Need For Speed Payback General Discussion

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Just finished story mode today. Surprisingly didn't have too much trouble with Holtzmann' races. I tuned my starter Impreza to around 370 PR and won comfortably on Easy difficulty. Free Ember Militia remains the most difficult league to beat in my opinion.

The Outlaw Rush race is great fun though also not too difficult. I kinda hoped it would be 5 epic races for each discipline around the entire map, not just 1 race divided into 3 sections, but it is what it is. I love the part where all the crew bosses helped took down the cops in the airfield. The ending is way too cryptic for me though. Is Marcus going to be the new Collector now? Also in the scene where our 3 protagonists drove off in the end, why is it that only Tyler is in the car that you used? Mac is in the Bel Air and Jess is in the M5. Kinda took you out of the immersion. I know, I know, I'm nitpicking what is supposed to be a simple arcade game :lol: I'll still say this is the best story driven NFS to date. The story is intriguing, what you do on the track actually matters and the characters while still campy are not overly annoying. The small dialogues and phone calls in between races are the best.

So now I'll set my sights on platinuming and finishing the Speedcross DLC. Don't think I'm gonna be buying and testing out too many cars as the speedcard system is a pain. Looking forward to the next chapter of NFS 👍
 
Hello everyone. Quick question: Which PS4 NFS between the 2015 one and Payback is "better" (lacking a word more suited for what I mean)?
 
Michelin
Hello everyone. Quick question: Which PS4 NFS between the 2015 one and Payback is "better" (lacking a word more suited for what I mean)?
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To be honest, the improvement to the physics, although minimal, makes Payback the better game to me.
 
I'll be frank, for what the game offers I didn't see much of an advantage with the wheel over the controller. I use a
ImaRobot
To be honest, the improvement to the physics, although minimal, makes Payback the better game to me.
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Also bearing in mind that Payback has an offline single player so will have longevity over 2015. I like 2015 and it's story, but there's simply more to do and play with in payback, giving it the edge. We'll wait and see what this year brings :)
 
After about a year from absence, I'm back in Payback. I almost forgot the controls :)

Last I played, I just started Chapter 3...
 
GTvsForza
I gotta say, Skyhammer is probably my favorite mission to play :)
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Yep, definitely my favourite part of the single-player campaign! 👍

It's a shame no other chase in the game match that level of intensity.
 
Word of advice for new players:

Use AWD cars for Runner missions (especially Escape events)

My Q60 may be fast on roads, but it's terrible offroad...

FT-1
Yep, definitely my favourite part of the single-player campaign! 👍

It's a shame no other chase in the game match that level of intensity.
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I actually liked the mission where you got to drive the "Mac Attack" :)
 
Just gonna point out that drivetrains in this game don't exactly correlate with real life. Most of the cars in the game are AWD.
 
I think another problem with my Q60 is that it feels a little light for a Runner. I think the Audi you start with is a better handling car. Might try the Charger from the Deluxe DLC as well.
 
I just used the Audi and didn't have any problems at all. IMO Runner events are the easiest in this game. It's Drag and Off Road that you need to be worried about.
 
I re-downloaded NFS 2015 not long ago to once again experience my love and hate relationship with the game. I still love the setting, the HUD and UI, the graphics and the customization but I just couldn't stand the physics anymore (understeer, crab-walking and myriad of other problems with it). I gave up rather quickly.

That's when I saw Payback for sale on PSN for $10. Finally pulled the trigger and got it yesterday.

I've now put some hours into and progressed all the way to chapter 3(?). Honestly, I don't know why I do this to myself. What an absolute wank of a game. Now, I won't complain about the Speed Cards (as I knew very well what it meant), but still, Jesus Christ. Everything looks so flat and bland - the environment, the UI and HUD. Not to mention the waste of time they call a story. The map is bigger yet somehow worse than previously. It looks and feels so barren. The city abandoned.

The only redeeming quality this game has that it's got better physics (still #### though) than NFS 2015 and more customization options.

My expectations for the next NFS game can be found at the bottom of Mariana Trench.
 
LeGeNd-1
Just finished story mode today. Surprisingly didn't have too much trouble with Holtzmann' races. I tuned my starter Impreza to around 370 PR and won comfortably on Easy difficulty. Free Ember Militia remains the most difficult league to beat in my opinion.

The Outlaw Rush race is great fun though also not too difficult. I kinda hoped it would be 5 epic races for each discipline around the entire map, not just 1 race divided into 3 sections, but it is what it is. I love the part where all the crew bosses helped took down the cops in the airfield. The ending is way too cryptic for me though. Is Marcus going to be the new Collector now? Also in the scene where our 3 protagonists drove off in the end, why is it that only Tyler is in the car that you used? Mac is in the Bel Air and Jess is in the M5. Kinda took you out of the immersion. I know, I know, I'm nitpicking what is supposed to be a simple arcade game :lol: I'll still say this is the best story driven NFS to date. The story is intriguing, what you do on the track actually matters and the characters while still campy are not overly annoying. The small dialogues and phone calls in between races are the best.

So now I'll set my sights on platinuming and finishing the Speedcross DLC. Don't think I'm gonna be buying and testing out too many cars as the speedcard system is a pain. Looking forward to the next chapter of NFS 👍
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I properly struggled with holtzman and Faith, but yet had no problem beating 1% club with a bog standard M4 GTS, even Nova was no problem, Edit: also, anyone pickup the lack of underground soldier
 
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JoeDaSnow
I'm never gonna play this piece of crap. This game proves this franchise no longer what what it once was to me.
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I had since retracted the statement above. I had purchased Need For Speed Payback in anticipation for Need For Speed Heat. Also, some of my friends have been playing it. I had purchased it as part of the 2019 Summer Sale on the PS Store.
 
STAYIN_LOUD
I properly struggled with holtzman and Faith, but yet had no problem beating 1% club with a bog standard M4 GTS, even Nova was no problem
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I think offroad also depends a lot on your car too. My cousin had no issues using the Panamera, but I being a cheapskate stuck with the starter Subie and it was a real struggle :lol: Also use the quicktune to trim the handling to your liking. I have mine set to light powersteering (for quick corrections), soft suspension (to handle jumps and accelerate better) and rear weight bias (to keep the rear end more planted).

I've just beaten all the roaming racers and the offroad ones didn't give me nearly as much trouble as the main storyline. Helps that they're not all fully done on offroad tracks. I just time the start so they're on tarmac and quickly put some distance before we hit the dirt parts :lol:

Working on the activities next, and just need the 2 online trophies after that to complete this game.
 
LeGeNd-1
I think offroad also depends a lot on your car too. My cousin had no issues using the Panamera, but I being a cheapskate stuck with the starter Subie and it was a real struggle :lol: Also use the quicktune to trim the handling to your liking. I have mine set to light powersteering (for quick corrections), soft suspension (to handle jumps and accelerate better) and rear weight bias (to keep the rear end more planted).

I've just beaten all the roaming racers and the offroad ones didn't give me nearly as much trouble as the main storyline. Helps that they're not all fully done on offroad tracks. I just time the start so they're on tarmac and quickly put some distance before we hit the dirt parts :lol:

Working on the activities next, and just need the 2 online trophies after that to complete this game.
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I was struggling with the landy, even fully upgraded, bought a panamera but it was just too meh, so I went derelict hunting, got the bel air and 399 upgraded it, I was sporting stickers to support the dirt racing leagues, but changed to a matt green sporting FEM stickers when holtzman started being a backside
 
Finally got around to finishing my game. Got stuck on the last few Hazard Company missions, but managed to keep my Colorado under control.

And to end it all, I ran my Most Wanted M3 GTR in the Rush :)

Now, what to do...
 
MXH
I re-downloaded NFS 2015 not long ago to once again experience my love and hate relationship with the game. I still love the setting, the HUD and UI, the graphics and the customization but I just couldn't stand the physics anymore (understeer, crab-walking and myriad of other problems with it). I gave up rather quickly.

That's when I saw Payback for sale on PSN for $10. Finally pulled the trigger and got it yesterday.

I've now put some hours into and progressed all the way to chapter 3(?). Honestly, I don't know why I do this to myself. What an absolute wank of a game. Now, I won't complain about the Speed Cards (as I knew very well what it meant), but still, Jesus Christ. Everything looks so flat and bland - the environment, the UI and HUD. Not to mention the waste of time they call a story. The map is bigger yet somehow worse than previously. It looks and feels so barren. The city abandoned.

The only redeeming quality this game has that it's got better physics (still #### though) than NFS 2015 and more customization options.

My expectations for the next NFS game can be found at the bottom of Mariana Trench.
Click to expand...
I rebought Payback today and feel the exact same way. The speed cards completely ruin the experience for me.

It had so much potential. To be honest the game looks beautiful, and while the story maybe cringe it’s still fun to play. Just the speed cards that ruin it for me. I’d rather level up and unlock customization parts and engine upgrades like in NFS ‘2015. If they left those alone and maybe had a better soundtrack it would have been one of the better NFS games in years. That’s just my opinion though after revisiting it.
 
GTPVenomZombie
I rebought Payback today and feel the exact same way. The speed cards completely ruin the experience for me.

It had so much potential. To be honest the game looks beautiful, and while the story maybe cringe it’s still fun to play. Just the speed cards that ruin it for me. I’d rather level up and unlock customization parts and engine upgrades like in NFS ‘2015. If they left those alone and maybe had a better soundtrack it would have been one of the better NFS games in years. That’s just my opinion though after revisiting it.
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Well, Heat will have something like what they had with '15.
 
I just finished playing through Payback again. The physics really make things tedious, as does chasing the good speed cards. The offroad super builds reminded me of Mad Max, so now I am playing that again building up my Magnum Opus, and the physics actually make sense lol.
 
Part of me wishes there could be another NFS game in the future that uses the Las Vegas motif, as I think the concept was partially wasted potential in Payback. For one, there used to be the Empire Hotel, which housed a ton of rare vintage cars inside for exhibition, and I think that'd be a fantastic way to obtain any similar cars that would be included in a NFS game based around Las Vegas. Similarly, there could be some fun with Vegas-related themes like the historic contributions of the mob, the nuke tests, and some of the famous hotels - both extant and historic, like Circus Circus, Sahara, Caesar's Palace, or the Bellagio.

Heck, you could base factions off the hotels, in themselves. The "Bellagio" gang drive fancy, bougie Italian cars. "Sahara" gang focuses on off-road driving. "Circus Circus" gang could focus on being flashy, including drifting, and taunting the police with drawn-out pursuits.
 
Just bought Payback since it was on sale, Anyone got any tips or tricks for the beginner? things to collect in the early stages?
 
AlexWilmot
Just bought Payback since it was on sale, Anyone got any tips or tricks for the beginner? things to collect in the early stages?
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Sorry for the late reply (been elsewhere). Basically the cliche of play the game. For the most part the game pretty much gifts you two decent vehicles off the bat (assuming you didn't get the deluxe edition). take the Buick when offered and buy speed cards for it as and when you've the funds. The first two series are pretty straight forward with the hardest events being la Caterina (not difficult if you've a car up around level 180) and the heist (everything is provided. Getting rid of the house is tricky, but be brave and attack them like you man it). After chapter 2 in complete (chapter one is the intro where everything is provided and is more than adequate) you are introduced to drifting. At this point go hunting fot derelicts and complete either car as a drift build (240Z is probably the best, but I find the Mustang is just as good). Finish the drift series and gather the parts for the beetle and use it as the drag build. This will be your perminant drag build until the end of the game. You and try the drag races now or purchase the speed cross dlc for extra events which you can play from this chapter onwards (highly recommended). The payout is decent and once complete you can use any car availabe to the series once purchased not to mention an extra spawn point at braxton. Once you have the beetle up to about level 250 and Jessicas Audi up to the same level (also get your racer and offroader to the same level) you should finish out the chapter. Skyhammer is difficult, but don't be distracted by the search light and just keep going forward. You might fail this mission a few times, but as long as you keep the cops at bay and stick to the route you'll be fine. Once this chapter is over find the remaining derelicts (bel air and c10), The bel air is seen as the defacto off roader (it's mac's off roader) so you may want to use it as such. Convert the C10 as a runner if you wish, but it's kind of a non-entity in the game as you can unlock the BMW M5 in this chapter. It is the best runner (the Audi a close 2nd) so focus on it. As for tuning get your cars to level 280. The drift events don't require major improvement so long as you can hold a drift. Saying that levelling your drift derelict to 280 will help. As for a good racer once you unlock the porsche 2.8 rsr, buy it as it's one of the fastest when fully tuned. At this point you're pretty much set for the chapter. For the final chapter focus on fully tuning the beetle to 399 and the bel air to the same. For racing you might want to unlock the pagani, but the porsche rsr is still good. M5 is still the runner so tune it all the way. The events are intense, but doable as the learning curve is pretty linear with ver few spikes (skyhammer and around the lake bing the nastiest, yet doable with a couple of tries). The final race is very straight forward, but be aware of a nasty turn onto a bridge (you'll make this mistake once. Just remember it and try again).

Saying all that (and in summary) If you are willing to purchase the dlc, do so as the speed cross is a good resource to go back to to build cash and tokens.

The range rover sport is the best off roader imo, but needs purchased (will be free in game) otherwise the bel air is the best non dlc choice

Derelicts are a god send with superbuilds

Beetle is the best dragster

bait crates are very useful and worth finding

sell any unneeded cars and sell cards for cash.

Use the slot machine for parts and try to match the brands.

Ultimately just play around. The game actually gives direction and really isn't hrd to learn.

Cars to use and look out for: Mustang (race or drift), Boss Mustang (drifting), 240z (race or drift) Beetle (drag) Bel Air (off road), RR Sport DLC (off road) BMW M5 (runner) Porsche RSR (race) Pagani (race) Alfa Giulliette DLC (Race) Lamborghini Hurican (drift).

Please let us know how you get on.
 
cudwieser
Please let us know how you get on.
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At the moment I'm at chapter 3, and have "repeat customer" to do before I assume it goes to the next chapter, collected all chips and smashed all billboards, got all derelicts as follows:
Mustang - Drag
240 - Race
C10 - Race
Beetle - Off-road
Bel air - Off-road

That's purely based off of what I'd like them to look like
Currently using:
Drag - Mustang
Drift - S15
Off-road - F-150
Race - R32
Runner - S5

Then I have some cars sitting in my "warehouse" being unused, I have only done one roaming racer race, and barely touched any of the activities, only done the ones by mistake when driving to events
 
No mistakes in this game. Every little helps. The story is actually pretty straight forward and short of not up speccing a car you realy can't fail. Saying that you've doing alright so far. Spec a beetle for drag later on (I'm not joking when I say it's a rocket) and an RSR for racing. Anything you can handle in the other categories it good enough, but as I said in the other reply some are more equal than others. Now would be a good time to play the speed cross and the castrol challenges (the castrol challenges aren't much, but any wealth in your hand is better than left alone, not to mention a sneak peek at the Range Rover Sport SVR DLC). Once you unlock the M5 and Pagani you should keep them in mind otherwise you're doing fine. Let us know how you get on in the next chapter.

P.S repeat the drift, courier and speed cross missions for cash and tokens to increase level and cash.
 
Now onto Chapter 5

Update on cars I'm now using
Currently using:
Drag - Mustang - Superbuild
Drift - S15
Off-road - Beetle - Superbuild
Race - Diablo - Cause I like the look of it :lol:
Runner - S5

Changed the F-150 to beetle as it was struggling to turn when Racing against the Free Ember Militia, Beetle sorted that out,
Also wasn't aware of upgrading the stock parts in order to "unlock" the higher ranking aftermarket cards
 
AlexWilmot
Now onto Chapter 5

Update on cars I'm now using
Currently using:
Drag - Mustang - Superbuild
Drift - S15
Off-road - Beetle - Superbuild
Race - Diablo - Cause I like the look of it :lol:
Runner - S5

Changed the F-150 to beetle as it was struggling to turn when Racing against the Free Ember Militia, Beetle sorted that out,
Also wasn't aware of upgrading the stock parts in order to "unlock" the higher ranking aftermarket cards
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Forgot about that. As you up-spec and buy and install the higher parts the shop updates ever 10 minutes iirc with higher parts. Also you can use the quick level up packs to save a bit of money. The selection is good and should keep you good for the remainder of the game, but one big hurdle is Diamond Block. The leader uses a gtr drag spec and it is bloody quick. The races are longer and trickier a you'll need to wring all finesse out of the stang. There is a road race along a hard road so you may be trying it twice and the boss race is hard. You might want to have a beetle on hand if the stang ain't working. All in all the curve will jump in chapter 5. Off road isn't too hard and the beetle will keep you, and a top spec s5 will keep you for running. There is only one off road race that'll be a pain (race around the lake). The races are tight but not too hard, but you'll need a good handling and quic car. The drag races are the hardest so be ready. The finale is a stinker at times. You need to have your off road game down tight (there's a lesson to be learned from FEM race at the observatory) otherwise a fast car is all you'll need.

If you haven't played them try the speed cross for extra bucks if you need them.
 

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