Undercover, EA apparently was trying to find the next fad comparable with what kicked off the Underground era.
The Modern Era, a.k.a. The Frostbite Era
Rivals - Need For Speed - Payback - Heat - Unbound
Even though the series continued with the trend where each game went for a different motif, I think that what finally started to bind those titles together is a bit of consistency in the overall direction for the series. Similarly to how Black Box helmed the Underground era, now the series had a new dedicated development studio, and it also started using the same engine from game to game, had a driving model and physics felt like each game actually belongs in the same series, and it carried over some consistent features that were first introduced at various points in the past (with some minor exceptions). Including car customisation, open world maps, arcade gameplay style, police chases, etc. Although, regrettably, I feel like games from this era include some of the worst entries in the series, with each one suffering from its own unique set of problems that always got in the way of fully enjoying them. This consistency that I mentioned also came with how consistently mediocre those games feel.
So, which one is it?
Also, if you were to pick one, which is your absolute top Need For Speed game?
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