EA is feeling the urge to slip into top gear (not that one) once again, as a new instalment in the Need for Speed franchise is on the horizon.

Perhaps as a pre-emptive response to the furore over the now removed Pay-to-win mechanics in Battlfront II, Need for Speed Payback’s loot system has been tweaked a little – giving players more rewards for their time.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Slipstreaming off the success of 2015’s successful reboot of the Need For Speed franchise (after a few months of patching, much to the chagrin of fans who pined endlessly for the return of a pause button), Need For Speed: Payback should have been a winner. It should have been a V8 heart-stopper in …

Need For Speed Payback is a game built around the most cringe-worthy of dialogue, quotes so shockingly cheesy that your eyeballs are in danger of rolling out of your head with enough force to puncture your skull. Nowhere else in the game is that fact more apparent than in the Street Leagues. You’re racing around the city of Silver Rock to gain allies, leaders of gangs who each operate according to a certain discipline and spout out lines that reads like bad fan fiction.

While Need for Speed Payback doesn’t have a garage filled with hundreds of cars or a narrative that isn’t a cheap imitation of the Fast ‘n Furious franchise but with even more cringe worthy dialogue, it does have some classic vehicles lurking in the desert of Fortune City. A selection of cars in a vintage variety, that heightens the driving …

Need For Speed Payback looks like a fun excuse to collect cop-dodging cars. Not all cars will be fit for hot pursuits however, with some particular purchases needing some time back in the gym so that they can earn their muscle car status.

Having wisely chosen to give the Need For Speed franchise a biannual berth instead of forcing a new title down player throats every year, EA’s series races back into contention with a new look and attitude on November 10. Need For Speed Payback is the name of the game, and it has a selection of cars which hum with the kind of V8 growling that you’d expect when you’re digitally throwing fingers at cops. Take a gander here.

Another year, another E3 done and dusted! Possibly having too many games yet again, E3 was still home to plenty of winners and gems to keep your feeds open for. Games which made racing fun again, rocked the dragon and were spectacular in action. Here’s our list on the cream of the crop from this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.