Entertainment

Games: The Speed hasn't been this good in years

Need for Speed (Multi)

By: EA

DO YOU feel the urge, the urge for urgency? The longest-running game series based on a line from a Tom Cruise film, Need for Speed first hit the tarmac in 1994 and has endured a chequered run ever since.

Twenty-first time around the track brings a much-needed reboot, returning to the tuner culture of the Underground series. Set in a wide-open, free-to-roam world, Need for Sped is a straight-up, graphically stunning racer set in the nocturnal Ventura City, its rain-slicked streets conjuring fuzzy memories of the series' early noughties heyday.

Awash with hardcore scenery porn, every visual trick in the book is pushed to create a game world barely distinguishable from the real thing, albeit crippled by committee-designed cool.

The live-action cinematics feature a stable of street racers out to prove their credentials, and a more detestable band of jackasses you won't find. I couldn't give a square bowel movement what kind of car I drive (which possibly explains why my Primera can be outpaced by a man), so I'm not sure exactly who NfS's racer slang and social media speak is aimed at.

Either way, its faux-edgy, in-your-face, proactive paradigms that like to get down consistently and thoroughly suggest the developers have never seen the Simpsons' Poochie episode. If you can ignore its cast, there's a wealth of street-car subculture to mine and by gunning for the grass-roots offers vaguely attainable rides.

The virtual atmosphere hangs thick with autovehicular fancies and all manner of tuning opportunities as you fashion a street car named desire. With a relatively small stable – the garage holds just five – NfS throws in plenty of options to improve your conveyance.

Adjusting grip or drift options is paramount, and success usually rests on finding the sweet spot between both handling styles. Success on the streets not only earns credits to buy cars and upgrades but increases your reputation as you raise your first vehicle from basic jalopy to mean machine.

The major sticking point, however, is the need for a permanent network connection. Set in a persistent online world, you'll see other players driving around to either challenge or hook up with for events.

One network dropout, however, and the game falls apart like a '96 Ka. No matter what way you cut it, always online is essentially DRM and the publisher has players over a barrel, with the game's long-term future governed by how long EA are willing to feed 50ps into the servers.

The events themselves can quickly get repetitive while the rubber-band AI means your computer-controlled opponents are cheating gits, but if you're feeling the need, the speed hasn't been this good in years. Just make sure you pay the broadband bill.