- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: Dec 2, 2022
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 5
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- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Jan 3, 2023It is very hard to stand out in this much crowded racing genre, but Need For Speed Unbound pulls it off. The title is easily the best entry in years and sets a foundation that can easily be built upon. After many years of having an identity crisis, I can see the game evolving from here. With a consistent 4K resolution and 60fps framerate NFS Unbound showcases what could be the future of the series.
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Dec 3, 2022Bringing a fresh new art style to the franchise that we hope sticks around for years to come, this ain't your daddy's Need for Speed. And maybe, that's a good thing. With Heat pushing the franchise in a bold new direction, Need For Speed Unbound borrows almost everything that made that title special and improves upon it.
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Dec 12, 2022Need for Speed Unbound feels like a foundational entry for where the series could go from here. Competing across the title’s many events is a blast, and I love the juxtaposed visual aesthetics. Though some elements left me wanting, Unbound is as much fun as I’ve had with a Need for Speed title in years.
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Dec 12, 2022Need for Speed Unbound is perhaps one of the franchise's last efforts to stay alive at a time when its glory years are behind it. In the end, it brings together various elements that the fans requested to combine and execute them in a good way, resulting in a fun experience that keeps calling you back.
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Dec 12, 2022Need for Speed Unbound comes to our consoles to bring us the adrenaline of street racing. Criterion has once again made a really interesting installment for fans of the franchise. NFS is back.
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Dec 2, 2022A startling return to form for EA's flagship racing franchise, Need for Speed Unbound offers an enjoyable open-world, with challenging yet gratifying racing, and an infectious sense of gritty urban style.
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Jan 23, 2023Need For Speed Unbound, even at its launch, is certainly rather packed with content. The story sees the player throughout 4 weeks of days and nights throughout many events, some mandatory and most optional, with players always being able to decide how many seen-before events they wanna rush through again for some extra cash. With tons of unlockable and upgradable cars, a robust if uninspired multiplayer and an open world with plenty of things to do, Unbound’s unlikely to last you less than a couple dozen hours, unless you get bored before the end credits of course. But boredom isn’t what I’d associate with the latest installment in this everlasting franchise: Need For Speed has found its identity, and while a few concepts require some finetuning, it’s the best episode in a long while and one of the most stylish and generally finest racers of the generation thus far.
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Mar 21, 2024The best Need for Speed title in a long time, Unbound has such a fun gameplay loop and funky style that it's hard to put down. It has a hard difficulty and slightly odd game feel, but most players of racing games will have a blast here and probably fall in love with the chaotic and frantic police chases. Pick this up!
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Dec 24, 2022The bar raised with the Heat has reached the next level with Unbound. If the next NFS game manages to surpass Unbound, we can finally have that special NFS experience we expect.
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Dec 12, 2022Need For Speed Unbound is an attempt to recapture the glory days of the Need for Speed franchise, and to a large degree, it succeeds. There are annoyances, such as the cheap AI, ridiculous driving effects and music, and the ability to steer your car in the middle of a jump, but against that is set a strong upgrade mechanic, fun races and great set pieces, not to mention some intense police chases.
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Dec 11, 2022Even though it's not perfect, Unbound still is the best NFS since Underground and manages to put the license back on track.
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Dec 4, 2022A great leap forward for Criteron and easily the best title in the series in years.
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Dec 7, 2022Needs improvement. That is the conclusion I ended up reaching after playing approximately a little over 13 hours of the game, passing the story mode and playing races in the online mode. Need for Speed Unbound feels like a Need for Speed from the Black Box stage but at the same time it gives me the feeling that all they have done has been to improve what was already present in Need for Speed Heat.
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Dec 12, 2022Need For Speed Unbound presents a unique style with a very good technical production, with great vehicle customization and tuning features. Unluckily, though, it doesn't fully convince due to lack of real innovation in gameplay, unevenly balanced difficulty and excessively slow progression tied to too small rewards obtained in every event. The online mode being separated from the story one feels counterintuitive and not on par with modern arcade racers, as well.
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Dec 11, 2022Unbound succeeds where NFS Heat had failed, namely to give a little life and flavor to the discovery of the open world called Lakeshore City.
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Dec 7, 2022Need for Speed Unbound is a good mix of cartoon characters, graffiti and frantic racing, but nothing more.
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Dec 7, 2022Need for Speed Unbound feels like two steps forward, one step back. While the story progression serves as a nice motivation to get better cars and take risks with the police, the newest part of this once-beloved series still falls flat in some regards. Visual presentation is sub-par for a game that advertises itself as game built for the next generation of consoles. While gameplay is fun and taking a lot of inspiration from Burnout with its heavy reliance on drifting and boosts lee, there are a few issues as well. Police, while initially invigorating, quickly becomes a chore as chases drag on forever and can, in the worst case, reset player progress of over an hour. This is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, but “Need for Speed” is still not quite at the best it has been.
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Dec 13, 2022Need for Speed Unbound has a few original ideas, and though some aspects needed tweaking, the core racing gameplay and a focus on car customization help the franchise keep drifting onward.
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Dec 20, 2022When Unbound works, it’s like driving a gorgeous, humming sports car. When it doesn’t, it’s like driving a rental with a rough-running engine. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the ride, but it does mean a few spots could use a tune up to make this road trip smoother.
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Dec 9, 2022Need for Speed Unbound hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses.
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Dec 2, 2022Criterion has managed to create a vibrant, beautiful, high octane Need for Speed entry that dares to breathe new life into a franchise that desperately needed it.
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LEVEL (Czech Republic)Jan 24, 2024The aspiration of returning to the series' most successful titles is evident here. Illegal races, over-the-top tuning, a specific but fitting soundtrack, an open world, and police chases. It's not outright bad, but it could be a lot better. I would have liked more variety as well. I'm definitely positive about the elements that gave the game a unique identity. [Issue#325]
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Dec 8, 2022After so many years, the Need for Speed series has taken different forms. But now the series took one of the worst. There is a lack of new ideas and motivation. The story is really written very poorly, the interaction between the characters is often stupid, and the schematic career starts to bore you very soon. Add to all this the shallow online multiplayer. Unbound is an example of a game where form won out over function.
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Dec 5, 2022Need for Speed Unbound feels like it comes to a stop before it ever gets going. The polish in the moment-to-moment gameplay cannot be ignored, but as a whole, Need for Speed Unbound is just another forgettable entry in the long-running franchise.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Dec 9, 2022Criterion takes the reins once more for an arcade racer that’s capable of going toe-to-toe with the all-conquering Forza Horizon. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Dec 12, 2022During the trailer of Need For Speed Unbound, the cel-shading visuals made us grit our teeth a little bit. It turns out that after a few minutes of action, we realise that the British studio has expertly blended this type of graphics to the rest and it is quite stunning! As far as the story goes, it is well introduced and quite catchy. As regards the handling aspect, this is a pure NFS experience, therefore something close to arcade style. Thanks to an energetic soundtrack, the races are full off rhythm and the police chases keep us glued on the edge of our seat when we carry a large amount of money. The only downside might be the limited interaction between single and multiplayer. To cut to the case, whether visually speaking or with the controller in hand, this game is a real success. For fans of the genre, you will surely have a great time. For the others, we strongly invite you to give it a spin!
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 61 out of 153
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Mixed: 24 out of 153
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Negative: 68 out of 153
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Dec 3, 2022Garbage game not worth buying heat copy gen z characters awful anime effects
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Dec 3, 2022
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Dec 5, 2022Worst NFS ever created, art style is annoying and intrussive gameplay is boring and not to mention the gen Z humour and characters, disgusting