Need for Speed: The Run is a racing video game, the 18th title in
the long-running Need for Speed franchise, and developed by EA Black
Box and published by Electronic
Arts. The Wii and 3DS versions were developed by Firebrand Games, the
team behind Undercover and Nitro (both DS versions). It was released in
North America on November 15, 2011 and November 18, 2011 in Europe.
The game is described as an "illicit, high-stakes race across the
country. The only way to get your life back is to be the first from San
Francisco to New York. No speed limits. No rules. No allies. All you
have are your driving skills and sheer determination".
Producers Jason DeLong and Steve Anthony stated during an interview that
Black Box aimed to obtain critical acclaim after their last game
received universally poor ratings. The Run was in production for three
years even though previous Black Box titles had much shorter development
periods.
Gameplay
In The Run, players are participating in an "underground world of
illicit, high stakes racing," in a race from San Francisco to New York,
with stops through Las Vegas, Denver and many other locations, making it
the first title in the series to use real locations. The cops aren't
the only ones after the player though, as the player "blows across
borders, weaves through dense urban traffic, rockets down icy mountain
passes and navigates narrow canyons at breakneck speeds." There are over
300 kilometres (190 mi) of track, three times more than Hot Pursuit,
making it the biggest Need For Speed game.
The Run is powered by DICE's Frostbite 2 engine, making the game the
first non-shooter and one of the first console titles to use the engine,
which provides visuals and car physics that "hug the road even at top
speeds all built around a gripping storyline." Additionally, Need for
Speed Autolog, the Need for Speed franchise's social competition
functionality, which was introduced in Hot Pursuit and was previously
used in Shift 2: Unleashed, is also back as it continues to track career
progression and compare game stats.
The game features quick time events, with the player for the first time
in Need for Speed history, exiting their car and traveling on foot.
These events won't always be about harsh success or failure states. In
some sections there are branching outcomes, so if the player mangles a
certain button press, they'll get another chance to pull through.
A new feature also appears in the Run, Gas stations. Gas stations enable
the player to change their vehicle during a race to any other vehicle
on the same tier as theirs. The player can choose a body kit and new
paint colors for their vehicle if it is available. Some vehicles, like
Signature Edition or NFS The Run vehicles, cannot have a different paint
or body kit installed. For example, a driver may drive their Camaro
ZL1, a Tier 4 car, into a gas station and trade it for
a NFS The Run edition Shelby GT500, another Tier 4 car. However,
driving one's vehicle into a gas station causes the player to slow down
to 50 mph upon exiting the gas station, and causes the player to fall
behind by about ten seconds.Also if the player have had an opponent
behind him, his opponent would take his place.
The driving model of the game is described as "sit somewhere between
Shift and Hot Pursuit", not as arcade-styled as Hot Pursuit, but neither
as simulator-styled as Shift. The Run employs a large range of
real-world vehicles, seemingly taking in the usual mix of muscle
cars, street racers and refined exotics, described as "each car
presents a different driving challenge for the player." Exclusively
digitized for the game is the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Pagani
Huayra. The damage system is similar to that seen in Hot Pursuit.[15]
The cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades,
such as paint colors and body kits. There are cosmetic body kits known as Style Pack kits and Aero Pack kits, which affect aerodynamics as well as performance.
An XP (Experience points) system is used for unlocking cars and events
in multiplayer and Challenge Series races. The game also feature a
Rewind option to allows the player to restart an event to their last
checkpoint if they wreck their vehicle or rewind their vehicle from a
collision or missed opportunity. Rewinds are only available in limited
quantities as their amount dependent on the difficulty level that the
player has selected; Easy have 10 Rewinds, Normal have 5 Rewinds, Hard
have 3 Rewinds and Extreme have 1 Rewind as well as the most difficult
AI opponents.
Multiplayer
Up to 8 players can participate in a single online match. Players are
able to party with friends, pick a playlist of their favorite challenges
and compete for supremacy across every stage of game. In addition to
this, players never have to wait in a lobby again even if they are
joining a race in progress. The multiplayer matches are split into
differing game type playlists, such as Supercar Challenge, NFS Edition
Racing, The Underground, Mixed Competition, Exotic Sprint, and Muscle
Car Battles. Most of these modes pertain to different car varieties for
each race, but the Supercar Challenge is meant entirely for the fastest
cars on the fastest tracks. The player can select an event and vote
towards the race course where the multiplayer game should be taking
place on. Players also take part in a reward system known as "The Bonus
Wheel", which randomly selects a reward and required goal criteria for
it.
