Need for Speed Unbound - General Discussion

  • Thread starter Famine
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SestoScudo
Explains why the car list barely has new cars.

All the money went to these clothing brands.
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I think that part of it is asset recycling - which is fine by me - and that they're saving the truly new cars for updates. Hopefully this'll be more of a "living game" than Heat was, although I'm positive that support for Heat was halted because of Covid.
 
I've played for a total of 30 minutes so far, give or take, and...this game has charm. It comes across as having more thought put into character creation alone than the whole of previous NFS games since HP 2010. My opinion is heavily skewed because I've hated NFS for the past...12 years? Let's call it 10.5-11 because I also enjoyed Most Wanted 2012.

The physics are still weird, as in the game still doesn't know if it wants to be an arcade or simcade racer, but I can work past that. It looks great — funny enough I don't have any intention of turning the visual effects off. I disliked them in the leaked screenshots and actually seeing it in videos, but sitting down to actually play it myself...it feels like I'd be kneecapping the game's personality (granted, what little of it I've seen thus far) and I don't want to do that anymore.

30 minutes is hardly enough time to fairly judge the game, but for me, it's more than enough to confidently say this is the most interested I've been in continuing to play an NFS game since 2012. Game crashed though because there's no official driver support yet, hence why I'm here doing this so soon, but alas...NFS is indeed "unleashed".

Finally.
 
Terronium-12
I've played for a total of 30 minutes so far, give or take, and...this game has charm. It comes across as having more thought put into character creation alone than the whole of previous NFS games since HP 2010. My opinion is heavily skewed because I've hated NFS for the past...12 years? Let's call it 10.5-11 because I also enjoyed Most Wanted 2012.

The physics are still weird, as in the game still doesn't know if it wants to be an arcade or simcade racer, but I can work past that. It looks great — funny enough I don't have any intention of turning the visual effects off. I disliked them in the leaked screenshots and actually seeing it in videos, but sitting down to actually play it myself...it feels like I'd be kneecapping the game's personality (granted, what little of it I've seen thus far) and I don't want to do anymore.

30 minutes is hardly enough time to fairly judge the game, but for me, it's more than enough to confidently say this is the most interested I've been in continuing to play an NFS game since 2012. Game crashed though because there's no official driver support yet, hence why I'm here doing this so soon, but alas...NFS is indeed "unleashed".

Finally.
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Same here, 30 minutes or so in. Visually it's really quite nice, very smooth and the visual effects blend really nicely with the gameplay. Gameplay it is what was expected, whether that's good or bad depends on whether you enjoyed the gameplay of recent NFS games but there's a few tweaks to keep it engaging.

Will I buy after the trial, I don't know, but it is fun and looks sweet.
 
People are not happy after finding out that you can't fully disable the cartoon visual effects despite being told that you could by the community manager(s). It feels like something as simple as a miscommunication on this might bite them in the ass in terms of player sentiment.

My download is going to take most of the day so I'll update with my thoughts later.
 
Moglet
People are not happy after finding out that you can't fully disable the cartoon visual effects despite being told that you could by the community manager(s). It feels like something as simple as a miscommunication on this might bite them in the ass in terms of player sentiment.

My download is going to take most of the day so I'll update with my thoughts later.
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I suspected that you wouldn't be able to completely turn them off. With that being the case i am certainly leaning to the not buying side of the fence....
 
Gotta say, so far the game really doesn't leave a good impression on me and I haven't even got past the main menu yet.
Constant freezes and crashes, and after the only time I made it to the main menu and made some audio and graphic changes the game refused to even start anymore. Even after uninstalling and reinstalling it.
 
Ak1504
Completely agree with @MagpieRacer and @Terronium-12 i really enjoy the game.

Except one thing: Am I blind or does Unbound do not have a photomode ? 🤔
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I've read that it does but it's quite limited in what can be adjusted. Which is bizarre given that it was already pretty limited in Heat, it feels like it may have gone backwards.
 
I've played the game for about 45 minutes so far and thought I'd give my initial impressions playing on an Xbox Series X:

Presentation wise the game feels very slick and stylish, the UI is very dynamic and the music choices have really helped things. The whole visual style with the cartoon effects works really well as the UI ties in to it nicely, so I've left all of the car effects switched on. The character creation is nicely in depth although the guy I've picked has the worst voice so I might change the character which you can do in the garage at any time.

Handling is fine, I've had to turn less when drifting which caught me off guard but it feels like you can do actual grip builds should you want to. The AI seem able to keep up with you pretty well too which is nice. The whole "burst nitrous" thing is still a bit of a mystery to me but then I've only done 2 races and I'm sure I'll figure it out. Being able to get a boost off the line is a nice touch though.

Modifications wise there are plenty for the starter car I chose:
Lambo Countach, but I believe you get this stolen and have to start with something low end
however I'm experiencing a bizarre bug where my first directional input is not being accepted the first time I enter a menu so I have to press twice to start navigating. Minor, but annoying. Another slightly annoying thing is that the crazy mods you see in some screenshots are a whole body only option and you can only edit the wheels.

I've got over 9 hours left on the trial but so far I'm impressed and will be buying it once the trial ends.
 
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Game looks nice on PC. Yanky framerate though and some of the settings that should have a more obvious impact on framerate don't (e.g. DLSS), at least not yet. Geforce Experience doesn't recognize it yet, so assuming there will be a GFE profile and driver update 'soon'. Other than that it's fun. :)
 
The male player character voice acting is pretty bad, whoever it was seems to have read each line with such little enthusiasm it just sounds disjointed and out of place. I'm going to try the female one and see if they sound any better.
 
Moglet
The male player character voice acting is pretty bad, whoever it was seems to have read each line with such little enthusiasm it just sounds disjointed and out of place. I'm going to try the female one and see if they sound any better.
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Yeah, the male VO doesn't seem to fit the dialogue the game has. The female VO seems to be the more suitable choice imo.

While I am on the subject of gripes, the photo mode seems really basic. It gets the job done, but the Hot Pursuit Remaster had way more options.

Aside from those, I must say the game has really impressed me after playing the prologue. I'm aware people have criticized some game design choices, like the emphasis on fashion, visual effects and song choices, but when you mesh them all together, it creates a unique atmosphere and a world bursting full of personality. If Criterion listened to the critics, we would have ended up with another soulless Forza Horizon clone.

Circling back to the cartoon effects, I think the execution of them is spot on - It adds another dimension to the visual experience of the game without being too distracting.

Now my concern lies with what is planned down the road for the game. With Codemasters Cheshire moving towards NFS development, I sure hope support for Unbound is much longer than the last few games have received.
 
sems4arsenal
Nice to hear impressions. Intrigued about how the physics are? the ghost of 2015 still haunts me.
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Pretty reminiscent of Heat and nowhere near as unpredictable as 2015. The cars you can select from in the prologue do require drifting to get the most out of them around the corners, but I have read grip setups can be equally competitive with the right tunes.

Another thing I have noticed is that suspension travel is more noticeable than in previous games, probably helped out by the physics running at a higher frame rate.
 
sems4arsenal
Nice to hear impressions. Intrigued about how the physics are? the ghost of 2015 still haunts me.
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I haven't done much in terms of racing yet but it doesn't feel like too much of a departure from Heat's handling model. The drifting feels a little different in that you have to be more careful with the steering but on the default settings it's definitely aimed more at sliding the cars than grip cornering. Folks over on reddit seem to think that the grip handling is better than it was in Heat overall though.
 
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Gotta say, I'm pretty impressed by what I'm seeing so far. Was pretty critical of this game some weeks ago but looking at gameplay footage, Criterion have done a good job.

The map already looks x10 better than Heat's, the story seems more engaging this time around and the mix of realism and cartoon effects appeals to me the more I see it. Might have to buy an EA Play membership and check it out...
 
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The EA Desktop App genuinely makes me want to murder a newborn. What the 🤬 is this trash and how is it worse than Origin?

It's crashed twice and corrupted the game install both times. And you want me to spend money and experience this in the long term? Go 🤬 yourself.

Angry? I'm not angry. :lol:
 
I am impressed. Looks like best NFS since MW12. Somehow they build up awesome soundtrack, visuals and okayish driving model. Its definitely refined Heat, but somehow its feels right.

Not sure about 70$, but definitely could be a reason for buying 1 month of EA Pro.
 
General observations so far on the Series X:
  • The Crown Vic has an obnoxiously short 1st gear, and is always spinning its wheels in 1st, meaning its ability to get off the line is diabolically poor.
  • The game is absolutely gorgeous graphically. In the trailers the mix of the improved graphics with the animated character models was a little jarring to watch, but in-game it actually works pretty well.
  • I really enjoy the pursuit score, especially with each heat level having its own unique track. Heat 5's score is my favorite so far. Also the police chatter is much better compared to Heat.
  • The F-150 SWAT Trucks at Heat 5 absolutely do not mess around. They are surprisingly quick, and they will rear-end you at speed without hesitation. I found this out the hard way running a Class-B Barracuda with 2 of these things on my tail.
  • There are certain events in the story mode that reward you with a new car, and the car is added to both your single-player and multiplayer garage, so players may want to consider finishing out the story in order to have a decent stable of cars in multiplayer.
  • The Repair Kit Auxiliary part might be bugged. The game says that it's activated automatically once you reach critical damage, however it never activated for me during a police chase. I got hit once which brought me to a critical state, and then I took a second hit which ended up getting me busted. If you're considering splurging for this, the damage reduction part might be a better choice.
Sooo, I went ahead and bought the Palace Edition, because I'm really enjoying myself, and wanted to keep going after the 10-hour trial. There's definitely a solid foundation here from the get-go, much moreso than any of the Ghost NFS games imo. This game has a lot of potential to become really great later on, especially since nightime racing, pink slips and police chases are supposed to be coming to multiplayer later on.
sems4arsenal
Nice to hear impressions. Intrigued about how the physics are? the ghost of 2015 still haunts me.
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I'd say the physics are fine overall. The unpredictability from 2015 is long gone, and I'd say that each car is a bit more distinct from one another compared to previous games. It seems that landing from big jumps can still be iffy at times (or at least it is for me when I use the Crown Vic). Sometimes there's a certain degree of twitchiness if you try to change direction too quickly in a short amount of time.

I haven't tried it yet, but grip tuning/driving is apparently very viable this time around, and there isn't as big of a gulf in speed between gripping and drifting. However, it is very reliant on the player setting themselves up correctly for each corner, which I can see creating some frustrating situations in multiplayer.
FT-1
Pretty reminiscent of Heat and nowhere near as unpredictable as 2015. The cars you can select from in the prologue do require drifting to get the most out of them around the corners, but I have read grip setups can be equally competitive with the right tunes.

Another thing I have noticed is that suspension travel is more noticeable than in previous games, probably helped out by the physics running at a higher frame rate.
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A user on the NFS subreddit who is also part of the UNITE mod team was apparently able to datamine the physics data for Unbound, and they mentioned that there the 2 biggest changes to the physics between Unbound and Heat are the inclusion of more detailed suspension data for each car, as well as each car having its own unique weight distribution properties. Apparently in Heat all the cars had identical weight distribution, which is why most cars felt very similar to one another in terms of handling. Here, while Unbound is no sim, cars are expected to behave a little closer to their real-world counterparts.

Anecdotally, I've kinda experienced this within the games multiplayer. The game gives you a stock Ford GT as a loaner car for online S+ races, and that car does not like drifting, especially in low speed/90-degree corners. The minute you get a significant amount of angle going in the GT, the pendulum effect kicks in, you lose all your speed very quickly, and the rear of the car whips around very quickly with little chance to recover it, like you'd expect when chucking a high-power MR car into a corner with total disregard. The Bugatti Chiron also does this to an extent, but it's easier to recover that car due to its 4WD system.

It's honestly really cool to see these changes, but I can see it getting frustrating for people who are very used to the handling from Heat and Payback.
 
Been watching a few videos on YT out of sheer curiosity... every road looks about a mile wide, the stupid brake to drift mechanic is still a thing, the cops are still too fast, but the biggest thing I noticed is that the car list is pretty uninspired/generic generally speaking with A LOT of fluff for what little amount of actual cars are in there. Like seriously, there's only 140-ish cars in there and it feels like at least 40 are just convertible versions of an existing car. It's basically just what's trendy at the moment, and that's one big problem NFS has had since... forever. There's nothing niche in there, no car that I'll need to actually research on the internet because I've never heard of it before. You know, stuff that games like Gran Turismo and Forza do so right. It's like, here's every single car that is everywhere at SEMA the year it launches, the classics that are in every game ever made under the sun and also every hypercar that's currently on the market. It's boring, and I'm fairly sure it's not just down to licensing. The car selection is always a major factor when purchasing a new racing game and I can drive 99% of what's in this game in other games I already own without having to suffer the terrible driving physics and cringy story.

So yeah, probably not for me, at least not until very heavily discounted. Then again, I only paid 5$ for NFS2015 and still felt robbed, so who knows.
 
Based on all the impressions so far it looks like Criterion still has the magic touch. Also how are you guys getting your hands on the game so early?
 
ICEYOU3
Based on all the impressions so far it looks like Criterion still has the magic touch. Also how are you guys getting your hands on the game so early?
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There's a 10 hour trial for EA members (EA Play? I forget what it's called) or early access came with the Palace Edition pre-order.
 

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