Need for Speed has quite a collection of releases in its series, but most of them don’t really delve too far out of the norm and depend solely on new features for each new game. The newest installment, The Run, is trying to change that. Is The Run a complete overhaul, or is it another Need for Speed game with new features?
Unfortunately, I can’t talk about the introduction to the game. EA Black Box wants that to be a secret. Believe me, it’s a secret worth experiencing first hand. You’ll get to see it when The Run finally launches on the Nov. 15.
After the gripping introduction, protagonist Jack Rourke meets with a redhead bombshell in a very traditional Chinese restaurant, and she propositions him with a vague opportunity. Of course, he accepts, and they walk out the back of the restaurant. She fills him in on the deal, which is a race across America from San Francisco to New York City with a grand prize of $25 million. In order to maintain his place in the race, he has to deal with rival drivers and meet placement requirements throughout the race at certain locations, such as 150th place by Las Vegas.
The story isn’t involved, but it fills in a game very well with street racing in mind, which doesn’t convolute the experience at all. I went into this preview with prior knowledge this racing title has a story, and I was beyond skeptical. Most stories within racing games are very tacky and awkward to the situations involved. However, EA Black Box uses very clever schemes and plot development to make normal race varieties feel natural in a linear and storytelling fashion. For instance, when a car would normally be swapped, Jack is busted by the cops, escapes, and steals a new car. Blunt, but it’s effective.
Which brings me to another new aspect of this game, which isn’t new to other genres; it’s the use of interactive cut scenes. In the scene where he’s busted by the cops, the player must execute quick-time events to get away from the cops. Before the scene is over, the player must use this interaction to keep Jack alive from a major car crash that ends with a truck toppling over on him. Like the other scenes delivered throughout The Run, they are short, sweet, and fresh to the overall feel of the game, taking healthy breaks from racing. At the end of this scene, he "takes" a car from a group of other racers that are in the bar in Las Vegas, and he continues his race onward.
Vehicle mechanics felt as they should in a Need for Speed game, though the drifting was hard to properly comprehend sometimes. When I drove the Aston Martin, I was able to manage corners like James Bond would and felt like a champ lapping other racers without much effort outside of maneuvering. However, when I had a Chevrolet SS Camino, my ability to manage corners was atrocious. I attributed it to the icy roads I was driving, the rear-wheel drive, and the car’s high torque. Nonetheless, it was really awkward to manage, and drifting seemed to be something that’s highly particular to certain cars; the Camino was impressive in straight aways only.
On top of the story, The Run also includes Challenges for each map, such as lapping racers in time limits and making time limits. This feature goes hand-in-hand with the return of the Autolog system featured in Hot Pursuit, and creates a constant feeling of competition outside of the preset challenges. Challenges aren’t foreign to Need for Speed games, but they are always welcome variety from the linear experience of the single player mode.
My overall experience with Need for Speed: The Run was very positive, and it has made me rethink my outlook on the title itself and the entire series of Need for Speed games. The narrative addition gives a very fluid and driving-flow to the single player experience, and the multiplayer has also added a few elements that make it much more enjoyable and rewarding in all aspects. If light racing is to your liking, or even if you’re fully dedicated to the Need for speed series, The Run will be a great outing to play. All systems are go for its launch on Nov. 15, and I definitely recommend checking it out, even in the middle of so many AAA releases.