Need for Speed Payback

 PC
User Score
4.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 623 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 156 out of 623
  2. Mixed: 114 out of 623
  3. Negative: 353 out of 623
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  1. Noxius
    Feb 5, 2020
    1
    I play NFS since High Stakes 1999. A year from the year the game got worse.
    Useless and boring story, terrible car control, stupid AI.
    Making such game in 2017 is shameful.
  2. Talbis
    Nov 10, 2017
    4
    Holy **** this is bad...

    So no driving wheel in a driving game. Great. Just great. You upgrade your cars with... cards. CARDS!? WTF!? This isn't Hearthstone, this is Need For Speed('s corpse). Rubberbanding - terrible, just nonsensical to the point of getting ridiculous. Every cool action, every ump, every stunt the game takes control away from you and does by itself hence killing any    Holy **** this is bad...

    So no driving wheel in a driving game. Great. Just great. You upgrade your cars with... cards. CARDS!? WTF!? This isn't Hearthstone, this is Need For Speed('s corpse). Rubberbanding - terrible, just nonsensical to the point of getting ridiculous. Every cool action, every ump, every stunt the game takes control away from you and does by itself hence killing any satisfaction of fun. Or a seamless gameplay feeling. No cockpit view. The Crew had a cockpit view and this crap... okay, calm down. So you can't leave the road for a second as the game, instead of allowing you to correct yourself just restarts you back on the road in a manner of seconds. Every race seems the same. The story is boring and filled with cliches. Bad acting, as always in Need For Speed. Can't destroy any cars. No damage model. Everything is checkpoint race. Even running from cops. You can lose the cops but if you omit checkpoints, oh boy, you are busted.

    It's a boring grind filled with cutscenes and checkpoints with a terrible story and awful acting.    … Expand
  3. alexzhivil
    Nov 11, 2017
    0
    Don't support microtransactions - do not buy this game.
    The big companies are milking you and they will keep doing it as long as you keep supporting it !
  4. Nasher
    Nov 10, 2017
    2
    Need for Speed: Refund. .
  5. Delcien
    Nov 11, 2017
    10
    A very good NFS arcade racing game, I think its being review bombed due to the speedcarda nd in game purchases - Which is a business desicision I HATE.. but.. the Gameplay itself is so much fun!! I nearly didnt get it fdue to bad scores on Ign and gamespot but I am so glad I did. If you loved open world games like burnout paradise you will love this.! Miles better than 2015 nfs. So muchA very good NFS arcade racing game, I think its being review bombed due to the speedcarda nd in game purchases - Which is a business desicision I HATE.. but.. the Gameplay itself is so much fun!! I nearly didnt get it fdue to bad scores on Ign and gamespot but I am so glad I did. If you loved open world games like burnout paradise you will love this.! Miles better than 2015 nfs. So much to do in such a big world.… Expand
  6. iPabog
    Aug 9, 2020
    6
    Геймплей 6/10
    Звук-музыка 5/10
    Графика 5/10
    Интерфейс и управление: 6/10
    Реиграбельность: на пару раз поиграть
    Классный сюжет (нет)
    Оригинальность отстутствует
    Фанатам классических НФС не зайдет, но попробовать стоит
  7. gold
    Aug 6, 2019
    7
    Сюжет классический для гонок, приятная карта, никак не изменившееся графика, годные треки имеются.
    Итог: 7.890/10
  8. EvilTiger
    Mar 5, 2022
    9
    Good game: the story, tuning system, car list, graphics is good. But NFS game should have police that can stop the racer...
  9. EasternUNO
    Dec 27, 2018
    8
    This game deserves better rating. But not 3.3. This is mainly because of some **** micro transactions, but if you don't want to spend money on this **** don't buy it. You can easily earn in game money, so no need to buy that **** Compared to NFS 2015, you can see your tuned rides on the streets, because there is day/night. The best thing on this game is stunning graphics. I am giving itThis game deserves better rating. But not 3.3. This is mainly because of some **** micro transactions, but if you don't want to spend money on this **** don't buy it. You can easily earn in game money, so no need to buy that **** Compared to NFS 2015, you can see your tuned rides on the streets, because there is day/night. The best thing on this game is stunning graphics. I am giving it 9.5/10. Physics is also very nice as well as variety of cars you can buy. Handling with DS4 controller is perfect and I can tell you guys that I am enjoying this game really a lot. For 10 Euro (x-mas discount on Origin) it's a must have! There are of course some drawbacks and it's performance optimization. I have i7-5820k @ 4.26 GHz + 16GB RAM + GTX 1080 Ti. When I randomly opened task manager, I could see it was consuming 5.3 GB of RAM, CPU usage was at 45 -66 % usually and GPU usage was often at 66% only causing some FPS drops. But so far I did not have any glitches or any crashes or bugs. Maybe it's because this game is more than one year old. I can play it at 3440 x 1440 resolution with G-Sync on Ultra settings with frame rates 44 - 100 depending on the speed and environment. Go for it if you love racing games you won't regret it!… Expand
  10. GorrGS
    Jan 8, 2018
    9
    This game is incredible fun. Are you really going to trust reviews where the majority of them are 0? Clearly just haters. If you like arcade chaos this game is great. Yes the dialog is ULTRA cheesy and the story is ridiculous. I grew up on cheesy action movies so it's fine with me. Cop destruction is so damn good!
  11. DrifterKid
    Feb 24, 2018
    10
    A very unique game for the NFS franchise. The story within the gameplay is an icing for the cake, improved handling, kickass soundtracks, and harder cops,the With the add of online freeroam, catch up packs, and upcoming updates, the game is now way less grindable and one of the current racing game you need to keep an eye for.
  12. sergio5321
    Aug 29, 2018
    1
    Самая убогая часть nfs...
    Вот и до nfs добрались микротранзакции, лутбоксы и прочая ересь... Что за жалкая попытка совместить гоночную аркаду и карточную стратегию? Ты покупаешь машину и еще пол часа дрочишь в рулетку, чтобы выбить нормальною карточку для тюннинга. Игра проходится буквально за 5-6 часов, а сюжет банальный и забывается через неделю...    Самая убогая часть nfs...
    Вот и до nfs добрались микротранзакции, лутбоксы и прочая ересь... Что за жалкая попытка совместить гоночную аркаду и карточную стратегию? Ты покупаешь машину и еще пол часа дрочишь в рулетку, чтобы выбить нормальною карточку для тюннинга. Игра проходится буквально за 5-6 часов, а сюжет банальный и забывается через неделю...
  13. EpicSurvivor
    Aug 25, 2019
    7
    I honestly want to give this game a 6.5 NFS 2015 was way better than this a true NFS game at is core, I loved it. But Payback is very different. It doesn't really feel like a NFS game at all. Don't get me wrong for $5 is a great fun arcade racing game but just not a great NFS game. Origin has it on Sale for $5 pretty often for that price is recommended. But not anything more than that.
  14. Artifeks
    Nov 11, 2017
    2
    Money...money...money.
    When you come home after a day's work. And for recreation you choose a new "NSF", you make a mistake, because the new game is another work, where for the sake of any little things you will be wasting your time and energy, or your money. And in the results you will not rest and will not get the pleasure from the money spent.
  15. Chashm0dai
    Nov 30, 2018
    0
    The one redeeming feature of this game is the visual customization of cars, but even that is dragged down the dirt by some of the negative points I'll talk about in the rest of this review.

    So, now that the one positive feature is out of the way, let's talk negatives. First of all: the controls. More specifically, the controls in menus. There are no cursor in any menus. Where a cursor    The one redeeming feature of this game is the visual customization of cars, but even that is dragged down the dirt by some of the negative points I'll talk about in the rest of this review.

    So, now that the one positive feature is out of the way, let's talk negatives.
    First of all: the controls. More specifically, the controls in menus. There are no cursor in any menus. Where a cursor is needed, such as while browsing the map, it is not controlled by the mouse. No, the cursor in this game is controlled with the arrow keys. Yes, EA couldn't be bothered to properly port this to PC and add mouse support, instead you have to control your cursor with your arrow keys. Totally unacceptable and one of the reasons I find myself playing this game a lot less than I would have wanted.

    Another extremely stupid decision on EAs part is the car upgrade system. Let's say you want to upgrade the turbocharger of your car. In a good racing game, you would save up money and purchase a new turbocharger. But this is not a good racing game. Here, you have to go to a slot machine and hope you get the turbocharger you want. Yes, you gamble for parts in this game. Exclusively. You can't just buy whatever part you want, even if you're the richest man on Earth. Furthermore, even if you get a turbocharger, more often than not you get one without a bonus to speed or acceleration. Instead, you get a bonus to jump distance or brake efficiency. Yes, if you change your turbocharger in this game, you might get better brakes instead of better acceleration. It's completely illogical. Change exhaust, get better N2O. Change engine block, get longer jump distances when driving over a jump. Makes ZERO sense. Not only that, the car part cards you unlock are locked to whatever vehicle you were driving when using the slot machine. Got a card you might not want to put in your current car? Tough luck, you can't put it on ANY other car, not even of the same brand and model.

    And let's not even get started on the so called "story". Such an uninspiring, boring and predictable story isn't even worth telling. They should have cut it completely and just lined up races one after another without story interruptions. The characters are all, without exception, extremely cringeworthy. I literally cringe whenever I hear dialogue in this game. That's how bad it is. Who wrote the characters and dialogue in this game? A teenage intern? I'm sure one of those could have done a better job anyway.

    Lastly, let's talk about micro-transactions. Of course EA had to force them into this **** game as well. I hope no-one is stupid enough to buy them. In the end, I ended up downloading a mod that unlocked the items you could only get through micro-transactions instead, like vanity items.

    All in all, this amounts to a very disappointing and, quite frankly, horrible experience. I don't know what EA had in mind when they made this game, but it sure wasn't the player experience. Maybe there are cash whales out there who spend a lot of money on **** like this, and those are the people EA aimed for with this garbage.

    Avoid this game, it's a complete waste of your money and time. Don't even buy it during sales, because you will end up regretting it regardless.    … Expand
  16. kdflcl
    Dec 31, 2017
    8
    I just wanted to preface this review with a few things. 1) I've been a big fan of the Need For Speed franchise since I was about 5. Most Wanted is possibly my favourite game of all time. 2) I'm absolutely aware that the EA management is scum, but I want to focus on the merits of each game separately rather than tarring everything with the same brush- and I think the widespread anger andI just wanted to preface this review with a few things. 1) I've been a big fan of the Need For Speed franchise since I was about 5. Most Wanted is possibly my favourite game of all time. 2) I'm absolutely aware that the EA management is scum, but I want to focus on the merits of each game separately rather than tarring everything with the same brush- and I think the widespread anger and scorn against Payback is more than a little unfair.

    Pros:
    - The driving experience.
    You get an exhilarating feeling of speed that no other major racing game releasing in the last few years really fulfils. As you progress through the story and the cars get faster and faster, the feeling only grows.
    - The art and sound design is sensational.
    The world isn't huge, but it's varied and beautiful. From hilly, swirling offroad mountain tracks to stretching desert roads to the bright night lights of the city, it's a joy to drive through. It reminds me of The Witcher 3 in how the game is a joy to traverse, taking in the sights, not just to sprint through until the credits roll.
    - Brilliant sound design.
    The roar of the engines, the stretched 'slurp' of the nitrous and the squeal of the drift sound excellent, no more so than when they reaches a cacophony combined with police sirens chasing you at 190 mph through oncoming traffic. The soundtrack doesn't mean much for a racing game, but it's got something for everyone- a healthy smattering of grime, rap and rock, featuring Queens of the Stone Age, Vince Staples and Skepta. There are a few stinkers, but the good outweighs the bad.
    - The driving experience feels genuinely fresh.
    It's a refreshing break from the racing sims that the market is moving closer towards. Sims are great in their own regard, but often fail to capture the joy of speed, destruction and carelessness a good arcade racer revels in.
    - It copies the successes of its predecessors:
    - Cops are a challenge and fun to battle and escape for the first time in years thanks to smart
    teamwork (due to well-made AI).
    - The customisation (the only real pro in NFS 2015) is taken in Payback with bodykits galore
    (especially on the derelicts you can restore) and a wide set of decals, along with a good
    community tab where you can download popular 'wraps'.
    - A full day and night cycle lets you have both the night gameplay people liked in Underground 1, 2
    and NFS 2015, as well as the sun-baked desert and sunset.
    - This is a controversial opinion, but the story mode is actually alright
    There are issues, but the story is, in parts, wonderfully camp, daft and fun once you get over the hurdle of its exasperating stupidity. It's quite hefty and long too, keeping me busy for at least a good 20+ hours. David Ajala does a brilliant job as Mac, the drifter and offroader of your 'crew', with a carefree joy and lovely British accent and so does Jessica Madsen as Jess- for a few lines, at least.

    Cons:
    - No cops in freeroam.
    Why design them so well and criminally underuse them?
    - Camera issues.
    No cockpit camera. Particularly in Drag-type cars, the camera under nitrous boost zooms back to emphasise the speed, which is a nice effect until you notice it's difficult to see over your car at the oncoming traffic.
    - Cars can only be used in the racing discipline for which you buy them (Drift cars are only usable in Drift events, for example.)
    I could want to use by Race-type NSX for a drag race, but I'd have to spit out the 100,000 credits to buy a Drag-type one then spend around 20 minutes of farming to get it to the right level. Surely there should be a 'remodding' or transformation mechanic to switch the type of previously bought vehicles in the garage?
    - Minor issues with the driving experience.
    Cars drive almost comically different depending on their role. Race-types have steering tuned too 'tight', and this is taken further with Drag-types. In races, the reset after crash mechanic is inconsistent and buggy, once resetting me facing a wall.
    - When the writing fails, it fails hard
    The acting is generally weak. Tyler, Lina, the racing league bosses, and, often, Jess are acted horribly, though it might be more accurate to blame the script. In particularly, the sketch to introduce Mac in the prologue criticises a 'cringy' drifting streamer called "HashTiger" physically hurt to play.
    - Farming
    Upgrading under-levelled vehicles is a chore, waiting for upgrade shops to restock and farming old events for 'Speed Cards', but the game is very liberal with resources, never pushing you to pay a penny for a microtransaction (considering they only buy you boxes containing money, vanity items and cards to 'roll' for more Speed Cards). I'll be the first person to crusade against microtransactions but this is light years away from how egregious Battlefront II or Shadow of War are.

    I'm just so thankful EA have, after all this time, released a game that genuinely lives up to the Need for Speed name, even if it's not a masterpiece.    … Expand
  17. rBose
    Nov 21, 2017
    0
    need for speed casino drift
    dont buy it, microtransactions and lootboxes are cancer

    Dont support their practices, try to avoid them as best as you can
  18. palker
    Nov 10, 2017
    3
    The game would be about 7 if it had a decent upgrade system. The absurd card based upgrade system they put in this NFS Payback is blatantly designed to push microtransactions on the player. Upgrade shops have endless supplies of expensive trash cards that are only rarely any good. The best upgrades are supplied by the literal slot machine that consumes tokens that can be received fromThe game would be about 7 if it had a decent upgrade system. The absurd card based upgrade system they put in this NFS Payback is blatantly designed to push microtransactions on the player. Upgrade shops have endless supplies of expensive trash cards that are only rarely any good. The best upgrades are supplied by the literal slot machine that consumes tokens that can be received from gameplay or the GODDAMN LOOTBOXES. Gone are the times when you bought a new car and then grinded some races to earn money to upgrade your car with the best parts. In NFS Payback if you buy a car with Level 3 stock cards the best you can buy is LvL 5 performance card if you get lucky. You have to grind races to get better cards for free to be able to buy or win better cards from the slot machine. It is insulting. What makes it worse is the slot machine abusive tactics will most likely bring in enough money from the so called whales that we will not see good NFS ever again.
    The visual customization is great, graphics are also great but that is to be expected from game as this. The plot is well it is good enough to keep you going despite sometimes cringeworthy dialog. It is competently made videogame brought down by greed of the EA. If you want to play good racing game with online free roam lots of cars shiny graphics and gread driving model get Forza Horizon 3. No cop chase though but Payback cop chases do not count they are just time attack races with people trying to crash in to you.    … Expand
  19. d_WAR_f
    Nov 15, 2017
    0
    Голосуя рублем за игры с лутбоксами (под отговорками "ну геймплей-то хороший") вы позволяете разрабам и издателям иметь себя и в будущем.
    Не покупайте игры с микротранзакциями! Остановим этот произвол!
  20. G-K
    Nov 17, 2017
    0
    EA and Lootboxes. Enough said.

    Trust me, it is really bad, save your Money for a better game. Maybe an old Need for Speed, that might be more what you are looking for.
  21. StripedDeer
    Nov 18, 2017
    0
    Im so happy!
    New NFS, cool... stop... wait...
    Thx EA for speed cards in NFS payback. Awesome! This is not race anymore... its a casino!
    Maybe next NFS without cars? new game experience!
  22. TsukasaHiiragi
    Nov 14, 2017
    3
    Need for Speed: Speed Card edition. Thats bad enough right?...right? WRONG!! The port is a buggy mess, sluggish load times and occasional graphical glitches across the board. Anyone giving this a 10 should be kicked off metacritic, because this game is an insult to the thorough-bred series of games that is Need for Speed, its heritage and proud history deserves a better drivingNeed for Speed: Speed Card edition. Thats bad enough right?...right? WRONG!! The port is a buggy mess, sluggish load times and occasional graphical glitches across the board. Anyone giving this a 10 should be kicked off metacritic, because this game is an insult to the thorough-bred series of games that is Need for Speed, its heritage and proud history deserves a better driving experience, and payback...is just a complete and utter mess, Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed is a BETTER game than this, and that game is old - heck, it even plays better too and that version of NFS was released 17 years ago....

    Listen up EA, stop with the BS, stop with the micro-transaction frenzy. We, the gamers are tired of your BS, just stop it - you're better than this, go back to creating finished games that the gamers enjoyed to play, don't give your developers iron-clad shackles and excessive monetization demands, you are single handedly screwing over the game industry and completely worthy of the title of worse game publishers.    … Expand
  23. Aeromusic
    Nov 14, 2017
    0
    NFS MoneyBack. Car tuning from lootboxes? No, EA, never. Awful physics, middle graphics and boring gameplay. I don't like and don't recomend to buy it to anyone.
  24. Seitori
    Nov 14, 2017
    0
    OMG! That is the last drop from EA. Total sh!t. They left nfs 2015 half-dead, now they made this grind-simulator. Along with a new Battlefront this is a total disaster. From now on I won't buy any EA game and I will agitate all my friends not to support EA.
  25. beast89
    Nov 10, 2017
    0
    I give it 0 Because the games is boring is pure fast and furious and looks like forza Horizon 3 It is not like the need for speed underground 2 that for me was the best and now everything is DLC And Micropayments I will not buy a need for speed more
  26. Nivius
    Nov 10, 2017
    3
    What a **** game. looks good, sounds good, rest is pure diarrhea, same as every dam NFS game released lately. They have lost the magic 4-5 games ago. I regret getting this game so hard
  27. mr_b00mbast1c
    Nov 15, 2017
    1
    Это шедевр, засунуть внешний тюнинг авто в никому не нужные побочные гонки, которые явно слизаны с другой игры, и я думаю многие даже поняли какой (The Crew), только там они имеют действительно побочный характер и не несут ответственности за открытие тюнинга или стайлинга. Та-же история с карточками вместо тюнинга мощности авто, которые естественно можно выбить из лутбоксов за реал мани, аЭто шедевр, засунуть внешний тюнинг авто в никому не нужные побочные гонки, которые явно слизаны с другой игры, и я думаю многие даже поняли какой (The Crew), только там они имеют действительно побочный характер и не несут ответственности за открытие тюнинга или стайлинга. Та-же история с карточками вместо тюнинга мощности авто, которые естественно можно выбить из лутбоксов за реал мани, а без карточек игра труднопроходима.
    Я хз как так можно было обосраться, но предыдущая часть серии на фоне Payback выглядит гораздо лучше. ЕА, мб пора пересмотреть свою политику и перестать кормить говном фанатов серии? А Ghost Games в каком-то смысле даже жаль, все шишки на них посыпятся из-за жадности и некомпетентности ЕА.    … Expand
  28. justmkomsk
    Nov 16, 2017
    1
    I'm completely disappointed in progression system. Once i got first challenges with racing gangs I was pushed to replay older missions to get some money to get at least necessary upgrades. Or, of course, there was another way: to pay real money in the fullpriced game to get... money in the game. That is freakingly bad and I will try to refund the game.
    Worst racing game progression system    I'm completely disappointed in progression system. Once i got first challenges with racing gangs I was pushed to replay older missions to get some money to get at least necessary upgrades. Or, of course, there was another way: to pay real money in the fullpriced game to get... money in the game. That is freakingly bad and I will try to refund the game.
    Worst racing game progression system ever. Worst NFS ever, despite of good handling and graphics. In the current state game should be named NFS: Refund.    … Expand
  29. MastaDyemon
    Nov 15, 2017
    4
    Графоний в игре сделан не плохо, но саму игру напрочь убивают микротранзакции, карточки тюнинга вместо привычных улучшений, побочные не нужные задания чтобы растянуть время игры. Большинство идей слизаны с The Crew, и это печально, а сюжет похож на фильмы серии "Форсаж" и это уныло. Система в игре явно сделана для PayToWin, и это плевок со стороны EA в лицо геймерам. Не рекомендую кГрафоний в игре сделан не плохо, но саму игру напрочь убивают микротранзакции, карточки тюнинга вместо привычных улучшений, побочные не нужные задания чтобы растянуть время игры. Большинство идей слизаны с The Crew, и это печально, а сюжет похож на фильмы серии "Форсаж" и это уныло. Система в игре явно сделана для PayToWin, и это плевок со стороны EA в лицо геймерам. Не рекомендую к покупке данную игру!!!… Expand
  30. BumFrontMan
    Nov 21, 2017
    0
    I remember when Need For Speed was an awesome game, it was my favourite game on the Panasonic 3DO. Fast forward 20 years later and we have this. Game looks awesome, shame they forgot why the Need For Speed games were fun in the first place. EA please stop ruining gaming with your (at the moment) legalised game gambling systems.
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Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 2, 2018
    79
    In an effort to make players shell out for microtransactions, developers ramped up the difficulty, which led to a surprisingly enjoyable result – it’s the first time we get a relatively difficult NFS in recent years. [Issue#226, p.44]
  2. Gamersky
    Jan 21, 2018
    75
    NFS: Payback is full of defects, such as the boring story, highly repetitive missions, useless open world design, and annoying microtransactions. However, it is not terrible enough to get a fail score. This game contains exaggerated and cool controls, exhilarating car chasing, and fascinating background music. If you also enjoy the passionate scenes of the Fast & Furious movie series just like I do, I think you will love this game anyway.
    Read full review
  3. Games.cz
    Jan 21, 2018
    40
    The new game from the Need for Speed series does not respect your time at all. You should pay it back the same and don´t lose any moment with it. Unprepared and unbalanced free to play mechanics with a strong gambling part destroy otherwise quite usable and somewhat entertaining, though not very interesting arcade.
    Read full review
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