How EA's 'Need For Speed' Franchise Lost Its Way

Remember the days when Need For Speed dominated the Christmas sales charts? As ScreenCritics Sam recounts - those days are long gone.

[GreenUp]

It's been terrible after Underground 2. If they had Underground 3 with customization from Carbon then that would be really nice.

[Blaze929]

So you just gonna act like Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) doesn't exist?

[Femto]

most wanted was amazing, and even carbon was good, after that it went downhill

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and the newer Most Wanted were WAY better than Carbon. They were really fun games.

[Retroman]

NFS began going downhill right after Carbon. technically after 2005 Most Wanted .
Criterion Hotpursuit would saved it if an only if drifting around corners was not the main engine .
Main reason i did not buy 2015 reboot waaaaaaay to much drifting ,night racing, to much cut scene, phone texting , constantly calling you for BS in middle of race.
I know without a doubt that was Not NFS .
More like Ridge Racer 6 drifting championship of Drifting .

[TimelessDbz]

Read the article. I'll be honest played all NFS . I really can not stand open world racing games with a passion . Even dislike burnout paradise. When most wanted came out for xbox and ps2 . I was really let down.

When NFS Hot pursuit 2010 came out . I was like YES! they nailed it good tracks , lobby system, different game modes, good sound effects and most important IT WAS FUN. At the time most racers were going the open world none sense and it was so refreshing to be reminded what it means to go fast and master a track.

Last game NFS that left an impression was the latest one. It was decent. Nothing great. Liked it much better then rivals and the crew. IF they really want to capture a arcade racing audience . DO NOT DO OPEN WORLD RACING .

[InTheZoneAC]

Burnout Paradise was my most played racing game outside of GT and I'm a huge NFS fan(more like the older games, last two were terrible.)

[USMC_POLICE]

I agree hotpursuit 1&2 and high stakes are my favorites. I miss mastering tracks and cars without modding cars. It needs to go back to barebones racing! Remake hotpursit 2 with current cars included and no pursuit tech, just road blocks, back up and helicopter support.

[quent]

I agree about burnout, Takedown is till my favorite in the series, its such a series of action packed racing that I enjoyed the immediacy of choosing your races and vehicles from menus and jumping in straight away much more enjoying.

I still have a soft spot for TDU games though, but they're a more relaxed experience IMO

[Retroman]

Agree with you. NFS need to stay as Arcade as possible . No open world she-it . 2010 Hotpursuit was Excellent , loved the Spike strip , cop cars flipping over , racers flipping over rails after being tagged that was exciting .
Ghost games should implement that in next game .

[prof573v3]

Bought the latest offering on sale over black friday and I'm loving it. Reminds me of NFS underground 1 and 2. All its missing is the split screen gameplay

[gbsrnctaln]

I really enjoyed NFS 2016

[TheColbertinator]

Open world to me is the problem on NFS. Its all about mastering the various tracks.

[InTheZoneAC]

the latest need for speed was so bland and basic in terms of map size, map layout, and weather. Rivals went down, then the last NFS fell even further. Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted were always fun and Underground before that was great, but the last two have been terrible.

[Retroman]

Lot more been Terrible in the series .

First 5 NFS from ps1 was excellent . then came ps2 Hotpursuit 2 , UnderGround 1/2 , 2012 Mostwanted .
After that started declining . 9 Good NFS out of 23 titles that's a shame.

[georeo]

That hot pursuit was so fun with the cops chases. .I couldn't stand the new most wanted ( 2012) I believe.

[Smokingunz]

They ran out of ideas because they should've let the franchise breath for a couple of ideas. The last good nfs I played was blacklist on xbox 360 lol

[Retroman]

You Mean 2012 Mostwanted with blacklist right?

[StormLegend]

What happend to the Hot Pursuit series? I want cops and more cops! No open worlds, no DLC unless it's free

[PB]

EA please put your efforts into making a new Skate or SSX.

[Fearmonkey]

Need for Speed used to be an amazing series, then this urban street racing crap took over where everyone is so bad and tough. I never cared for the Fast and the furious style, much prefer a serious racer. I liked some of the hot pursuit titles but thats not what Need for Speed is to me.