Still a few hours til digital versions unlock but I'm making this thread in advance of that anyway. I have not bought it yet, I'm still on the fence. I won't be home from work for a good 8 hours from now so by the time I get home the game will be out.

So people who get it please post your thoughts about it here. Thanks!

I would love to tell you its great.... but I havent gotten past the first load screen in the game. Ive been trying since 11pm last night and every time I hit play I get a loading screen that never goes anywhere. Ive already redownloaded the game and still get the same problem. EA is a pile of garbage not sure what I was expecting.

I am a big fan of past Need for Speed games, namely Most Wanted. Being optimistic, this game is a step back in that direction, but it's not great. The customization is awesome, I'm really enjoying it. I'm not far into the story yet, but as an enthusiast it's cool to see real-world guys like Magnus Walker of Urban Outlaw and Nakai-San of RWB in it. The game looks great too, I haven't experienced any hiccups in performance.

Despite those points, the open world feels dead. I get it's night time, but there are barely any cars. I've never had more than one cop tail me during pursuits. I get that the over the top nature of the chases in Most Wanted might be a bit much, but having to slow down to keep the chase active is boring. And holy shit, the rubberband AI. It feels like a game from the early 2000s with it.

I found an old gift card to cover half of the price of the game, and I am glad I did. I'm going to hook up the PS2 later on to play the older games.

If you really are interested in it, wait until a price drop and I think you'll be a lot more satisfied.

@devil240z: Took a few hours to warm up to it, as the starting cars don't really make a great first impression. At first it felt pretty bland.

But I bought a Mustang after an hour or so, tuned it to play how I wanted, and now I'm really having a great time. It's not as chaotic as Rivals (with the cops and risk/reward stuff) but the core driving feels pretty good. Once I installed some nitrous, everything started to click.

It runs well on PS4, the design of getting to events is snappy, and I've had no negative experiences due to the always-online thing. The FMV is kind of inconsequential but I'm growing to actually get to know these dumb characters.

Again, though, your first car will probably make a bad first impression. And I'll continue to miss the Hot Pursuit vs. mode, where I spent dozens of hours.

Probably late for a reply and Jeff's two-star review may have swayed you, but I wanted to give it an honest shot before giving an opinion here. Overall, I'm enjoying the game now and will spend a good portion of my upcoming vacation with it. But it's not the best game in the series or anything.

Okay so I ended up getting the game. I'm actually enjoying it. I used the starter car until I could get a 240z.which is cool as hell. I just wish there were more events to do especially ones that take place on the freeway.

I'll also add I've had some fun times driving around with random people in my game. We didn't do the "click R1 to start race" thing. But just bombed some of the freeway routes and mountain passes.

I just wrapped up the Speed missions, and am enjoying the game quite a bit more than when I first started.

Is is always raining? Mostly raining?

@csl316: yeah the starter cars really don't feel great

also Jeff wasn't kidding about it being thin. I played for a bit over an hour and already have 10% overall completion

and i wish it detailed what events have been fully completed and which are new/still have rewards to get a little better. it's all kinda messy

the driving is fun though. and even if there is no story payoff, i think the fmv is pretty endearing