Need for Speed: The Run

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a driving game to feature driving from one side of a country to the other. I often thought how cool it would be to map out the terrain as realistic as possible but realised that most likely this type of game would never see the light of day.

EA Black Box has proven me wrong with more or less fulfilling my dream car game with Need for Speed – The Run. Now I say more or less as the game is not perfect by any means.

In The Run you play as Jack Rourke, a man on the run from the mafia after a deal gone wrong. You are unable to repay your debt and are forced into an underground street race “The Run” which takes you from San Francisco all the way to New York. The Police as well as the mafia want to make sure you never finish the race and do everything in their power to stop you in your tracks. You are not the only driver in the race, you are one of 200 and throughout The Run need to make your way to the front of the pack.

What follows is a series of varied events spanning over many interesting locations such as Death Valley, Las Vegas, Chicago and many more. You might be asked to make up 8 spots in one event, or even make up time, then followed by a Rival race down a mountain. The events vary and keep the driving refreshing.

One major issues with The Run is the car rubber banding. That is you could be ahead by 3 seconds and then all of a sudden you see a car speed right past you even though you are running the perfect race. These type of issues add to much of the frustration in The Run. You do have a rewind feature which kicks in when you crash or head off course, but sometimes a total restart of the event is required, these restarts take a long time to load which is another issue for the impatient.

For the first time ever in a Need for Speed game you get to jump out of your car, sort of. At key points throughout the game you will be faced with a series of well executed quick time events which in most cases are foot chases or an attempt to escape from police or the mob. These scenes are refreshing and look great thanks to the frostbite 2 engine. (Battlefield 3)

There is a challenge mode which you unlock by playing through the main game which is ok but not much else to keep you playing once your done with The Run mode. Multiplayer is another mode which I haven’t even looked at as there are many other racers which do it better.

RENT IT – Need for Speed – The Run is a fun arcade racer that is different enough in its approach that will please many gamers. It will not take you long to play through the main mode but what is there is fun.