Need for Speed: The Run

Need for Speed: The Run
Gameplay
Metacritic Score	Unrated

Need for Speed: The Run is the 18th title in the Need for Speed series developed by EA Black Box with the Wii and 3DS releases being developed by Firebrand Games.

The title was accidentally leaked as an upcoming release by ShopTo.net but the title was unveiled as being in development by an EA representative via IGN.

A teaser for the game was released onto YouTube. New information regarding the game was revealed monthly until the release date.

Need for Speed: The Run uses the Frostbite 2 game engine developed by DICE to create unparalleled visual quality, animation and physics.

The game was released on November 15th, 2011 in North America, on November 17th, 2011 in the United Kingdom and November 18th, 2011 in Europe.

It was released on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii and Nintendo 3DS.

According to EA Black Box producers Jason DeLong and Steve Anthony, Need for Speed: The Run was developed to obtain critical acclaim after their last installment, Need for Speed: Undercover, was slammed by most game critics.

Need for Speed: The Run had been in production for three years despite earlier Need for Speed titles, which have had notably shorter development periods.

On October 18, 2011 a demo of the game featuring Lamboghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Plot

The Run follows heavy storyline gameplay in a similar style to EA Black Boxs' previous title - Need for Speed: Undercover. The story itself is set in a similar style to The Cannonball Run.

Players will take the role of the protagonist - Jack Rourke - whom is a marked man racing for his life across United States of America along the most dangerous roads in the country from San Francisco to New York.

The game starts with Jack duct taped to the steering wheel of a 997 Carrera 4S that is being hoisted and dropped in to a crusher by a crane.

Jack successfully escapes from the crusher and steals an Audi RS4 as he attempts to escape from The Mob. The Mob notices him and promptly pursuits Jack. The pursuit ends when Jack crosses the railway before being involved in a collision with a train.

Jack meets a long-time friend - Sam Harper - in a Chinese restaurant. They being to discuss Jack's troubles with the Mob with a notable hint that Jack and Sam both grew up together in the same neighbourhood.

Calvin Garrett walks past the two and this prompts Sam to let Jack know of a means of escaping his debt with the Mob. They head around back where they see Milla Belova leaving with her Run equipment.

Sam places a briefcase in a dumb waiter lift which is the hoisted and returned back down with the case being replaced a tablet device. The tablet is encoded with the route of The Run.

Jack heads to his garage in San Francisco and chooses a car to enter The Run with. The Police begin to shut down San Francisco and stop any racer from leaving the city as Jack makes his way to the start line along Nob Hill.

Jack has to reach 150th position upon reaching Las Vegas, 50th position at Chicago and finally 1st position at New York. He will be able to change the vehicles that he uses at key moments during the story gameplay.

Jack is pursued by the police as he leaves Las Vegas and enters Colorado. He is pursued by the Mob upon reaching Chicago and as he attempts to leave Chicago. Jack is pursued again by the police as he hears New York except they will attempt to bust Jack using more lethal measures.

Jack will also encounter a series of notable rivals such as Calvin Garrett, Marcus Blackwell, Cesar DeLeon, Eddie Cooke, Nikki Blake and Mila Belova as he completes the route across North America. Jack will drive through a great variety of areas such as deserts, mountainious regions, woods and large American cities.

Jack will run across his archrival Marcus Blackwell at many points along his journey although he will race against him in a one on one battle in New York to see who wins The Run.

Gameplay

An XP system is utilized in Need for Speed: The Run in a similar manner as seen in Shift 2: Unleashed and Hot Pursuit. XP points can be obtained by performing car stunts, overtaking racers and instances of dangerous driving. These points are required to raise the player's driver level and unlock new game content.

The Career Mode of the game is divided into ten stages. Each stage of the Career Mode includes a series of racing events. The first stage of The Run starts in San Franciso on the West Coast with the last one taking place in New York.

The handling of the game is said to be a mixture of Hot Pursuit and Shift. It is designed to be accessible for beginners yet retain to be challenging for advanced players. Nitrous is available in any event of the game and will automatically recharge itself after usage.

Cars handle fictitiously similar to their real life examples although with an arcade overlay and will greatly differ from each other depending on the type of vehicle that they are. Need for Speed: The Run uses a handling rating for each car stating between a rating from Easy to Expert.

The collision model in Need for Speed: The Run is similar to that seen in Hot Pursuit although a race will immediately end if the player wrecks their vehicle without any checkpoint resets. A Rewind option allows the player to restart an event from their last checkpoint if they wreck their vehicle by a collision or by driving off the race course.

Rewinds are only available in limited quantities as their amount is dependent on the difficulity level that the player has selected; Easy has 10 Rewinds, Normal has 5 Rewinds, Hard has 3 Rewinds and Extreme has 1 Rewind as well as the most difficult AI opponents.

Locations

A day-night cycle combined with ocassional weather changes will be featured in Need for Speed: The Run although they will be scripted to specific events and occurrences. A Free roam mode will be left out in the game. Justin Wiebe said that Need for Speed: The Run will have approximately 186 miles (300 km) of road.

Need for Speed: The Run features a variety of terrain that will affect the performance and gameplay that players will experience. This includes; Asphalt, Dirt, Snow, Ice, Fog, Dust Storms, Avalanches and a Hurricane.

Quick-Time Events

Need for Speed: The Run allows players to control their character during special on foot sequences. This gameplay element is in the form of quick time events meaning players will have to tap buttons on a controller when prompted although these events only make up a very small amount of the total game.

Race Types

Similar to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, most events seen in Need for Speed: the Run are sprint races. There are also Checkpoint Race Events. The game also features Battle Races, which are technically alike to Sprints, as well as Rival Races, which involves in the player competing with particular racers of Need for Speed: The Run. In some events of the game, gas stations can be found, where the player can swap and visually modify their vehicle.

Singleplayer

• Sprint Race - The player has to complete the event and overtake all opponents within the race.
• Checkpoint Race - A time trial with a series of checkpoints. The player must pass through a set series of checkpoints to earn additional time added before it expires.
• Battle Race - The player races with three or more rivals in a sprint race with the task of overtaking and maintaining a lead over each rival before time expires.
• Rival Race - The player must overtake a rival before they reach the finish line.
• Survival - The player must not wreck their vehicle whilst being under attack.

Multiplayer

Up to 16 players can participate in a single online match. A multiplayer trailer released on November 2nd, 2011 showcased a series of multiplayer matches. The multiplayer matches are split into differing game type playlists.

The player can select an event and vote towards the race course that the multiplayer game will be taking place on. Players will also take part in a reward system known as "The Bonus Wheel" which randomly selects a reward and required goal criteria for it.

Need for Speed: The Run features various vehicle restricted race modes such as Exotic Sprint, Mixed Competition, Muscle Car Battles, NFS Edition Racing, The Underground and Supercar Challenge.

Pursuits

Pursuits can occur during certain Stages of The Run with each occurrence bringing a more powerful form of law enforcement.

The police in the game utilize roadblocks and occassionally perform ramming tactics. Police cars have a health bar displayed above their vehicles.

Challenge Series

The player can unlock a category of events within the Challenge Series by completing a Stages within the Career Mode.

Each category in the Challenge Series contains a series of events that are based off courses, events, circumstances and obstacles witnessed with the Career Mode. The player is also awarded medals based on their performance within each event.

Demo

The demo takes place along Death Valley National Park (Desert Hill) in Nevada where as Jack has to overtake ten opponents. Another even takes place along Independence Pass (Summit) in Colorado where Jack competes against the driver of an Audi R8.

The player is rewarded with experience points for certain driving stunts such as overtaking, landing a high jump and near missing traffic. Players can earn combos for quickly overtaking several opponents.

Players had the chance to win a trip to a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit launch party in Las Vegas if they beat Chrissy Teigen's time on Desert Hills.

For recommending the demo to friends, players would receive access to the 2012 model Porsche 911 Carrera S (991). By downloading the demo, the BMW 1 Series M Coupe NFS Edition is instantly unlocked for players of the full game.

Autolog

EA announced that the social network Autolog will be more enhanced than seen in previous games. The split timer of the Stage leader has now been updated second-by-second which indicates how close the player is to beating their time.

Players are rewarded additional XP and new vehicles for beating times as wll Autolog Recommendations. Players are also able to check the career progress of their friends.

Need for Speed: The Run is able to integrate and communicate through Facebook.

Vehicles

Vehicles in Need for Speed: The Run are divided into performance tiers and fitted with visual modifications. These pre-tuned vehicles are branded as special edition vehicles, namely Signature Edition and NFS Edition vehicles. Compared to their stock counterparts, they are performance tuned and often ranked in higher tiers.

The handling of each car is also given either an Easy, Normal, Challenging, Very Difficult or Expert difficulty rating. Some vehicles are restricted to The Run mode. In this mode and during a race event, players can also swap their vehicle in gas stations, which are placed in certain locations.

A Team Need for Speed BMW Z4 GT3 can be unlocked in the game so long as the player has played Shift 2 Unleashed, Hot Pursuit, World or Undercover.

Customization

Need for Speed: The Run's producer - Alex Grimbley denied that Need for Speed: the Run would not feature any form of vehicle customization. This statement was retracted after some trailers and screenshots of the game featured visually modified vehicles.

A Gamespot trailer released on November 2nd, 2011 features official confirmation that body kits and selectable body paints can be placed on vehicles.

In Need for Speed: The Run players can equip body kits on to their vehicles and also paint the vehicles. There are cosmetic body kits known as Style Pack kits and Aero Pack kits. Visual customization can be performed in gas stations and in the View Cars Mode.

Limited Edition

The Limited Edition release of Need for Speed: The Run features three exclusive vehicles - the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S (991).

Players can also unlock access to five additional Challenge Series events that have been designed for the exclusive three Limited Edition vehicles.

Challenge Series Bonuses

Pre-orders for Need for Speed: The Run come with special bonuses although these differ by retailer and edition ordered. The Pre-order bonuses are only available for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases of Need for Speed: The Run.

The Underground and Most Wanted Challenge Series' can be obtained through pre-order at different participating retailers. The Carbon Challenge Series can only be obtained through pre-ordering the title on EA's Origin Store.

Each Exclusive Challenge Series also include three new race events.

Underground Series

The "Underground Challenge Series" includes the Nissan 370Z and Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 as well as three exclusive Underground themed events in the Challenges Series.

The Nissan 370Z has a livery similar to Rachel's Nissan 350Z featured on Need for Speed: Underground 2's box art whilst the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 has livery similar to that of Eddie's Skyline from Need for Speed: Underground.

Most Wanted Series

The "Most Wanted Challenge Series" includes the BMW E92 M3 GTS and Ford Mustang Boss 302 as well as three exclusive Most Wanted themed events in the Challenges Series.

The BMW E92 M3 GTS has a livery similar to the BMW M3 GTR first seen in Need for Speed: Most Wanted whilst the Ford Mustang Boss 302 has livery similar to that of Razor's Mustang from Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Carbon Series

The "Carbon Challenge Series" includes the Corvette Z06 and Audi R8 as well as three exclusive Carbon themed events in the Challenges Series.

The Corvette Z06 has a livery similar to the Corvette Z06 driven by Cross in Need for Speed: Carbon whilst the Audi R8 has livery similar to that of Darius' Audi Quattro Le Mans from Need for Speed: Carbon.

Downloadable Content

Time Savers Pack

The "Time Savers Pack" was released alongside the launch of the title. The pack allows players of Need for Speed: The Run to instantly unlock all vehicles in the game as well as profile icons, backgrounds and badges.

It costs 800 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360 or $9.99 on the PlayStation 3.

Dr. Pepper Prizes

Dr Pepper released a series of downloadable "Dr Pepper Prizes" for Need for Speed: The Run such as Autolog profile icons and a 1000 XP bonus. The prizes also include three exclusive Dr Pepper edition and performance modified vehicle variations;

• Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition
• Ford GT
• Porsche 911 GT2

Players have to get a code from a Dr Pepper cap and redeem it in the homepage of Dr Pepper in order to obtain the prizes.

Old Spice 'Smell Faster' Pack

The "Old Spice 'Smell Faster' Pack" was made available for free download for American and Canadian players of Need for Speed: The Run on December 8, 2011. Players have to sign into OldSpice.EA.com to choose their favourite Old Spice scent and the platform that they're playing on.

This will unlock three performance tuned and Old Spice edition vehicle variations;

• Ford Mustang Boss 302 (1969)
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
• Nissan 200SX (S14)

It will also unlock the Old Spice Challenge Series.

Signature Edition Booster Pack

On December 14, 2011 Need For Speed's YouTube channel released a trailer announcing the release of the Signature Edition Booster Pack for December 20th, 2011 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The pack was released for the PC alongside Patch 1.1.

The booster pack includes 9 Signature Edition vehicles variations;

• Nissan "Mega" GT-R SpecV
• Porsche "Falken" 911 GT3 RS 4.0
• Subaru "Scoundrel" Impreza WRX STi
• Chevrolet "Puppet" El Camino SS
• Ford "Conroy" GT
• Nissan "Fatlace" Skyline 2000 GT-R
• Mazda "Nicolas" RX-7 RZ
• BMW "Victory" M3 E30 Sport Evolution
• Nissan "Venom" 370Z.

The Italian Pack

EA Russia released a trailer for the Italian Pack on January 25th, 2012 although it was soon removed. The trailer slated the packs release date as January 31st 2012 as well as 2 Challenge Series categories consisting of 5 events for the cars within the pack.

The Italian Pack includes 7 vehicles;

• Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
• Lamborghini Diablo SV
• Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera
• Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione
• Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale
• Maserati MC12
• Pagani Zonda R

Heroes and Villains Pack

The Heroes and Villains Pack is a re-release of the previously pre-order only Underground, Most Wanted & Carbon Challenge Series events as well as the Limited Edition Challenge Series including the Limited Edition cars.

The pack was made available on the PlayStation Network Store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace on February 28th, 2012.

Soundtrack

The Nintendo release of Need for Speed: The Run have a different soundtrack than that heard on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC releases.

Rating

The PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases of Need for Speed: The Run have been rated as 16+ (PEGI), PG (ACB) and T (ESRB). The Wii and 3DS releasess have been rated as 7+ (PEGI), E10+ (ESRB) and G (ACB).

Reception

Overall, the game has largely received mixed reviews but also gained critical acclaim.

IGN reviewer Jack DeVries already had finished the Xbox 360 release of Need for Speed: The Run on November 11, 2011. He rated it as a fairly good game with mixed results. A full review was be published on November 14. In the full review, the game received a rating of 6.5, as the storyline was described as "unnecessary and frustating", and the game for lacking options and being short.

Eurogamer gave the game a rating of 5 out of 10. The reviewer, Tom Bramwell, described Need for Speed: the Run as a "fractured, painful slog, with its short, sharp races doing little justice to the concept". Joystiq gave Need for Speed: The Run three out of five stars. The game was said to be not being the worst Need for Speed, but rather being not able to meet critical acclaim seen by other racing games from 2010.

Gametrailers however rated the Need for Speed: The Run with 8.4, praising the environment and soundtrack. Dave Gamble from Gaming Nexus rated the game with A-, also praising the setting of Need for Speed: The Run. Gamesradar scored 8 out of 10. The driving model was described as being "satisfying" and the race events being "balanced and well-paced".

Awards

The pre-release of Need for Speed: The Run has been nominated as one of the best E3 racing games by many websites such as IGN, Machinma and Game Critics Award. Need for Speed: The Run was also declared to be the winner of Best Racing Game of E3 by Hardgame2.com, Game Chronicles and Gaming Excellence. The post-release was nominated by Spike TV VGA as Best Driving Game.

Sales

Worldwide over 220,000 copies of Need for Speed: The Run for the PlayStation 3 were sold during the first week after its official release. In the UK Top 40, The Run is ranked at position 11.

Technical Issues

The PC release of Need for Speed: The Run has a Vertical Sync cap of 30 frames per second and doesn't feature any native Antialiasing options.

A patch for the PC release of Need for Speed: The Run went live on January 31st, 2012. The patch included;

• 30 FPS cap is disabled when v-sync is set to OFF in advanced display settings
• Miscellaneous fixes for gamepad and peripheral support
• Tweaked reset behavior for a number of tracks in The Run where resets seemed too close to the main race route
• When players go off track, they will be reset back onto the track instead of at the last checkpoint.
• Fixed issue where Autolog split time HUD would sometimes disappear after a vehicle reset
• Updated car images will now be displayed in Challenge Series loading screen
• Added Quick Match option from multiplayer menu
• Players now have the option to mute VOIP of other players in multiplayer sessions
• Reduced unrealistic behaviors when multiplayer opponents drive off-road or collide with world objects
• Fixed issue where sometimes icons wouldn’t display for playgroup members in the intermission screen
• Animated recently completed solo and group objectives in the intermission screen
• Display active objectives in the pre-race loading screen
• Tabs will now auto-cycle during the intermission screen, manually tabbing between screens will disable the auto cycling.
• Countdown timers in MP will flash orange in the last 5 seconds
• Will still display session rewards for players that finish the last race in a session after all other players have left the session.
• Hide the empty race results and session standing tabs in the intermission screen when joining a race in progress
• Fix to extend scroll bar for entire length of gallery
• Fixed alignment of news list and top of news image
• Now displays whether a friend is online, joinable or offline in player badge
• Added option to join a friend’s multiplayer session from the friends list, if friend is in a joinable session.
• Now displays the proper error message when a photo upload fails due to being out of space.
• Added Signature Edition cars

Promotion

Soundtrack

At NeedforSpeed.com it was possible to pick one out of three songs to be featured in the final soundtrack of the game. It was feasible to choose between 'Mama taught me better' by Black Motor Cycle Club, 'Solar' by MonstrO and 'Tropical Depression' by The Night Marchers. This contest was supported by HP and Vagrant Records until September 6, 2011.

Collaboration with Sports Illustrated

Two Sports Illustrated models - Chrissy Teigen and Irina Shayk - appear in The Run as part of a promotional partnership. Players can encounter advertisements for Sports Illustrated, too.

There is a bundle containing a six-month “All Access” subscription to Sports Illustrated, a copy of the game for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 and a Making of DVD starring the two swimsuit models for $49.95.

Collaboration with Adidas

Adidas and Electronic Arts collaborated to manufacture 100 pair of limited edition adidas Original Need for Speed Top X shoes. The protagonist of the game also appears to wear a pair of these shoes.

On October 10, 2011, the first 50 shoes were brought to the Adidas store in Chicago. There was also a special event held by DJ Neil Armstrong and Kids These Days. The initial ten purchasers of the product were be invited to exclusive kick-off events at the stores after a few days.

The other 50 were delivered to the San Francisco store on October 27, where the same event took place again. The first twenty buyers received a ticket to another exclusive event at the store on October 27 headlined by Mick Boogie. A celebration was held in New York on the release date of the game.

Michael Bay Trailer

A promotional campaign revolving around a special trailer created by movie director Michael Bay began on November 2, 2011. The special Need for Speed: The Run trailer was unlocked for viewing after unlocking it received 250,000 points. Liking the trailer through Facebook added two points whereas five points were added for sharing the video on Facebook.

Trivia

• The 991 Carrera S NFS Edition in The Run strongly resembles the Snowflake Edition of Need for Speed: World.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements	Recommended Requirements
Operating System
Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) 32 bit	Windows 7 (Service Pack 1) 64 bit
DirectX
DirectX 10	DirectX 11
CPU
3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Equivalent
Memory
3GB	4GB
Hard Drive
18GB
Graphics Card
AMD Radeon 4870 512MB VRAM NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB VRAM	AMD Radeon 6950 1024MB VRAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX560 1024MB VRAM
Sound Card
DirectX Compatible
Peripherals
Gamepad, Keyboard or Steering Wheel
Network
512 Kbps or faster