I recall seeing a clip of Need for Speed Unbound’s gameplay for the first time in December 2022, when it was initially released. I saw A$AP Rocky in the game, and I was absolutely stoked. Part of me thought that being the first Need for Speed title released on the PS5, it must have promising gameplay.
After putting off playing the game for a little more than two years, I finally thought I’d give the game a shot and started playing just recently.
Honestly, the game was entirely different from what I expected it to be. I’ll give you a rundown of my critique for the game, so make sure you give the whole article a read before you proceed to buy the game.
Mixed Views About “Lakeshore Online”
Need for Speed Unbound came with an integrated online mode called the Lakeshore Online, which was in an open-world setting with a lobby of up to 16 players at a time. While it sounds promising, the online features received a lot of criticism for not living up to the expectations of fans.
Once I started playing the game, I thought I’d give the online mode a shot as well. To make the most out of the experience, I connected my PS5 to my trusty Xfinity Internet using an Ethernet cable, and all thanks to its reliable service, the game didn’t lag once.
After that, I proceeded with my first online session, and I was disappointed almost immediately. My racing options were very limited since I could not customize my own racing playlists. I couldn’t even race with bots if there weren’t any other racers available, which just defeats the whole purpose.
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The Opponent AI is Insane
I’ve grown up playing the Need for Speed series. Some of the titles I was always fond of include Porsche Unleashed, Need for Speed Carbon, Most Wanted, Underground II, Need for Speed (2015), Payback, and Heat.
All of them had pretty reasonable opponent AI, which is why all of these titles were pretty fun to play, especially Payback.
I was taken aback while I was playing Unbound, since the AI just didn’t make sense to me at all. No matter what I did, how much I tuned up or upgraded my car, the opponent cars would always be faster. I understand that they wanted to add a “skill” element to the game, but I guess they took it too far.
There were actually times when I slammed my controller on the mattress (DualSense controllers aren’t cheap), because the game just kept getting too frustrating at times!
The Handling is Terrible
When I started the game, I started with the Challenger (but you don’t get to keep the car, and I won’t tell you why since that spoils the story). The car had really bad handling, but I was glad to get rid of it pretty soon in the game.
Then came the time when I had to buy my first car, and I went with the Pontiac Firebird since it had relatively better stats. Little did I know the car would become the bane of my existence. It was horrendous at picking up speed, and cornering just felt like a myth as the car would neither maintain grip nor would it drift.
I remember for a very long time; I wouldn’t win any races to the point that it got increasingly frustrating. I even tried tweaking the handling of different cars to hit the sweet spot but to no avail. Eventually, unbound just became a guessing game with lots of trial and error to see which car would suit me the most.
The Cops are Profoundly Annoying
Honestly, I expected a lot from the cop chases, but they weren’t as exciting as I wanted them to be. Instead, the AI was annoying, and the cops cycled between giving a challenge and completely losing track of what they were doing.
However, I’ll have to give the game props for the utilization of police helicopters in a great way. If you aren’t careful enough, a helicopter could spot you, and the chase would continue again. Despite all of that, I still believe that the cop chases could have been better.
The Graphics Aren’t as Appealing
When I saw the first trailer, I thought the graphics were pretty cool with all the comic effects as you drove. To my surprise, the game doesn’t have that many differences from Heat, which was released on the PS4.
The trees and the landscapes felt like they weren’t completely rendered, and they had a wonky feeling to them. Other than that, the game is alright if you need something to pass your time. If you’re looking for a decent Need for Speed game to play, then I would suggest that you play Payback if you haven’t already!
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