Need for Speed Rivals

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Need for Speed Rivals
Developer(s)Ghost Games
Additional work by:
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
SeriesNeed for Speed
EngineFrostbite 3[4]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
Xbox 360
Xbox One
ReleasePlayStation 4
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360
Xbox One
22 November 2013[1]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Need for Speed Rivals is a racing video game set in an open world environment. Developed by Swedish and British developers Ghost Games and Ghost Games UK and developer Criterion Games, this is the twentieth installment in the long-running Need for Speed series. The game, which was written by Will Staples, was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 19 November 2013. It has also been released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as launch titles in the same month.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
Rivals features a dynamic weather system, which makes "the world feel alive in a much bigger sense than any other Need for Speed game". Ferrari also returns to the franchise in full form for the first time in eleven years.

Rivals features a rapturous gameplay bearing some resemblance to the earlier Hot Pursuit, with exotic cars and high-speed police chases.[5] Players take on the role of a Racer or a Cop, with each side of the law offering its own set of challenges, risks and rewards.[6] Rivals features eleven upgradeable gadgets such as EMPs, shockwaves and the ability to call in roadblocks.[5] The game takes place in a fictional location known as Redview County. It's an open world and features over 100 miles (160 km) of open road, larger than that of 2012's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, but on the same size as Criterion's Hot Pursuit.[7] The open world features a similar set-up to Most Wanted, with several jumps, speed traps and unlockable cars, as well as shortcuts that are not shown on the map.[8][9]

Rivals features a full career progression for both Cop and Racer. When playing as a Cop, there are three types of career that can be followed - patrol, enforcer, and undercover.[10] Progression is by means of Speedlists for Racer and Assignments for Cop, which are sets of objectives which involve dangerous driving, maneuvers, and race standings. When the player completes a set of objectives, the player levels up and unlocks items, and is presented with another set of objectives to choose from.[11] The Autolog system, a competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Hot Pursuit and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series, factors into the progression system, comparing how quickly the player complete an Assignment or Speedlist to other players' times and posts them to a Speed Wall for local and global leaderboards.[11]

Rivals features a new social system called the AllDrive, which allow players to seamlessly transition from playing alone, to playing with friends, described as "destroying the line between single player and multiplayer". This allows players to in engage co-op gameplay as well as play against each other.[6] The game also features a dynamic weather system, which makes "the world feel alive in a much bigger sense than any other Need for Speed game."[5]

Rivals also takes on some gameplay styles of earlier Underground titles in the franchise with cues on aesthetic vehicle personalization, as paint jobs, decals, rims and license plates and liveries can be modified, as well as vehicle performance, and various Pursuit Tech gadgets.[8][12] With the exception of the Aston Martin Vanquish, other vehicles are only available in either racer or police variant.[13] Ferrari officially return to the franchise in full form for the first time in eleven years since Hot Pursuit 2 in 2002 (although they've appeared in 2009's Shift as Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content) with the F12berlinetta, 458 Spider, 458 Italia, FF, Enzo, and 599 GTO being the Ferrari vehicles featured.[14]

Plot

Development

Origins

In 2010, Criterion Games revived the series with the release of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, a remake of Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit; it won several awards, became the highest rated game in the history of the series, and sold more than 8.5 million copies.[15] Criterion Games executives stated that they wanted to draw from the series' roots and re-introduce old Need for Speed ideals (exotic cars, beautiful scenery, police pursuits, etc). However, in 2011, EA Black Box released Need for Speed: The Run, which got mixed reviews.[16][17][18][improper synthesis?] In 2012, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said although he was proud of the Black Box-developed installment, but clarified that "I don't want a 60, I want an 80+".[19] On the subject of EA Black Box, Gibeau said the publisher would not be changing its alternating studio strategy.[19] At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012, Criterion vice president Alex Ward announced that the days of random developers churning out yearly Need for Speed instalment were over. Ward wouldn't confirm that all Need for Speed titles for the future would developed wholly by Criterion, but did say that the studio would have "strong involvement" in them.[20][21]

New studio

With EA Canada and Black Box restructured and refocused towards online and free-to-play games in February 2012,[22] EA had already formed a new studio in 2011, EA Gothenburg. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, it was reported that the studio would focus on development games using the Frostbite game engine.[23][24][25] Also reported was that the studio was developing a game "in the Need For Speed franchise".[26] According to the CVs of employees, much of the studio's staff had worked previously on major racing titles, including Forza Horizon, Need for Speed: The Run, Project Gotham Racing and Race Pro.[26] On 22 October 2012, the series main developer Criterion Games confirmed that EA Gothenburg was working on a title in the Need for Speed franchise, but did not reveal the level of involvement or when the title would be released.[27] On 15 November 2012, EA Gothenburg was rebranded as Ghost Games. Ghost's website went live around the same time and called for potential staff to apply for a range of open positions.[28][29]

On 23 May 2013, EA confirmed their next Need for Speed game, Rivals, with a teaser trailer,[6] following marketing material tease days before.[30][31] It was also confirmed that Rivals was in the works at EA's Swedish games developer Ghost Games in partnership with Criterion Games.[14] Ghost is headed up by former DICE executive producer Marcus Nilsson, who previously led development on games including Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, Battlefield 2142 and Shift 2: Unleashed.[32]

The development team opted to target 30fps across all platforms instead of 60fps, because of the the AllDrive feature. AllDrive is the system used to seamlessly matchmake players within the same open world. Another reason was due to the number of players able to be in the same world at the same time.[33] The team asserted that while Rivals will be released on both current and next-gen systems, the versions would "ultimately be the same", aside from the graphics would look different, and next-gen would provide for more dynamic weather and gameplay.[34]

Rivals is the first cross-platform next-gen games to achieve a native 1080p across both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[35] Talk of resolutions and frame rates became a major point of contention between Sony and Microsoft's new consoles after it emerged that both Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 run at a higher resolution on Sony's PS4 console as compared to Microsoft's Xbox One.[36]

On 30 August 2013, Ghost Games head Marcus Nilsson stated that the studio had been given complete charge of the Need for Speed franchise and that the franchise being bounced between multiple EA studios wasn't "consistent" with different game types.[37][38] On 16 September 2013, Criterion Games had its staff numbers reduced to 17 people total, as the majority of the studio moved over to Ghost Games UK to work with Need for Speed games.[39] Due to this, what remained of Criterion Games began work on a project of their own.[40] Rivals is being created by an 170 man team, 100 from Ghost Games, and 70 from Ghost Games UK.[41]

Marketing and release

System requirements[42]
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows[42]
Operating system Windows Vista (SP2) 32-bitWindows 7
CPU Intel 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo or AMD 2.8 GHz Athlon X2Intel Quad-Core CPU or AMD Six Core CPU
Memory 4 GB8 GB
Free space
30 GB of free hard disk space
Graphics hardware ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB or higher performance / NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB or higher performance / Intel HD 4000 Integrated or higher performanceAMD Radeon HD 7870 3GB or higher performance / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 3GB or higher performance
Sound hardware
DirectX 10.1 compatible
DirectX 11 compatible
Input device(s) keyboard, optional controllerXbox 360 Controller for Windows

Rivals was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 19 November 2013 in North America,[1] 21 November in Australia and 22 November in Europe.[1] The PlayStation 4 version launched on 15 November 2013 in North America,[1] while the Xbox One version launched on 22 November 2013.[1] As a launch title for Microsoft's new consoles, it will join Forza Motorsport 5 on Xbox One.[43] All pre-orders of the game grant the purchaser with an access code for the Ultimate Cop Pack at no additional cost. It includes "exclusive access to a powerful collection of items", including the Nissan GT-R Black Edition cop car, advanced pursuit technology, and a custom livery.[14]

During E3, Need for Speed started a poll in which people could participate and vote for the car they wanted to be named "King Of The Streets". The winning should be playable both as a cop and racer in Rivals. On a timed basis, two cars would be put head to head on Facebook and Twitter, and the car with the most votes would advance against another car. The Aston Martin Vanquish was named the winner of the poll, as result, it will play both sides of the law in Rivals.

Need for Speed partnered with rally driver Ken Block to act as the series' racing advisor, while EA will sponsor both his 2013 Ford Fiesta ST rally car and Gymkhana Six stunt video. A custom Ford Mustang with Block's racing livery will be available in-game.[44] On 4 November 2013, EA's Community Manager Jessica Damerst stated that a demo Rivals won't be made available at launch on either platforms, and suggested that those interested in the game should just check out the official gameplay videos online.[45]

EA ran TV adverts around the release of Rivals, showcasing its new features. Online takeovers appeared on websites during release week, while a print campaign ran in specialist magazines.

Soundtrack

As with previous Need for Speed titles, Rivals's soundtrack contains a variety of licensed music.[46] It mainly comprises electronic music (including dubstep and electronica), electropop and hip hop. Rivals also contains a pursuit music composed by Vanesa Lorena Tate.

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Reception

Need for Speed: Rivals was well received by critics at E3 2013 and was awarded with "Best Racing Game" from Game Critics Awards.[55] Previewers who had access to Rivals called the game a spiritual successor to 1999's Need for Speed: High Stakes, citing similar gameplay style.[56] Other called it an improved version of Criterion's Hot Pursuit, citing similar gameplay mechanics.[57][58]

Need for Speed: Rivals received mostly positive reviews upon release. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 85.00%,[47] the PlayStation 4 version 81.56% and 82/100,[48][52] the Xbox One version 73.25% and 71/100,[49][53] the Microsoft Windows version 62.50% and 74/100[50][54] and the Xbox 360 version 40.00%.[51]

Steve Hannley of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4.5/5, saying "It’s raw, visceral, intense and boasts a ton of replay value thanks to over one hundred events and seamless online multiplayer."[59]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Tach, Dave (4 November 2013). "Need for Speed Rivals bumped up to Nov. 15 release for PS4 launch". Polygon. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Need for Speed Rivals Spehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Minor_editeds to Xbox One, PS4 and Current Gen This November". Joystiq. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  3. ^ Scamell, David. "The Ghost Of Criterions past".
  4. ^ "Next-Gen Racing". Need for Speed. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Robinson, Martin (15 May 2013). "How Far Cry 3 and UK racing veterans are helping bring Need for Speed to the next generation". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "News: Need for Speed Rivals announced for current and next-gen". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Need for Speed: Rivals progression system detailed by Ghost Games". VG247. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  8. ^ a b "How Ghost Games hopes to put itself on the map with Need for Speed Rivals". Polygon. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Need For Speed: Rivals Progression System Detailed". Cinemablend. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  10. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/425553/need-for-speed-rivals-trailer-shows-undercover-cop-mode/
  11. ^ a b Yin, Wesley (20 August 2013). "Need for Speed: Rivals career "can't be played the same way twice"". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Need for Speed: Rivals Customization Gets Thorough Explanation". Softpedia. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Vote and Decide which Car will Play Both Sides of the Law". Need for Speed. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  14. ^ a b c "Need for Speed Rivals lands on PS4, Xbox One in November". VG247. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  15. ^ "Electronic Arts' CEO Discusses Q4 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  16. ^ munkee (15 November 2011). "Need for Speed The Run Review for PS3". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  17. ^ Bramwell, Tom (14 November 2011). "Need for Speed: The Run Review". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  18. ^ Petit, Carolyn (16 November 2011). "Need for Speed: The Run Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  19. ^ a b Robinson, Andy (15 June 2012). "News: EA: NFS The Run 'didn't come together' but Most Wanted will 'dial it up'". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  20. ^ Yin, Wesley. "Criterion takes full control of Need for Speed and Burnout franchises • News •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  21. ^ Jackson, Mike (22 June 2012). "News: Criterion in control of entire Need for Speed franchise". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
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  26. ^ a b "Confirmed: EA Gothenburg developing unannounced Need For Speed". Videogamer.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
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  28. ^ Yin, Wesley. "EA Gothenburg is now Ghost, working on Need for Speed". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  29. ^ "Ghost – EA's Gothenburg studio hiring for Frostbite 2 game development". VG247. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  30. ^ "News: New Need for Speed game teased with screenshot". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  31. ^ "News: Need for Speed reveal teased for today". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  32. ^ Ivan, Tom. "EA's new Gothenburg studio rebranded as Ghost". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  33. ^ Yin, Wesley (23 August 2013). "Why Need for Speed: Rivals runs at 30 frames per second". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  34. ^ "Need for Speed: Rivals will "ultimately be the same" on current and next-gen". VG247. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  35. ^ Robinson, Martin (13 November 2013). "Need for Speed Rivals runs at 1080p on Xbox One and PS4". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  36. ^ "News: Need for Speed Rivals hits native 1080p on Xbox One and PS4". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  37. ^ "News: Ghost Games takes charge of the Need for Speed franchise". Computer and Video Games. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  38. ^ "Need for Speed franchise now 'owned' by Ghost Games, won't bounce back to Criterion". VG247. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  39. ^ "Criterion Games staff reduced to 17 as 60-65 people move over to Ghost Games". VG247. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  40. ^ Rob Crossley Associate Editor Follow @rob_crossley_. "News: Criterion 'voluntarily' reduced to 17 staff". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 26 November 2013. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  41. ^ Scamell, David. "The Ghost Of Criterions past".
  42. ^ a b "Need for Speed Rivals PC System Specs Revealed". hardcoregamer.com.
  43. ^ Mike Jackson (12 June 2013). "News: Need for Speed: Rivals aims to be 'out at launch' on PS4/Xbox One". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  44. ^ Andrei Dobra (24 October 2013). "Need for Speed: Rivals Partners with Gymkhana 6 Star Ken Block". Softpedia. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  45. ^ "No Demo for Need for Speed: Rivals Ahead of Launch". Softpedia. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  46. ^ "Need for Speed: Rivals soundtrack". 21 November 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  47. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  48. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  49. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for Xbox One". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  50. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  51. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  52. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  53. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  54. ^ a b "Need for Speed: Rivals for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  55. ^ "Titanfall sweeps the E3 2013 Game Critic Awards". VG247. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  56. ^ "E3 2013: Need for Speed Rivals". EGMNOW. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  57. ^ "Need for Speed: Rivals – get your motor running". VG247. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  58. ^ Talal Musa (28 October 2013). "On the right track again: Need for Speed Rivals preview (Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC / PS4 / Xbox One)". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  59. ^ Hannley, Steve (16 November 2013). "Review: Need for Speed Rivals". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 16 November 2013.

External links

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