Need for Speed: The Run

The setting is great, the story makes sense and the feeling is pretty much arcade just like the old days. The Run is more like an interactive movie than a plain stupid racer, and it deserves props for that achievement.

Need for Speed: The Run falters with its high-profile but underdeveloped plot as well as some awkward design choices. However, it overcomes these potholes with courses that are a blast to drive and simple multiplayer that keeps you hooked in.

A very pretty and in some parts surprising arcade racer. It takes a step or two towards the original Need for Speed and that's a good thing. There's one annoying problem, though. The stupidly expensive police cars are just, well, really stupid. [Dec 2011]

The Run is a real middle runner of the series, the handling is definitely somewhere around the middle of the pack, the graphics are up near the front and the sound sits about the same as the rest of the releases. Unfortunately, The Run's biggest let down is definitely the story; it takes itself far too seriously and is a slightly ridiculous premise to begin with.

Need for Speed The Run is currently the best arcade racing title. It feels like a Hollywood experience. Unfortunately the campaign has a short length but you can spend many hours on the multiplayer and all of the challenges.

Does so many things right. It's an action game for people who like cars, or perhaps a racing game for people who like action. In fact, it's both of these things at the same time. Too often racing games get repetitive and lose their luster about halfway through. The Run takes a simple formula and amps it up to appeal to junkies of both genres.

A mere three hours after our departure from the Bay Area we already arrived at Empire City. Outrageous, especially because The Run is the main mode of the game and the story wants us to believe that we just travelled a whopping 4,000 km by car. [December 2011, p.80]

Need for Speed: The Run is by no stretch a bad game; it just fails to capitalize on its chances. San Francisco to New York is a long haul, and it's even longer when not enough happens in between. [Dec 2011, p.112]

Built around fast action and quick-changing objectives, the core experience might be over quickly, but it never fails to impress.

The new Need for Speed game is one hell of a ride, but a few annoyances keep it from gaining as much praise as its predecessors. A short singleplayer campaign, weak A.I., disappointing visuals and long loading times are the main setbacks.

Simplified gameplay and a not deep enough experiences in The Run fail to offer the feelings from the best iterations of the Need for Speed series.

Need for Speed: The Run feels more like a tightly scripted action game than an adaptive racer. If you stop to look around you'll discover a game in service of building toward an experience rather than challenging the player beyond a few trial and error style obstacles.