Amazing visuals with new technology in the engine,however the gameplay and story lacks confidence.
This game has used the latest graphical technology which is the newest and one of the strongest game engines to date "FrostBite2". The frostbite 2 is pretty strong compared to any other game engine we know,and to use this for a racing game would have to be really interesting.
Well NFS The Run, isnt really your everyday racing game since the company needed something new,im not really sure it reached its potential and EA expectations but i know that the changes are clear for everyone to see.
The Graphics-
Its so intense that if you see it for the first time,you will not be able to tell if it is really your xbox360/ps3 that can perform and process such graphics.I must admit the graphics is beyond any racing game i know.If we look more into the graphics there are a lot of factors playing their parts in it.For example when you are driving in the game the rendering of frostbite2 allows you to see further into the distance of the game creating more realistic landscapes,and giving you the feeling of reality in every level.You can see little details of trees that are on the mountain terrains,you can observe birds flying over you into the great beautiful sky above you.I have to say its very very interesting for me to see this for the first time.Other aspects of the graphics would involve you seeing the great reflection of the sun and also melted ice on the road,also being able to view the motion blur on the road and on the tracks.There is also a few little details of the sun which is pretty fascinating as well.If you keep looking for other features in the graphics,it would be the reflections and the textures every object has in the game, for example your car is pretty visible in the game.I have never seen such beautiful sceneries in any racing game.So fundamentally the graphics is just superb compared to any other racing/driving game.
The Gameplay-
As for the gameplay,its not hard to understand that for such graphics you will be able to have long loading times,which is bad. Also,i have tried to install the game on my xbox360,even though the loading will be much quicker, but still takes a lot of time and to have lots of loading in the game can get pretty annoying.
You can change the camera angle in the game.I believe we have about 2 or 3 other camera angles available to change into, but you dont have the dashboard view like NFS shift.
There are unique levels aswell in NFS The Run,i found levels which change dynamically,for example there was such a level that you had to rush through snowy mountains to scape avalanche.These kinds of levels reminded me of the big change in the course of the track we saw earlier in racing games such as Split/second.Although these kinds of levels which i call dynamic levels are only a few in the whole game but works pretty good with the variety element i we have in THE RUN.
As for the movement and the controls i think it is trying to act in between real driving and the arcade/open world like controls,what i mean is that the control of the game is not as perfect as a simulator game and its not as open as an arcade like game or rather an open world game like the driver san - Francisco we had.Its clearly something in between.With the right analog stick you can quickly change the camera angle and rotate the camera view around the car for a short period of time which is not original and its not new.You can also drift around the corners which isnt that new either for NFS.
Since the game is mostly played on roads between the cities,you can change your car by going into the nearest gas station.
You have different choices of cars on different roads and tracks.Something interesting here was that for each car you choose, you can also choose the body kit you want to go with it,from 3 or 4 types of packages like for example style packs and racing packages,and if you dont like to change the body kit you can just leave it at that,but the fact is that each package you apply to you car ,will change the performance of your car more or less differently.
The controlling of cars is a bit out of reach,it feels very very heavy to control the cars(moving left or right) which later on the game gets pretty annoying when you can not pass other players(which is the whole point of the game).
When i say heavy i mean the handling is very hard and difficult, feels very much heavy to move left or right,you need a lot of practice in order to get it right or make it to a checkpoint, and again when you reach more difficult levels it can get relatively annoying because of the controls and more difficult levels and so on.
Every once in a while you meet new players who are trying to get passed you in "THE RUN",and you have to beat them on a one on one.
There are shortcuts spread all over the game,some will help you get to the destination much faster and some will actually slow you down!
since we are moving all over the US we are mostly on the tracks and roads leading to the big cities.There are city levels which is more like a checkpoint in between the road levels and in these so called city levels we get the cinematic gameplay.What that means is that,for example you get chased by lets say police ,then lets say the police catches you and you are on foot,now suddenly the game play changes and you have something like those button pressing action games which either you are getting chased or there is a plot in which you have to get away as fast as you can.
What i didnt like about this kind of gameplay in "The Run" is that there arent really any new combination on the button pressing.Its either one single action button or simple combinations like( Lt+Rt on xbox360). There could have been a lot of other new combinations for these levels but i didnt see that.Anyway
the main character is not original atall,i bet we have seen like dozens of look a likes in movies or TV series.
Also some levels in the game have not been properly built with a proper point in it.For example every once in a while the bad guys which want to get you down,and make you fail at the race,BOOHOO,they simply drive in front of you and then the idiot brakes and you suddenly crash in to their bumper and you will loose you head lights,OK its night time as well, which makes you want to cry and its really not good to drive like this,you just cannot see what you are doing,so to me that was a badly engineered level it had innovation but wasnt executed perfectly.
Story -
The story isnt a bad one either. There are also quite lot of elements which makes the game stand out,the characters dont stand out as much as they should do,i dont know why.The pace of the story is more or less very fast,occasionally you look at the progress map and see how far you have gone but you still dont know anything about the characters and the main story,basically it doesnt have a long story at all.The most impact from the story has to be the perfect voices and visuals which plays a great role in creating the story, but then again its not a long story in general.
Enjoyment -
I cant claim that the game isnt fun,its actually one of the most fun and enjoyable racing game i have played in a long time,however there are major factors which can make it unenjoyable.There is a wide range of variety in the game,from tiny missions to the extremely tense action levels.
Although there are a number of factors that try and can steal the enjoyment from players, one of the major downsides in my view is the continuously long Loading times.
One interesting facts that makes the experience very fun,entertaining is the level design which gives the player the real feeling of each level and makes it stand out even more perfectly,and it executes this with great colors,sounds,astonishing sceneries and the intense and extreme driving it creates through roads and the streets.
Summary -
altogether the game shows a lot of ideas new and old,mixed with the latest technology around. Such as the great game engine, the main idea and even the story is good enough.Also to be able to play such a movie like game and classify it as a racing game is in fact very fascinating.Not a lot of racing games can do this i believe.There are however factors which can spoil and shatter the game in seconds.I directly believe the factors that are wrecking the game are sometimes very obvious,they havent been hidden anywhere,and you can clearly see whats going on.Inclusively the game is good to play,however playing it once was just enough to get everything there is to it. In addition the levels which makes you repeat them quite dozens of times to beat them and the story and gameplay which is only playable once are some of the major factors which can honestly ruin the whole thing .Lets not forget that the graphics is unlike any other, not just racing game but any game out there.Absolutely worth playing it once, 8 out 10