Topic: Need For Speed: Undercover THREAD - Update: MysterD's Impressions (Reply 29)

[MysterD]

Another NFS game will be coming, as expected.
NFS: Undercover is the name of it.

New Need for Speed game unveiled
News by Ellie Gibson

Today 09:28

John Riccitiello has unveiled the next Need for Speed game and confessed to "torturing" developers working on previous instalments in the series.

Need for Speed Undercover, as the game is titled, will have been in development for considerably longer than its predecessors by the time it's released later this year.

Speaking in an investors meeting, Riccitiello confirmed that the NFS team worked on 12-month development cycles for eight years in a row before bosses took pity on them.

"Last summer we added head count and split the team in two, so now there are two teams on a 24 month cycle," Riccitiello stated.

"We were torturing a very talented group of people up in Vancouver, which makes it harder to be as innovative every year. So, I think we are going to get better from here."

Riccitiello is confident Need for Speed Undercover will "a much better game" than the previous instalment in the series, thanks in part to a richer storyline. Doesn't sound like he was too impressed with Need for Speed Pro Street, which came out last November.

"I thought it was an okay game, in terms of gameplay. It's not good," Riccitiello observed. He's not wrong.

"But who wanted Pro Street? It was a sort of made up, put numbers on the side of your car and pretend to drive your Ferrari where? Or your Porsche where?"

Undercover, according to Riccitiello, is instead taking cues from action films. "For those of you who ever saw movies like The Transporter - it's sort of a cult classic among people with a B-movie mentality, which fits me perfectly," he said.

"I liked it. I apologise. For those of you with no taste, and you liked it too, we can go have a Schlitz after this." Love to.

There's no word on which platforms Need for Speed Undercover is in development for, but chances are it's more than one. Or eight.

[Xessive]

I appreciate Riccitiello's acknowledgment that the last NFS royally sucked ass (the couple of iterations before it sucked too just not as badly), but it still feels like EA's beating a dead horse.

[Quemaqua]

Pass.  This series has been dead for some time, and there are much, much better games out there that cost half as much.  Say a prayer for the poor corpse of this franchise that EA keeps kicking around like it's Weekend at Bernie's.

[MysterD]

Pass.  This series has been dead for some time, and there are much, much better games out there that cost half as much.  Say a prayer for the poor corpse of this franchise that EA keeps kicking around like it's Weekend at Bernie's.

*walks around like Bernie in Weekend At Bernie's 2, while music is playing...*

[MysterD]

Trailer for NFS: Undercover.

And oh....

This here is the new NFS: UC teaser website -- which has hidden in it videos and content that you can't access yet until a specific date...

[Xessive]

Maybe it's just me, but they always lose me with the "You have to uncover the truth.. You have to win this.. by racing.." attitude. Like racing has some kind of authority. Somehow, if you win this race the government will listen to you; you will incomprehensibly earn some credibility with the authorities. WTF??! It's just full of what Gamespot calls "Extreme Badittude."

And why the Hell are they trying to force-feed a non-racing story/plot into a racing game?? If they really want to put a story then do something like Race Driver (the original), have a story that's actually relevant to the racing scene about a guy who wants/has a career as a pro racer! Otherwise just give us a fun racing game like NFS3: Hot Pursuit or Gran Turismo.

[MysterD]

I like the pro-racers and street-racers.

So, here's a thought.

I'd like to see a racing game where you're just a racer that is just out to conquer both the illegal street and legal pro racing worlds at the same time.

And well, once you earn both titles, that's the game's end for its main quest.

After that's done, you earn the credits and ending and all that crap. But, you still have the option to keep playing. You can keep playing and keep defending your crown in both worlds, if you like.

[ren]

Riccitiello is confident Need for Speed Undercover will "a much better game" than the previous instalment in the series, thanks in part to a richer storyline.

This man is on to something. I buy racing games just for the storylines.

[Xessive]

I really have no idea what they're trying to achieve with this ridiculous direction they've forced on the NFS series.

[MysterD]

Preview on NFS: Undercover from GameSpot

The latest entry in EA's long-running racing series looks to the past while throwing in some interesting new features.

Only in the context of video games will you hear people clamor on about how they wish they were being chased by the cops, but that's just what many Need for Speed fans have been doing since 2005's Most Wanted. Well, the boys in blue are back for Need for Speed Undercover, and so is the open-world setting that last year's ProStreet sacrificed in favor of quartered-off racing courses. But it's not as though developer EA Black Box has gone into full-on time-travel mode for the latest entry in this long-running series. For every nod to the series' past, you'll find something new like Hollywood-style driving techniques designed to help you elude the police, new events and skill-building systems, and a step toward more mature, less hammy storytelling.

One thing I really liked about MW and Carbon was the open-world nature.
ProStreet removed that, for some reason -- so, yay for bring that open-world nature back for Undercover.

Need for Speed Undercover is swapping the professional racing circuits and nighttime neon lights of the past two games in favor of an open-world Gulf Coast locale. Known as Tri-City Bay, this collection of floating-bridge freeways, dirt roads, and industrial shipping yards is set in the postsunrise, presunset time of day when the sun sits low in the sky and covers everything in a golden light. There seems to be a lot of diversity, and the race events take good advantage of that. One of the Sprint Race events we took part in--a supercar showdown featuring the likes of the Carerra GT and Pagani Zonda--took us from the highway to a high school football field to a millionaire's marble driveway before arriving at the finish line in a freeway tunnel. It's definitely a big world, too. We're told you can drive the fastest car in the game and it would take you a solid eight minutes to circumnavigate the entire world at top speed.

To me, this sounds more like Undercover is basically going to be Most Wanted 2.

One of the ways Black Box is looking to expand your driving abilities without necessarily changing the way cars handle is through what it's calling the Heroic Driving Engine, a system that allows you to achieve a new level of agility on the road. One of the ways it's done this is by removing the persistent relationship between a car's direction and the perspective of the camera. If you're flying down the road, you can jam on the brakes while jerking the control stick to the side and watch as your car does a 180 at speed while the camera remains firmly in place. It's not just for show; if you've thrown your car into reverse like this, you can double-tap the gas and your driver will come to a screeching halt and take off in the opposite direction. This entails the opposite scenario as before--your car will remain facing the same way while the camera turns around, saving you a good bit of time compared to the old-fashioned three-point turn. When you successfully engage in these types of moves, you'll be rewarded with RPG-style experience points that will upgrade your driving abilities.

Cool. Upgrading your driver's abilities does sound like a good addition to gameplay depth to me.

As a way of maintaining balance with your newfound driving skills, EA Black Box is bringing back the police to keep you challenged as you wreak havoc on the roads of Tri-City Bay. Driver AI has been enhanced so that if you do something particularly stupid like nudge someone off the road at 90 miles per hour, you'll have the cops called on you. In other situations, you'll have them on your tail at the start of a mission, like in the Driver Job event we tried that had us stealing a police cruiser (a Nissan GT-R squad car, of all things) and bring it to a shop to sell it off. No matter the origins, getting rid of the cops is the same: You need to put some distance between you and the police cars, and if there's a helicopter, you need to find a tunnel or bridge to hide under.

I dunno' what a NFS street-racer would be without the cops, myself.

As a matter of fact, I could find out -- I recently picked-up NFS: ProStreet for cheap.

[poomcgoo]

I love NFS.  I really can't think of a better arcade racer that has been so consistently good over the years.  ProStreet sucked, yeah, but Carbon and Most Wanted were amazing and I really can't wrap my head around why people hated them.  They're both just a lot of damn fun.  There might not be anything revolutionary in them, but I haven't played a racing game since Mario Kart that's been more fun.

I will get this simply for the fact that I'll be able to drive a Nissan GT-R.

[MysterD]

GameSpot Reviews for NFS: Undercover...
7.0 for X360 Version
6.5 for PS3 Version
Video Review
Written review

[Xessive]

Gamespot:

Need for Speed returns to its roots with hokey cutscenes, wild cop chases, and solid racing action.

Returns to its roots??! Clearly Aaron Thomas has not played any NFS games before Most Wanted.

[Pugnate]

That bastard!

[Quemaqua]

Actually, a lot of people have been saying that.  I think it's because of the whole cop element, which is likely getting more attention than it warrants.

[MysterD]

Gamespot:
Returns to its roots??! Clearly Aaron Thomas has not played any NFS games before Most Wanted.

Returning to its Hot Pursuit roots is what he should've said...

[Xessive]

Adding police chases doesn't take it back to its roots. Police chases started with NFS3 Hot Pursuit but they were available in several of the NFS games after it e.g. NFS4 High Stakes, Hot Pursuit 2 (though I'd rather neglect this one),Underground (1&2), and Most Wanted. According to the review Undercover is most akin to Most Wanted, which was pretty much Underground 2 in the daytime with "xtreme baditude" (as Gamespot put it) and somehow, contrary to its predecessors, crashing and driving recklessly is what increased your score (which I now realize was probably EA's attempt at pitting NFS against Burnout.. it just doesn't work).

Despite my intense dismay with EA, I still yearn for NFS to somehow be resurrected properly and not be marred by these failed iterations. I just found my original Need For Speed on the Sega Saturn! It is still awesome! hehe

[MysterD]

Adding police chases doesn't take it back to its roots.

Takes it back to its Hot Pursuit roots, not the original NFS series roots.

Police chases started with NFS3 Hot Pursuit

Exactly my point 2 posts above.

but they were available in several of the NFS games after it e.g. NFS4 High Stakes, Hot Pursuit 2 (though I'd rather neglect this one),Underground (1&2), and Most Wanted. According to the review Undercover is most akin to Most Wanted, which was pretty much Underground 2 in the daytime with "xtreme baditude" (as Gamespot put it) and somehow, contrary to its predecessors, crashing and driving recklessly is what increased your score (which I now realize was probably EA's attempt at pitting NFS against Burnout.. it just doesn't work).

I liked MW, but never finished it.
I really dug Carbon, though.

Despite my intense dismay with EA, I still yearn for NFS to somehow be resurrected properly and not be marred by these failed iterations. I just found my original Need For Speed on the Sega Saturn! It is still awesome! hehe

Wow....that's taking it way back! heh!

[MysterD]

Rumor has it NFS Series might be canceled entirely, due to weak sales on the NPD from NFS: Undercover.

[Quemaqua]

No surprise with the direction they've taken it in.  A far cry from what it once was.  I say shoot it dead before it can suffer any more.

[MysterD]

No surprise with the direction they've taken it in.  A far cry from what it once was.  I say shoot it dead before it can suffer any more.

Maybe in 10 years, EA will bring it back... *shrug*

[Pugnate]

I am positive the game will be brought back during the next gen of consoles. Initially, the graphics were above industry standard and I am sure that's why a lot of people bought copies. Now that everyone else has caught up, the graphics don't stand out as much, and the game doesn't look any better than its early 360 iterations... so all it has to offer is shit gameplay.

[Xessive]

EA are diligent when it comes to milking franchises. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll see another NFS game later. I'd say maybe in 5 years.

So far the history of the NFS series can be summed up as: joyous birth, happy early life, pampered and invited to a mansion, spoiled, then injected with a poison.. Resurrected horrificly, beaten to a pulp with facial reconfiguration, raped, anally raped, stabbed violently, skull-fucked, and finally tossed to the maggots.

It's a sad tale. Only EA would do such a thing to one of its original franchises.

[Pugnate]

EA are diligent when it comes to milking franchises. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll see another NFS game later. I'd say maybe in 5 years.

So far the history of the NFS series can be summed up as: joyous birth, happy early life, pampered and invited to a mansion, spoiled, then injected with a poison.. Resurrected horrificly, beaten to a pulp with facial reconfiguration, raped, anally raped, stabbed violently, skull-fucked, and finally tossed to the maggots.

It's a sad tale. Only EA would do such a thing to one of its original franchises.

You still have it in you to scare me.

[Cobra951]

Really.  *Shiver*  What a dark analogy.

[gpw11]

It's a sad tale. Only EA would do such a thing to one of its original franchises.

Edit: I had animal crossing in there as well, but then I realized you can't really rape your own franchise when you don't have a franchise.  Unless releasing the exact same game four times makes it a series.

[Xessive]

I stand corrected.

[MysterD]

Latest rumors, from an anonymous employee of EA....
So, take it all as that, a rumor....
Nothing's concrete or announced yet.

NFS Franchise is not going to end.

EA Black Box (company that made NFS and Skate) is llikely closing.
There were THREE teams inside Black Box that made NFS games -- which is how they banked them out yearly.
These three teams are being moved into the much bigger EA Burnaby Studios.
EA Black Box will be consolidated into ONE TEAM over there at EA Burnaby Studios.

Also, Criterion Games might be making one of the next NFS entries.
Likely, they will be using the newest Burnout Engine for the next NFS.

Also, you can expect LESS Franchised NFS games to be banked out.

[MysterD]

New NFS: UC Patch released
NFS: Undercover Patch 1.0.1.17 released.

Basically, it gives many gamers what they wanted changed -- fixes the framerate issues and makes the game harder quicker than before (since many complained the game was too easy.


NFS: UC - DLC Q&A with EA
Also, EA answers some questions about upcoming NFS: Undercover DLC and what to possibly expect.

[MysterD]

I started playing this Undercover today. X, you're right -- it's so much like Most Wanted. That's a good place to start and all, since MW and Carbon are two NFS's that I really liked.

But really -- Undercover doesn't feel like it's tossing the Kitchen Sink in for game modes, after having those past two NFS's to really build from. Some of the pretty cool past race types in other NFS games -- such as Drift (from Carbon) and Drag (from Most Wanted) -- just ain't in Undercover here.  Why leave 'em out, when you got an open game-world AND it seems like this game really needs some more race variations?

That seems like the worst part -- it doesn't seem like there's too many different game modes and doesn't seem like there's many NEW game race modes. I do like the new Highway Battles -- but is there anything else here?