Need for Speed ran the gamut of review scores earlier this month, but the audience called near-unanimous attention to one defect: the rubber-banding AI. Because a Dodge Challenger could overtake a Lamborghini Huracán the moment someone tapped its brakes, each race’s outcome only mattered during the last five checkpoints.
Flash forward three weeks. Ghost Games heard everyone’s complaints and will adjust the AI’s catch-up behavior soon. Like, Wednesday soon. Although the developers withheld specifics, perhaps players could, at long last, wreck their cars and not lose a half-mile lead before they reset. Granting sudden, aggravating speed boosts to the game’s rivals has been a staple of each Need for Speed, and I would be happy to see the “feature” go.
Ghost Games discussed further changes, too. In the team’s latest Under the Hood update, they highlighted community events, icon cars, rep increases, and essential bug fixes. The main menu will inform players of the ongoing Need for Speed events, and whether they provide bonus cash, bonus, rep, or a discount on parts.
The first event starts tomorrow, titled Performance Matters and will offer a 40% discount on all performance upgrades. The perfect time to go upgrade your new ride!
The new vehicles include Ken Block’s Hoonicorn and Morohoshi’s Lamborghini Diablo. If you already finished the prerequisite missions, they can be taken for a test drive this Wednesday for no extra cost. Players might unlock extra achievements or trophies in the process.
Fanboi – Put any of the new icon cars in your garage
Iconoclast – Win and event with each of the new icon cars
Mental Unblock – Get 350,000 Drift Score in Mental Block using Ken’s Car
But maybe you just want to improve your reputation or decorate your tuners. Need for Speed bumps the rep level cap from 50 to 60, and adds the requested paint and decal tools. Artists demanded a mirror option to copy and paste their vinyls from one side of their vehicles to the other, and the developers obliged.
The recent Under the Hood contains all the nitty-gritty, but it seems the pending Need for Speed patch will have something new for everybody. Except FMV cutscenes. They’re still (so) bad (they’re good).
