Need for Speed: Rivals

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 896 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 380 out of 896
  2. Mixed: 287 out of 896
  3. Negative: 229 out of 896
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  1. sublimeone
    Mar 26, 2014
    3
    By far one of the most frustrating games I have ever played. I love racing games. I've played nearly all of the Need for Speed games, this sucks. It's not fun to win a race escape the cops be found then have your car destroyed by 4 or 5 cops who all of a sudden show up out of no where.
  2. kastheone
    Apr 22, 2014
    1
    No manual transmission and only two types of camera, and the 3rd person camera is too low for this kind of game.

    i i wanted to race with a shopping cart i would have go to the market.
  3. JJthis
    Jul 17, 2015
    0
    No option for manual transmission.
    Bought it. Played for 20 minutes.
    Regret every minute.
    The only thing to like about this game is the way it looks. The controls aren't even changeable for controllers.
    Refunded it.
  4. ravenheart42
    Sep 10, 2014
    1
    The only recent need for speed game that had anything good about it was Most Wanted, NFS Rivals just makes me angry every time I put it in my Playstation 4 , I used to love this series, I don't know who is the anti master mind behind the newer instalments, but it's like they put these out and say to themselves, how many fools will buy this , it's going to take a lot of convincing to proveThe only recent need for speed game that had anything good about it was Most Wanted, NFS Rivals just makes me angry every time I put it in my Playstation 4 , I used to love this series, I don't know who is the anti master mind behind the newer instalments, but it's like they put these out and say to themselves, how many fools will buy this , it's going to take a lot of convincing to prove Need For Speed will ever be worth buying again… Expand
  5. Eagle16
    Aug 17, 2017
    4
    A game not worth more than 4/10. Terribly rushed game for next gen consoles, not any interesting graphcis, incredibly short open world, borring story, repetitive missions, annoying cops as much as you couldn't even imagine. Like if it's difficulty wouldn't be enough, there must be also tons of annoying bugs like when you escape cops, there are no cops on the radar but you are still underA game not worth more than 4/10. Terribly rushed game for next gen consoles, not any interesting graphcis, incredibly short open world, borring story, repetitive missions, annoying cops as much as you couldn't even imagine. Like if it's difficulty wouldn't be enough, there must be also tons of annoying bugs like when you escape cops, there are no cops on the radar but you are still under chase and you are not able to start a mission or do other activities. Sometimes it's so glitched that you are still under chase. When you try to escape cops they are scripted like hell, you may slow them down immediately after start of chase with some special abbilities but in a seconds they will recover and catch you while you were going full speed since you slowed them down. They will simply catch you no matter what. And after they catch you, you finally are able to escape them. It's same when you are trying to catch a racer, you go full speed or even slow him down but he will somehow still totally escape you even if you would go full speed. The best thing about the game are songs in the radio while you race with 300km/h but you can't even listen to them because every **** second there is a cop coming out of nowhere and by getting in police chase causes songs stop playing and some rubbish action sounds start rocking... The most annoying thing on this game are probably cops coming out of nowhere and starting chases all the time, even if you don't drive fast...… Expand
  6. JimmieReview
    Sep 26, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Need for speed: infurating.
    I got this for 10 USD and for that price I would say its an okay deal. But back when it was released, for say 60 USD - I would have been p*ssed off.
    The problems?

    1. The cops. They always show up to destroy your perfect race or time trial or whatever. And they dont dissapear even when you cross the finish line, risking you to lose all you won in that event. That is not fun, just annoying. They also seem to start chasing you just on sight. I was not in a race/event, and I was standing still on the road when all of a sudden the cops showed up to chase me. In singleplayer mode.

    2. Cheating enemy AI. There is no chance that all those cars just conveniently happend to align themselves 50 meters away from me exactly in the path Im going to take. The AI places them as obstacles at random to destroy your time trial/race. It happens basically all the time, obvious that the cars are placed to mess my time up. I like a good challenge, but this is not it. This is just cheating.

    3. No pause. Yeah, you read it correctly. You can not pause in this game. Not even when a trial/race is just finished to bring up the map. Your car will continue to slide along the road and cops might find you. This happens in singleplayer mode as well, so its not an online thing.

    Those are the 3 biggest problems with this game. There are plenty more issues, the soundtracks are awful (unless your 12 years old and like techno-pop trash music) for example. Online mode is just a big cluster-f*ck. Its not racing, its like a big mash like 8-10 morons who dont know what they are doing trying to share a two-lane street. And nothing can be customized gameplay-wise. Can not turn of cops. Cant turn of traffic. Only 2 camera mode, with one being completly garbage so really only one camera mode.
    No story at all. Just none. Void.
    All that asides, I still enjoyed some of it in short bursts. The cars look pretty cool and the time trials are kind of fun sometimes. For 10 USD, its worth a buy if you wanna get some dumb-downed arcade racing.    … Expand
  7. optical
    Feb 5, 2014
    2
    Sadly disappointed to have wasted my money on this game. The AI is ridiculous and unfair; there is no skill involved with this game. You can be racing a perfect race, using nitrous on the home stretch and the AI will still blow past you taking turns at full speed while there is literally nothing you can do. Earned thousands of Speed Points by playing the game like "Destruction Derby"Sadly disappointed to have wasted my money on this game. The AI is ridiculous and unfair; there is no skill involved with this game. You can be racing a perfect race, using nitrous on the home stretch and the AI will still blow past you taking turns at full speed while there is literally nothing you can do. Earned thousands of Speed Points by playing the game like "Destruction Derby" meanwhile the races are completely unbalanced and all of your skillful racing goes out the window due to unfair AI speed advantages.. Another reviewer called it "Rubberband AI", never heard the expression but whatever it is blows. Going back to the store for whatever I can get in Trade In Value, the game sucks. All of these high reviews make me laugh , they must have reviewed it after playing for a short period of time while the game still is a little bit fun… Expand
  8. Cwhines22
    Jan 5, 2014
    1
    Why would EA make a next gen racing game with out wheel support, it really make's me feel like I wasted $60 plus tax. Sony left it up to the developers for wheel support and EA dropped the ball on this one. Just in case you want to know I have a Logitech G27 racing wheel I have been using it on my ps3 and my PC for about a year and a half now. It has worked on all my racing game's onWhy would EA make a next gen racing game with out wheel support, it really make's me feel like I wasted $60 plus tax. Sony left it up to the developers for wheel support and EA dropped the ball on this one. Just in case you want to know I have a Logitech G27 racing wheel I have been using it on my ps3 and my PC for about a year and a half now. It has worked on all my racing game's on the ps3, even ridge racer 7. EA this will be the last racing game that I will buy from you it's a real shame because I have been playing the NFS series for about 15 years now. I guess I will be waiting for drive club to come out now let's hope sony doesn't take too long with that one.… Expand
  9. moviegamelover
    Feb 7, 2014
    0
    I got this game today from PS store. It took 3 hours to download. I started the game, watch an un skippable video for about 4 minutes, started the tutorial, tried to drive when it told me to, and............oh, my car wont move. Googled the issue and found out that a lot of folks that downloaded it had the same problem. Almost two months and AE hasn't fixed it yet. I tried AEs "workaround"I got this game today from PS store. It took 3 hours to download. I started the game, watch an un skippable video for about 4 minutes, started the tutorial, tried to drive when it told me to, and............oh, my car wont move. Googled the issue and found out that a lot of folks that downloaded it had the same problem. Almost two months and AE hasn't fixed it yet. I tried AEs "workaround" with no success. Finally contacted PSN and got a refund, gotta wait 3-5 days for refund to hit my wallet though.Shame on AE for releasing an incomplete and unplayable game!

    The game looks like it's cool for those that can play it. Because I pretty much got conned into paying AE to be able to beta test their game that's unplayable, I rate it a 0    … Expand
  10. voiders
    Mar 21, 2014
    0
    How can I buy a racing game that dont have 2 players split screen? I have to buy 2 consoles and 2 games to play with my brother?

    Is that it? REALLY? These developers, they've been much better, long time ago.

    Today we live on a very ironic time, you can use 4 joysticks, but even a racing game allows play with 2.

    EA GO HOME, YOU ARE DRUNK.
  11. Eggshellkick
    Jan 2, 2014
    0
    This game is not representative of the arcade racing games that I am accustomed to playing. I haven't written an official review before this because nothing infuriated me like this game. As I would like to point out, this is from an individual who doesn't buy yearly installments of any franchise, so my expectations for this game weren't too high for this game.

    If you get busted, you'll    This game is not representative of the arcade racing games that I am accustomed to playing. I haven't written an official review before this because nothing infuriated me like this game. As I would like to point out, this is from an individual who doesn't buy yearly installments of any franchise, so my expectations for this game weren't too high for this game.

    If you get busted, you'll lose everything. In something like this game where collisions occur so frequent, it feels so out of place and makes the so much more frustrating. Before I interacted with rival cops, I would wait near an exit to see how the AI would react. In all but 2 cases, they would completely drive past me. Oh, and did I mention that you can get busted without any cops in sight if you take too much damage.

    The online components were abysmal as well. There was too high frequency of drivers popping in and out of the course when my friends and I all had a strong signal in our private match (Ping is around 22).

    I wasn't expecting much from this and got an incredibly frustrating experience. It's a frustrating time to be a racing fan in general right now, but this might just be a slump that won't last too long (hopefully).    … Expand
  12. STR_Launch
    Nov 17, 2013
    0
    I played for about a half hour before I had to stop. I don't understand the high critic reviews for NFS. The handling is as ridiculous as always and I guess it'll stay that way. The graphics look alright, but not "next-gen"
  13. Krunx
    Feb 14, 2014
    0
    This game is worst racing game that I've ever played. I'm now sorry that I gave GRID 2 score of 1. Even Big Rigs is better then this **** in my opinion.
  14. AnimeUnknown
    Dec 28, 2014
    0
    Awesome Graphics... but this is no fun. Paid 1/3rd retail price and it's not worth it. What a piece of crap. Leave it on the shelf as you'll put no more than an hour into this piece of farce before putting it back in its box.
  15. Bulbotrax
    Feb 12, 2017
    0
    This crappy piece of trash is not a game... it's a crappy piece of trash. This is a festival of bad ideas: for example: night & day cycle... when it's drak, you can't see a damn thing... the graphics of the "game" are a failure, too many lens flares, too many dirt... It's obvious the team behind this turd didn't play it.

    the worst game of the licence.
  16. DeadSoldier
    Dec 7, 2013
    3
    the graphics look incredible and the controls are way better than Hot Pursuit... but that's pretty much it. There is no significant storyline like the classic Most Wanted and Carbon games, and there is a very limited selection of cars/small map. Also I was interested in the NFS network, but I never saw any other drivers because they were never around me, and it didn't turn out to be much.the graphics look incredible and the controls are way better than Hot Pursuit... but that's pretty much it. There is no significant storyline like the classic Most Wanted and Carbon games, and there is a very limited selection of cars/small map. Also I was interested in the NFS network, but I never saw any other drivers because they were never around me, and it didn't turn out to be much.

    Overall, I'm very disappointed and I won't be playing any future NFS games.    … Expand
  17. LifeHistory
    Jul 11, 2018
    4
    I am really tired of every damn game today is an OpenWorld crap. I specially hate OpenWorld-Racing games. Why can't we have Racing games like the original NFS Most Wanted and NFS Carbon when you have a carrier and you choose your Race from the menu without the need to drive around. Even NFS The RUN which many hated but I liked it a lot because it was new idea and was hell lots of fun. TheI am really tired of every damn game today is an OpenWorld crap. I specially hate OpenWorld-Racing games. Why can't we have Racing games like the original NFS Most Wanted and NFS Carbon when you have a carrier and you choose your Race from the menu without the need to drive around. Even NFS The RUN which many hated but I liked it a lot because it was new idea and was hell lots of fun. The only bad thing was that the game was short.
    And another thing I hate about this game and other NFS games like it... is the COP/RACER carrier its just stupid no one wants to be a cop. I play a racing game to be a racer no a cop you brainless devs.

    I DO NOT CARE ABOUT MULTIPLAYER CRAP........    … Expand
  18. LordDoran
    Jun 22, 2016
    3
    How they have managed to make a game they've created countless times before so boring, lack luster and slow is beyond me.

    When your game is called "Need for Speed". my advice is to actually make it feel fast.
  19. btm666
    Feb 18, 2018
    0
    Garbage. The worst addition to the Need for Speed franchise. Limited car models, limited upgrades and limited customization. Combine this with a weak story line, lagging and generally poor vehicle control and graphics that look like a PS2 game and you have the worst game of the year.
  20. John718
    Jul 5, 2019
    0
    Awful game.....it looks like the developer on purpose made the in-game camera view to work against the player.. so badly designed that you can barely see the incoming traffic as the camera is fixed too low just enough to see above the car in straight roads....plus it doesn't help its crappy weather effects covers any potential details while playing.

    Worst need for speed so far.
  21. DGDrocks7
    Mar 12, 2018
    4
    At first, I thought this was an improved version of NFS Hot Pursuit 2010. Boy, was I wrong. Now that doesn't mean it has to be in order to be good, but on it's own, both as an NFS and racing game, it's just not good.

    Why? It's unbalanced. Cops dominate the road. When playing as them, you get new cars for free. You only have to buy the Pursuit Tech. But it's just so similar to Hot    At first, I thought this was an improved version of NFS Hot Pursuit 2010. Boy, was I wrong. Now that doesn't mean it has to be in order to be good, but on it's own, both as an NFS and racing game, it's just not good.

    Why? It's unbalanced. Cops dominate the road. When playing as them, you get new cars for free. You only have to buy the Pursuit Tech. But it's just so similar to Hot Pursuit 2010 you may as well play that instead.

    Playing as a Racer is where the game shows it's ugly head. You need to buy everything as a Racer. When you finish an event and earn points, you need to go to a hideout to bank them, else if you get busted, you lose them. And the thing is, if you stay on the road for longer than 5 minutes, your chances of getting caught are greatly increased. So either you go into a hideout to bank your points after an event and endure long loading screens. Or earn more points by staying on the road longer, but get busted by superhuman cops, making all that hard work go down the drain.

    Speaking of the superhuman cops, I meant what I said by that. They have superhuman sense, as when you think you're escaping, suddenly they continue the pursuit, though they are nowhere to be seen. They can teleport as they can spawn in front of you. They have super strength because they can take a quarter of your health wheras you can barely take out a tenth of theirs. And they are psychic too because they'll chase you for no reason to arrest you for a crime you didn't commit (yet).

    Plus, the game still progresses after you complete a Speedlist, even if you get busted, but you still lose the points! Why can't I progress but not keep the points? Because of that, I am severely behind in my vehicles and upgrades and I get my rear-bumper kicked because of that. So you're saying the only way to get a chance at my Rivals is to make back the points I lost? No thanks.

    The 4 points I give to the game are because it looks kinda pretty. Yet I should have used that against the game because looks deceive. Thanks a lot EA.    … Expand
  22. MASLAREZ
    Feb 9, 2014
    1
    Игра ни о чём , дерьмовая графика , вообще не понимаю зачем NFS Rivals делали на движке Frostbite 3.
  23. Alfiegee
    Mar 27, 2014
    2
    I have only played it for round about 2 hours and am very frustrated and disappointed with my experience so far. After completing the frankly rubbish tutorials my hopes for a good game rapidly disappeared. I somehow got my car stuck where it shouldn't do and couldn't escape as every time I moved the car broke down even tho it had no damage. Cops appeared out of nowhere. Just as you escapeI have only played it for round about 2 hours and am very frustrated and disappointed with my experience so far. After completing the frankly rubbish tutorials my hopes for a good game rapidly disappeared. I somehow got my car stuck where it shouldn't do and couldn't escape as every time I moved the car broke down even tho it had no damage. Cops appeared out of nowhere. Just as you escape from the relentless and brutally hard and fast cops they would literally appear out if nowhere to resume the chase. The car modification and upgrades seem limited at best. You can add a number plate, decals and change the paint and that is it.
    The graphics are not next- gen standard. I felt like I was playing a ps3 not 4 game. After playing beautiful games with amazing graphics such as infamous second son and killzone this doesn't reach the same level. It is the worst thing I have ever brought worth £50. I felt myself getting angry and annoyed at pretty much everything. The amount of glitches that I have experienced in my short time of playing it are unreal. EA should be ashamed of the quality of this game. I read good reviews of this game before I purchased it and can't see why so many people have rated it so highly.

    DO NOT BUY!!
    RUBBISH GRAPHICS!!
    RUBBISH GAMEPLAY!!
    FRUSTRATING AS HELL!!
    SAVE YOUR MONEY!!    … Expand
  24. antoniodomonick
    May 19, 2014
    4
    Played the NFS series since Underground and have always loved the stories and customizability.
    Bought a PS4 last month and just got the jones for a racing game so I went out and bought Rivals with high expectations. Started it up and what felt like the majority of the first hour of gameplay was unskippable tutorials. There really isn't much a story to speak of and customizability is    Played the NFS series since Underground and have always loved the stories and customizability.
    Bought a PS4 last month and just got the jones for a racing game so I went out and bought Rivals with high expectations. Started it up and what felt like the majority of the first hour of gameplay was unskippable tutorials. There really isn't much a story to speak of and customizability is extremely limited compared to titles like Most Wanted. This game is a far cry from the arcady NFS titles i'm use to and i'm not a big fan. I've feel like i've wasted $50. When I have no other games to play and have nothing else to do i'll pop this game back in the system but for now it's just going to be sitting on the shelf gathering dust.    … Expand
  25. Docpain
    Jul 18, 2014
    4
    im 50 yrs. old. over the years ive played thousands of games and i gota say this game pist-me-off almost as much as the ancient game for nintedo "E.T" . peepl say they luv and i would LUV to know why?? it has the worst god$%^* 4 control and response of ANY car game ive played in the last 18 yrs...literally! It's like guidaing an 18 pound bowling ball on a piece of frikn 5 pound test kiteim 50 yrs. old. over the years ive played thousands of games and i gota say this game pist-me-off almost as much as the ancient game for nintedo "E.T" . peepl say they luv and i would LUV to know why?? it has the worst god$%^* 4 control and response of ANY car game ive played in the last 18 yrs...literally! It's like guidaing an 18 pound bowling ball on a piece of frikn 5 pound test kite string. I was stupid enuff to even get suckered into spending another MF'n 9.99 for the "garage - add -on" Guess what? it dont help krap!!! maybe if you van ever get thru 10 levels it will but its a real krap-bowl of a frikn game man. worst $ ive blown on games in a long furkn time... EA -Sports just sux major capitalistic ballz. but i will give it 4 out of 10 for the grafix....yeh they look great and drive like some stupid flash game you use on a 9600 baud telephone - modem connection...
    you wana play arcade style racing??? look up asphalt-8 for yer phone/pad/smart tab ...watever. grafx are incredible and the stress level is insane. just try it out and you will mourn the day you spent even 59.$ on this garbage...    … Expand
  26. Firehair
    Jul 27, 2014
    3
    Using the XBox One at work, this game is unplayable. Since signing in to Origin is not an option (no internet, shared console) you can't save progress. This means you have to sit through a 10 minute unskippable and boring intro every single time you start the game, only to be forced to play a **** tutorial. TWICE. Once as cops, once as racer. You get a popup every two minutes that stopsUsing the XBox One at work, this game is unplayable. Since signing in to Origin is not an option (no internet, shared console) you can't save progress. This means you have to sit through a 10 minute unskippable and boring intro every single time you start the game, only to be forced to play a **** tutorial. TWICE. Once as cops, once as racer. You get a popup every two minutes that stops the game and makes you watch endless explanations on how everything works, narrated with some computerized woman's voice you also can't skip. Since I read ten times faster than she speaks, this pisses me off.

    It takes over 40 minutes before you actually get to playing and by then I've realised this is basically Burnout: Paradise but not as fun, with worse controls and sound, same graphics (Burnout is years older) and a higher annoyance factor.    … Expand
  27. Zapitein
    Aug 3, 2014
    2
    Graphics look really cool! Nice landscape details. But gameplay is just so BORING! Events get boring pretty fast. Limited ways to customize your car or choose cars. No offline multiplayer mode! Looks like a big map, but once you get to know it... it gets kind of boring. No real storyline or characters. Videos between chapters suck big time! You can easily get hundreds of points byGraphics look really cool! Nice landscape details. But gameplay is just so BORING! Events get boring pretty fast. Limited ways to customize your car or choose cars. No offline multiplayer mode! Looks like a big map, but once you get to know it... it gets kind of boring. No real storyline or characters. Videos between chapters suck big time! You can easily get hundreds of points by destroying cops in interceptors mode, while when driving a perfect race you might only get rewarded with a disappointing amount of points. Some things are just not thought through! Don't buy, just a waste of money!… Expand
  28. Levin
    Oct 10, 2020
    3
    Nice graphics in the core game, but the controls feel horrible. Worst is the menu that kicked off my motion sickness within seconds. Why does the camera need to move around like a freaking owl, when pointed at a static object? It's a car, we are in a garage; stand still! WHY make a horrible over-the-top pretentious intro that you can't skip? The first time user experience is only allowingNice graphics in the core game, but the controls feel horrible. Worst is the menu that kicked off my motion sickness within seconds. Why does the camera need to move around like a freaking owl, when pointed at a static object? It's a car, we are in a garage; stand still! WHY make a horrible over-the-top pretentious intro that you can't skip? The first time user experience is only allowing player control for a few seconds before yet again explaining something that should require no explaining what so ever. I just want to step on the gas!! I really wanted to play this, but it only needed minutes to piss me off, and throw this crap in the bin.… Expand
  29. TheMammalizer
    Nov 21, 2015
    3
    Glitchiest game i have played! I played it for 5 minutes and I came in contact with 3 BIG glitches. The map didnt load, the car was flinged in the air and cops seemed to have magnets to me!
  30. filip92
    Jul 9, 2022
    2
    By far worst NFS game i played, and i've played a lot. Campaign consists of same 20 short and cringe cutscenes. Stupid quests of 40% racing and objectives like airtime, jumps and driving in opposite direction for some time. Map is without lot of variety. AI is so bad,that in the middle of the race, (when you're a cop for examle), there will be other cop cars with their own pursuits andBy far worst NFS game i played, and i've played a lot. Campaign consists of same 20 short and cringe cutscenes. Stupid quests of 40% racing and objectives like airtime, jumps and driving in opposite direction for some time. Map is without lot of variety. AI is so bad,that in the middle of the race, (when you're a cop for examle), there will be other cop cars with their own pursuits and they often come from the opposite direction in full speed and total your car. Also, if you get hit 4,5 times,your car is totaled, which is frustrating. Servers are really bad and constantly disconnects you in the middle of the campaign race.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best PS4 Game of 2013
7
#7 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2013
3
#3 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 53 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Feb 13, 2014
    81
    A fast and furious racing game, where cops constantly try to catch the racers. Multiplayer is seamless, but it feels like a single player mode, since you rarely bump (pun intended) into other players. [Jan 2014]
  2. Thunderbolt
    Jan 13, 2014
    70
    Need for Speed: Rivals is nothing if not ridiculously dumb fun, but that just makes its multiplayer failings all the more disappointing.
    Read full review
  3. The Digital Fix
    Jan 13, 2014
    80
    So a very good racing game, rather than a great one.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »