Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, you and your crew were divided by betrayal and reunited by revenge to take down The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. Need for Speed, one of the world’s bestselling video game franchises, returns with a vengeance in the new action-driving blockbuster, Need for Speed Payback. And even if you do, there's not much of a thrill to it because, well, you didn't work for it.Need for Speed Payback Deluxe Edition Available Here! You cross your fingers and hope you get a decent part but, odds are, you won't. The upgrades are so minor and lacking in direction that there's no sense of accomplishment to getting good parts there’s no “quest” for specific parts, so to speak. The true anodyne for tedium in Need for Speed: Payback comes in the form of microtransactions.Įmploying microtransactions only manages to make the system tolerable. There are also cards given as rewards for races, but it doesn’t do much to alleviate the pain. The acquisition of parts, which take the form of cards, requires the player to spend an in-game currency to purchase what are essentially loot boxes. It is technically progress, but it is such a drag.Īfter enough cycles of racing, grinding, upgrading, time-saving shortcuts will increase in appeal. It doesn't really feel like progress, which is a crucial feeling to have in a game. Racing events also require different sorts of cars, which keeps the player working laterally to upgrade a spread of different types of cars: drag, race, and drifting, for example. Now, it would be one thing if the player was only tasked with upgrading one car to some kind of super status, but that isn't how Need for Speed: Payback plays out. Sure, the system increases the game's longevity which, considering 2015’s Need for Speed, is an understandably attractive option but, as they say, length isn't everything. There's a recommended level for your car and, if you aren't near it, you won't win. Events are effectively locked behind stats. Despite this, it has an enormous presence in Need for Speed: Payback. The upgrade system sucks, plainly and simply. In this way, mechanics can be emotionally manipulative and, to Need for Speed: Payback’s credit, there are a few cases where narrative and gameplay form a perfect marriage it’s one of the many small things the game gets right. I am not a “car guy” by any stretch of the imagination, but when I only have a beater to drive, I start to appreciate the “speedsters” (I assume this is something people say) I had the privilege of using in the game’s opening my apathy is replaced by motivation which, really, just proves that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. See, soon after my “speedster” was replaced by a “beater,” I found myself in the seat of another “speedster,” and, then, in some sort of suburban Mom-car. There are facets of the story that are well handled, certainly. With EA’s story-centric marketing elevating expectations, it is hard not to feel disappointed by the final product. Need for Speed: Payback prefers the comfort of the tried and true main roads, rather than risk the perils of a detour. This short scenario encapsulates the essence of the story. But, when a character in a story starts at the top, there is only one way for them to go - down. They are, after all, a well-oiled machine. Unfortunately for him, Tyler and his crew aren’t looking to make Weir a fortune they intend on jacking the car and are confident that they can do so. Multiple times, he even insists that he is the “best racer.” And, as the best racer, he has secured a gig working for Marcus “The Gambler” Weir, whose thing is to make calculated, high-stakes bets. Tyler is filled with a streamlined ambition to race and race better than anyone else and, at the start of the game, it seems as though he has accomplished this his reputation as a driver is well-known. It’s a nice touch that each of these driving styles suit the personality of the characters. Jess functions as a getaway driver, Mac is a drifter, and Ty is a diehard racer. Each represents a different style of racing. In Need for Speed: Payback, players are immediately introduced to Tyler “Ty” Morgan., Sean “Mac” McAllister, and Jessica “Jess” Miller. And, were the gameplay not lackluster, I could perhaps forgive the transgressions in the trite, predictable narrative. Were this to be the case, I could, perhaps, forgive the lackluster gameplay. Initial hype suggested I’d be able to immerse myself in an engaging, action-packed story. The evidence is in the promotional material. The story shouldn’t be a major consideration in the critique of a racing game, but story is an obvious major concern in Need for Speed: Payback’s design.
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