Black Box, you had Hot Pursuit to build on. HOW DID YOU SCREW THIS UP!

User Rating: 3.5 | Need for Speed: The Run X360
Oh dear lord, give me.... no, I've been ready for this for a while now.

I gave this atrocity a chance about two months after it came out, and after playing Hot Pursuit to the point of capping one level and nearly getting there on the other, and enjoyed the single player....once, I wa hoping that maybe there was a snowballs chance that the next game would return us to the fun, challenge, and replayability of past games. Then news came out that it would be a cross-country "cannonball run" type game and I was hyped. And then E3 came.....Oh boy. Well enough babbling on, let's get out the throwing knives.

Problem 1: Black Box - Gameplay - The autolog system is the best thing here. That's not a good start. Then there's the car physics....one moment.(----------) Sorry about that, I had to go break something.So, physics. I'm gonna let the uninitiated in on something, the Nissan GT-R, in any form, can make it around the Nurburgring's 13 miles of torture in less than 8 minutes. Now think about that as your in-game GT-R refuses to turn and fly into/off a cliff. And then there are the loading times and the rewinds that simply kill any momentum this lump had.

Problem 2: Black Box - Story - I shouldn't even have to talk about this. It shouldn't be a major player, if it even existed. Common ground time, folks. What was the last story focused NFS that was good? The answer is none. Here's a rundown why: PS1 NFS games- no story at all; NFSU, U2- small accent story that helped drive the game, a bit; NFSMW, Carbon, ProStreet- story centered but still not the focus over the racing; NFS Shift, Shift 2- No comment; Hot pursuit- No actual story connecting the events. The story not only makes a mess of itself AND nearly ruins the allure of the cross-country races, but is similar to NFS Undercover as the story takes away heavily from the actual racing, almost a sin in racing games universally.

Problem 3: Black Box - QTE's - Starting to see a pattern here? Last one on Black Box I promise. I don't take true pleasure in anyones misfortune (Jerry Jones is on the fence), but I hope that whoever thought that the QTE's in this were "interactive storytelling" got some sense knocked into him, and that whoever proposed it has been barred from ever making suggestions again. You know the trailer from E3? There is that one and I think there's another one( I was distracted and a friend picked it up for a moment). You cannot crowbar in stuff and expect it to work, sell, or even be acknowledged.

Problem 4: Car selection - It's ok, but for those not destracted by bright colors and body kits, you will notice that many cars are duplicates, i.e. three versions of the Audi quattro just to name one. Diversity is up, yes, but the number of cars by my count was down. One version of each model, this should be the standard.

Problem 5: AI and BS - The standard AI, as in the 175-or-so nameless peons, are good for the 15 seconds they are relevent. Your chief competitors are OK, but since when can an El Camino keep pace with a Porsche 918(or a Carrera GT)? Since they decided to include rubberband AI, and the cops are just as bad, as I even the lowly Interceptors kept up with the Porsche. And then the story returns in a flash of BS, cursing, and rage on your behalf. Final Stage, New York- 3-4 different cut scenes MID-RACE! What's worse, you don't have any control, they will happen at preset places no matter how far ahead or behind you are. Oh, and did I mention you are forced into the NYC subway system? No? Well as idiotic as it is, you are forced into a house sized hole that connects to the railways.

After this and the UNSKIPPABLE ENDING CREDITS that take way to long, I couldn't take it anymore. That's all I have, no online, no single events, no extras. Black Box actually made my favorite NFS games before Criterion's Hot Pursuit, High Stakes for PS1 and Underground 2. It amazes me how far they have fallen, and despite how much of a botch job they do, they still get praises for what they have done. I think it's time Need for Speed is turned over to another studio.

Oh wait, a recommendation. I recommend it as a coaster or target practice if free. Do not, I repeat, do not EVER buy this game for any price.