Video Game Vintage Title: Need For Speed Rivals

Need For Speed Rivals

Need for Speed Rivals is a 2013 racing video game set in an open world environment. Developed by Ghost Games and Criterion Games, this is the twentieth installment in the long-running Need for Speed series. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 19 November 2013. It has also been released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as launch titles in the same month.

Need For Speed Rivals Plot

There are two storylines that the player can choose to play by: the Racer storyline and the Cop storyline. Upon completion of a certain number of sets of goals, the storyline moves forward, earning the player new cars in the process.

Need For Speed Rivals Gameplay

Rivals features gameplay somewhat similar to the earlier Hot Pursuit, with exotic cars and high-speed police chases. Players take on the role of a Racer or a Cop, with each side of the law offering its own set of challenges, risks and rewards. Rivals features eleven upgradeable gadgets such as EMPs, shockwaves and the ability to call in roadblocks. The game takes place in a fictional location known as Redview County. It's an open world and features over 100 miles (160 km) of open road, larger than that of 2012's Most Wanted, but on the same size as Criterion's Hot Pursuit. The open world features a similar set-up to Most Wanted, with several jumps, speed traps and unlockable cars, as well as shortcuts that are not shown on the map.

Rivals features a full career progression for both Cop and Racer. When playing as a Cop, there are three types of career that can be followed - patrol, enforcer, and undercover. Progression is by means of Speedlists for Racer and Assignments for Cop, which are sets of objectives which involve dangerous driving, maneuvers, and race standings. When the player completes a set of objectives, the player levels up and unlocks items, and is presented with another set of objectives to choose from. The Autolog system, a competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Hot Pursuit and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series, factors into the progression system, comparing how quickly the player complete an Assignment or Speedlist to other players' times and posts them to a Speed Wall for local and global leaderboards.

Rivals features a new social system called the AllDrive, which allow players to seamlessly transition from playing alone, to playing with friends, described as "destroying the line between single player and multiplayer". This allows players to in engage co-op gameplay as well as play against each other. The game also features a dynamic weather system, which makes "the world feel alive in a much bigger sense than any other Need for Speed game."

Rivals also takes on some gameplay styles of earlier Underground titles in the franchise with cues on aesthetic vehicle personalization, as paint jobs, decals, rims and license plates and liveries can be modified, as well as vehicle performance, and various Pursuit Tech gadgets. With the exception of the Aston Martin Vanquish, other vehicles are only available in either racer or police variant. Ferrari officially return to the franchise in full form for the first time in eleven years since Hot Pursuit 2 in 2002 (although they have appeared in 2009's Shift as Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content) with the F12berlinetta, 458 Spider, 458 Italia, FF, Enzo, and 599 GTO being the Ferrari vehicles featured.

Reception
Need for Speed: Rivals was well received by critics at E3 2013 and was awarded with "Best Racing Game" from Game Critics Awards. Previewers who had access to Rivals called the game a spiritual successor to 1999's Need for Speed: High Stakes, citing similar gameplay style. Other called it an improved version of Criterion's Hot Pursuit, citing similar gameplay mechanics.

Need for Speed: Rivals received mostly positive reviews upon release. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 4 version 80.29% and 80/100, the PlayStation 3 version 79.00% and 80/100, the Xbox One version 78.55% and 75/100, the Microsoft Windows version 74.20% and 76/100 and the Xbox 360 version 71.43% and 76/100.

Steve Hannley of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4.5/5, saying "It�s raw, visceral, intense and boasts a ton of replay value thanks to over one hundred events and seamless online multiplayer."

Jeff Gerstmann from Giant Bomb gave the game a 3/5, praising the game's gameplay and soundtrack but criticized the lack of amount players allowed on the online multiplayer. Gerstmann also noted that the PC version was locked at 30 frames-per-second stated that "is especially ridiculous", but still consider the PC version the best looking version.

GameZone's Mike Splechta gave the PS4 version an 8.5/10, stating "For a game that touts speed in its name, Need for Speed: Rivals delivers on every front. It's gorgeous, fast and definitely furious."

Negative reviews centered around the many bugs and glitches in the game, and frustrations around the game's lack of dedicated servers, triggering frequent host migration.