Need for Speed Payback Review After Patch 104
Our Verdict
Demand for Speed Payback successfully returns to its Fast and Furious roots with ataraxy, but a focus on the grind and a cute but empty world ways it ultimately falls brusk of greatness.
Pros
- Bright Fast and Furious-esque storyline
- Stunning open up world
- Great selection of races and side content
Cons
- Drag questline hits a difficulty curve
- Overcomplicated AI
- Bit of a grind
GamesRadar+ Verdict
Need for Speed Payback successfully returns to its Fast and Furious roots with aplomb, but a focus on the grind and a beautiful but empty earth means it ultimately falls short of greatness.
Pros
- +
Brilliant Fast and Furious-esque storyline
- +
Stunning open world
- +
Great pick of races and side content
Cons
- -
Drag questline hits a difficulty curve
- -
Overcomplicated AI
- -
Scrap of a grind
When I first showed off Need for Speed Payback to the GamesRadar+ crew, oh how they laughed. They took one expect at my machine - Geoffrey - and fell most. They laughed at his little Brum eyes, his featherbrained wing mirrors, his retro design and said "that's not Need for Speed". But in fact, it'south Geoffrey, who happens to be rather brilliant VW Golf GTI Mk1, who absolutely symbolises Demand for Speed. It's not a rags to riches story, no, it's about sheer determination to win every race despite the odds and a bit of silliness thrown in for good measure.
Need for Speed Payback, equally the title suggests, is about vengeance. You play every bit diverse members of a crew - all, handily, with different driving styles - who get double crossed during a heist in the opening scenes. Y'all're left without whatever flashy rides, not much greenbacks in your pocket and a whole lot of rage. Thus a plan to verbal revenge on the ones that betrayed them is put in place, but that plan also brings them upwardly confronting a major criminal syndicate known every bit the House.
A huge earth with plenty to exercise
In order to get anywhere near the Business firm and your nemesis, y'all're going to have to race, taking into account that y'all're going to accept switch drivers and vehicles for each quest strand. The rage-filled Tyler is your go-to guy for all things speed, including your standard speed-based races and later drag, while Mac is your London geezer ready for more play a trick on-based affairs, including drift races and offroading. And so at that place's Jess, who only happens to exist an excellent driver with a penchant for European meaty and breaking the law. Switching between them as you work your way through the game'southward storyline feels similar Need for Speed Payback is trying to cross Fast and the Furious with GTA five, and that'southward a expert matter.
The activities you lot'll discover in Payback'south story are fairly various, moving through different quest lines from traditional A-B races with Tyler to drift challenges as Mac. Jess will be involved in timed courier missions and getaways later on, providing quite the rounded offer in terms of driving styles. And that'due south just the story. Motion away from there and there are various collectibles and world challenges to discover, from clocking speed cameras, achieving high average speeds along detail stretches, smashing through billboards or pulling off sick jumps on strategically positioned ramps - seeing a Land Rover Defender 110 flight over the wing of a 737 will never get erstwhile.
Desire tips, tricks, and secrets?
Interspersed betwixt your frissons with rival car gangs are high-octane story missions that aqueduct the Need for Speed series' Fast and Furious roots. Each one is glorious not just to lookout man but play, whether it's pelting along the freeway in a souped-up Koenigsegg, getting alongside an 18-wheeler then your partner can climb aboard to free said Koenigsegg, fighting off scores of cops and Firm goons in a chase, there's something inherently awesome well-nigh Payback's storyline. I'1000 the action hero here and the game makes that very clear.
But although there's plenty to go your teeth into, yous'll speedily find that Need for Speed Payback's choice upwards and play ethos comes with a drawback - the grind. And that's where Geoffrey comes in. It was far easier - and more ridiculous - to stick with my starter car in Need for Speed Payback than it was to upgrade to something more expensive, because money is difficult to come by in Payback. You lot'll need to buy a new motorcar for each of the racing questlines, despite the fact that information technology'll be the same selection of vehicles on offer simply with different tuning, and they're not inexpensive. Couple that in with the fact that success in the game's storyline is linked to your car'due south level and money becomes every bit vital as it does in real life.
Fast and... no, merely furious
Each race yous tackle has a level, and if your car's not of equal or greater level to that indicator, yous're going to struggle. The but manner to level upwardly your ride without having to buy a new one is to use Speed Cards. Every car has six slots, each i representing elements nether the hood, including your gearbox and the Need for Speed essential, nitrous. They come up with perks that boost stats and the overall level of your car. These can be won at the cease of every race and applied straight to your automobile, or bought from tune-up shops. But with every race earning you effectually £7,000, and every Speed Carte costing upwards of £11,000, levelling up your motorcar for the later stage story quests becomes a serious grind. Simply repeating races isn't enough, equally you won't have enough greenbacks to splash on a set of Speed Cards to boost your level. Instead, you lot'll find yourself repeatedly going back to old races over and over once again only so you can get enough cash to progress.
That's specially true of the drag questline. It's like I suddenly hit a progression wall at virtually 120mph and information technology hurt. Failing the same races over and over despite having equal machine level is a literal drag, and then is having to get back and earn more cash to go more Speed Cards in lodge to have whatsoever chance of succeeding. It sucked the fun right out of this otherwise incredibly enjoyable experience - and that was merely the beginning of the grind. If you want nice cars - pitiful Geoffrey - you're going to take to put a lot of hours into Demand for Speed.
It doesn't help that while Need for Speed Payback's world is big, cute and enjoys the luxury of constant framerates and a brilliant photograph mode, it'due south just a scrap… lifeless. The fictional Las Vegas-inspired earth of Fortune Valley feels very dried and empty. Cops only announced within story missions, the challengeable roaming racers are as a little likewise boisterous and oddly absent, and despite the fact it moves from mountain, to desert, to city, none of it is that memorable. Information technology hasn't got a patch on the maps of a Forza Horizon game for example. It's fully functional and great to expect at, you just won't be going for a casual drive around the vast map simply to take in the sights.
And that's a shame because Need for Speed Payback is a game with a brilliant story at its core. Empty-headed, over the top and a little bit self-indulgent, only in a fantastic action picture fashion. It works and you lot'll savor every car chase, nitrous heave and quippy millennial line. Information technology just misses the mark by adding RPG elements into an arcade racer and making the all-time cars ever just out of accomplish.
Reviewed on PS4 Pro.
Don't forget to check out our Need for Speed Payback tips for condign a better racer.
Demand For Speed Payback
Need for Speed Payback successfully returns to its Fast and Furious roots with aplomb, only a focus on the grind and a beautiful but empty world means it ultimately falls short of greatness.
More info
Available platforms | PS4, Xbox I, PC |
Genre | Racing |
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Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/need-for-speed-payback-review/
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