2015’s latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise was fantastic stuff…after a few patches and plenty of free content drops. The first edition of the game may have been a solid racer populated by the most stereotypical talking heads this side of a Fast ‘N Furious movie, but a few months down the line resulted in some tweaks and mods that gave the reboot something it desperately needed: An option to shut those idiots up when you were drifting around a corner at a ludicrously dangerous speed.
Jokes aside, developer Ghost Games made a fantastic entry in the Need For Speed series. Fast, stylish and with hints of the beloved Underground inserted into its DNA, Need For Speed was back and here to stay.Just not as an annual franchise. EA realised early on that rushing out a sequel every year would result in diminishing returns, as they decided to give the franchise a chance to shine at its own pace.
This year will see Need For Speed return. While it’ll most likely arrive with a squad of police cats in hawt persooot, it’ll be ditching some dead weight along the way: A always-online connection requirement. “When release day rolls around for the next Need for Speed, you will be able to play through a single player experience completely offline,” developer Ghost Games said in a statement.
Before you ask, and we know you will, this does mean you will be able to pause the game.
Rest assured that we’re committed to customization having a home within the Need for Speed series,” Ghost stated. “It’s not going away and it will play as strong a role as ever as we move forward into the next game and beyond. Whether you’re checking out your freshly customized ride or smoking the competition in an event up in the canyons, you’re going to want a world that not only looks beautiful, but offers you the space in which to do the things you want.
We’re dialing up the action and allowing you to tear up the tarmac, and dirt, to your heart’s content.
Brilliant stuff. Like I said, the 2015 version of Need For Speed is damn good and well worth a buy if you ever see it on sale.Provided you’ve got that damn persistent internet connection and don’t mind hanging back to allow it to update to a far superior version of the original rubber-burner, it’s currently a fantastic indicator of the style and speed that Ghost Games is going for.
More of that with more user-friendly options in the 2017 sequel though? Oh, hells yes.
Last Updated: May 10, 2017
Dresden
May 10, 2017 at 07:43
This is great news! Also, is that a Porsche I see in the thumbnail? 😀
miaau
May 10, 2017 at 10:22
I think so,. I am a merc man and they only had one in the game.
Since I drive a 3 litre v6 C class I held a tiny hope that my actual car might be in the game (ok, not my car, the petrol version, but close enough – and Diesel is very, very torquey and my car is tweaked for more speed with LESS consumption of diesel). One of the things I want to do is to play sort of my car in a car, so I used to drive, in older Need for Speed a Subaru somewhat similar to one i owned at the time (before the Outback). It just adds a little bit more, somehow.
For the Emperor!
May 10, 2017 at 10:04
Offline SP? Colour me interested!
miaau
May 10, 2017 at 10:10
Need for Speed 2015 was pretty cool, got it free with EA Access.
Some of the car mods, um. Sabura BRZ (Toyota 86) upgraded to a 2.8s 0 to 100km car…. I wonder if that can be done in the real world, money no object. Upgrades only, not new engine or something.
I liked the fact that if you tried to max all upgrades on a car, you could end up making it slow.
I hardly noticed the always online thing, to be honest.
Matthew Holliday
May 10, 2017 at 10:37
You can make pretty much anything a 2.8s 0-100km with 800HP, but it does require pretty much an entire rebuild/replacement of pretty much everything.
Certain cars are obviously better at it, but toyota are usually good with that, and their “86” cars of the past do have that kind of reputation.
Been following a few youtube channels recently that follow the whole drifting scene and you see some pretty crazy stuff.
Even engine swaps arent that uncommon. Or even that expensive (in certain parts of the world) for that matter.
miaau
May 10, 2017 at 12:15
Awesome stuff. Yeah I have bought slightly used engines (and had an engine rebuilt from mostly new parts) before, not as expensive as people think. BUT it must be installed and that, if you do not know how, can cost a bit.
Of course the problem is to get the power to the tarmac, as it were. Having the engine and turbo and supercharger all in place, but the Diff and wheels and traction control, that sort of thing…..
Matthew Holliday
May 10, 2017 at 12:49
traction control is removed entirely from those cars, seen them literally pull that plug part of it out.
I think the answer to handling and stuff is both alot more and less complex than people think. Parts wise, its mostly just the coils thing. replace those and youre good to go.
Its the dialing it in part and tailoring it to the car and needs and stuff that things get complicated and people never get right.
Engine wise, yeah, unless youre a mechanic yourself, thats where the real costs come in.
The youtuber I watch these days just finished doing a swap in his garage with his mechanic friends.
3 days non stop for a complete swap
He’s a BMXer, but Ive been following him since he started drifting, which has been pretty cool, watching him go from complete scrub, to where he is now.
He just got back from driving Ebisu in Japan for a drift holiday, pretty jealous, not gna lie.
miaau
May 10, 2017 at 13:37
Like the drag racing show that was on Discovery channel. Just blown away that they can gt that much power down, BUT they also stuff it up.
I need traction in my car, it is meant to be fun to drive AND a family car. It is a sub 6 second (barely!) 0 to 100 now, after some tweaks to the engine and ECU, but it is still meant to take two kids and two parents on long distance trips, so the traction control is my friend Not that it kicks in all that often, only really when you drive like a spanner and their is a bit of sand on the road, for example.
Driving like a spanner is putting foot while still coming out of a corner, not in a rear wheel drive car.
Avithar
May 10, 2017 at 15:12
Need for speed 2 deep customization and i will even pre-order this 1 since they dropped the online connection
Andrew Winn
July 22, 2017 at 05:27
Thank F, for the Scrapping of the always on Connection