I got to thinking about NFS just now and I think it has kind of an identity crisis. What is Need For Speeds identity? When a game has that in its title what does that say to people? When Sony says "A new Gran Turismo" you know EXACTLY what they mean by that. It's going to be a "sim", its going to have a LOT of cars, you're going to be earning your licenses so you can drive something better than a minivan on the racetrack. What is "Need For Speed" other than "some sort of racing game"? They've got Hot Pursuit, The Run, SHIFT, Undercover, Most Wanted, and I don't even know anymore. So many reboots and versions that have nothing to do with each other other than fast cars.
But they sell I guess, so EA is going to keep making them. And this is kinda where I think the problem is. Need For Speed doesn't really have an identity to call its own, so there is no one iterating on it because there is nothing to work from. It's not even really an IP, it's just a name. No developer sits down and gets excited to be building The Next Need For Speed. It feels like they cobble some developers together and say "You're making a racing game. Need For Speed will be part of the title. Go." They usually end up being competent but not special. Which is kind of why news of a new NFS just gets a "meh" reaction from pretty much everyone.
I think you hit the nail on the head:
NFS = fast cars and racing.That's really it - that's the identity.
It's the sub-title, which defines what the game is.
I'm actually glad that Need For Speed, since it is a yearly iteration, is something seemingly different each year.
It gets stale when yearly franchises like CoD + AC, often being a lot of the same old w/ not much new for features.
This is not the case entirely here w/ NFS.
NFS: Most Wanted (Black Box), NFS: Carbon + NFS: Undercover:
All are open-world racers (when played offline).
All of these have decent stories, for SP-style racing games. While they all are bit over-the-top, MW by Black Box is probably the most over-the-top.
All of these are very similar gameplay-wise - except Most Wanted (BB) is more focused on playing solo, while Carbon you have AI-controlled crew w/ you.
Undercover was good, but it's nowhere as great as the other two - Undercover feels a lot like Most Wanted (Carbon), with barely any new race-types [Highway races were new...and those are awesome].
MW + Carbon are two of my favorite Black Box developed NFS racers.
NFS: Hot Pursuit (Criterion) = Basically, remake of NFS: Hot Pursuit (play as the cops or the racers whenever you want) w/ some open-world + open-map elements.
Awesome arcade-style racer, BTW. Highly recommend this one.
NFS: The Run = Linear racing game w/ some action story elements + QTE's.
Short game, but still fun. Probably the worst NFS that I've played out of the entire club.
NFS: Most Wanted (Criterion) = Open-world racer with some online elements (if you use them). Feels like a mix b/t open-world elements of Burnout Paradise (huge open-world) + some of the racing concepts from NFS: Most Wanted (Black Box) [Most Wanted List, Racing Types, open-world].
It was good, but it needs more racing types; and not having any of the DLC's can be VERY annoying (b/c you can't access certain things like cars, missions, and areas on the map).
NFS: Rivals = open-world offline/online racer mixing elements NFS: Hot Pursuit (Criterion) & NFS: Most Wanted [Criterion] (play as the cops or the racers).
I thought this was really good, actually.
NFS: Shift series = Not any arcade-style racer. Not like the other NFS's. This is their attempt at a first-person racing sim. BTW, it's quite good.
