Need for Speed The Run gets back in the car
I ran from Need for Speed The Run unimpressed at E3. EA returns one month later, with a new demo set in the desert. Is it any better?
I walked, nay, ran from Need for Speed The Run unimpressed at E3. EA was trying something new with the franchise, promising a story that will get you out of the car with action-packed QTE-ridden sequences.
It wasn't very good. And worst of all, the driving wasn't much fun either. One month later, EA returns to show off more of The Run. This time, I'm driving through the Nevada desert, with an EA rep saying that the on-foot portion of the game makes up only ten percent of the package. I could only think "this is more like it" as I was handed the controller, keys to a nitrous-filled sports car, racing against opponents through the desert.
Not having to partake in an arbitrary, meaningless QTE sequence certainly improved my impression of the game. The biggest change evident in this demo? It was actually fast. Whereas the car in the E3 demo handled like molasses, the sports car in this demo made it easy to boost down straightaways, find shortcuts, and ram into other cars in an attempt to take pole position.
The handling isn't quite what I'd like yet, with it landing somewhere in the middle of "arcadey" like the previous Need for Speed games, and "sim-like" as Shift 2 Unleashed.
One thing that has been consistent between the two demos I've played has been the visuals. The Chicago level looked a lot like Chicago. The desert also had the appropriate feel of the great American desert. Given the cross-country premise of the game, I'm excited to see Black Box's take on the other racing venues.
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replyAndrew Yoon posted a new article, Need for Speed The Run gets back in the car.
I ran from Need for Speed The Run unimpressed at E3. EA returns one month later, with a new demo set in the desert. Is it any better?-
Between this and SSX Deadly Descents, I'm wondering if EA's PR strategy is to torpedo new titles on unveiling it to the media, and then months later, come back and say, "No! No-no-no! No! It's not that horrendously bad! Here, let me show you the real gameplay!"
Once is a fluke. Twice is suspicious. These can't be flukes every single time, can they?
I should also say that what I want to do most in a driving game is DRIVE. Not walk around a sandbox, not dance around in a PlayStation Home dance party, but DRIVE. There are basically two game series that concentrate on that: Gran Turismo, and Forza. EA, in constantly reinventing Need for Speed, forgot what the series was originally, back when it was called Road And Track's The Need For Speed. -
10% walking in a car game is 10% too much walking.
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agreed but i could deal with it if it was just moving your character around, but throwing in QTEs?? that will ruin whatever fun im having with it up to that point.
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I think they're still tweaking the controls, waiting for feedback. I also would prefer a more arcade-like feel.
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A quote from Jason DeLong, the executive producer of this game on zany features not helping racing games: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/313246/racing-game-genre-decline-not-helped-by-innovations-ea/
"I think one of the issues with racing developers is that they felt that things needed to change n order for things to continue to do well and as a result there's been a lot of quote/unquote'innovations' in the racing space, which maybe was not necessarily the best focus.
"I think at the end of the day a successful racing game is one that makes someone feel like a hero. Being able to pick up a controller, get behind the wheel of a 500 horsepower car that costs $200,000 and just drive it masterfully across an amazing landscape, that is what people want. If you deliver on that promise then I think you're three-quarters of the way there."
So... why does your racing game have on-foot sections and Quick Time Events? -
If it aint arcade handling ALL the way, then its a fail.
and I have about million arcade racers. If they want throw in QTE then let them.
Its not like anyone buys these games anyway.
Blur, Split Second, Fuel, Nail'd and Pure all where excellent and they all under performed.
So QTE it is...lets see if folks will put their money where their mouth is.
I'm surprised EA is even making this game. I want to play something different. Tired of the same shit. You can only run down the same road but some many times with the same cars.
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