With Driveclub delayed from launch, the PS4 lost a racer from its launch line-up. That meant the hopes of racing fans lay with Need for Speed Rivals and new studio Ghost Games, as this would be the only place for petrol heads to see the next generation of racing on PS4.
As a cross-generation title, it meant a greater developmental pressure was heaped upon the new team, in addition to being compared to the previous Need for Speed title, Most Wanted, which released just a year before from Criterion.
It was generally successful, although I didn’t find it to have a lot of staying power. I played several races in single player and found it enjoyable, with autolog now being fully integrated into the gameplay as you constantly one-up your friends as you play, but beyond that, I didn’t play it very much.
I did find that it was best in multiplayer, however, with the game essentially being always online for up to eight players with AllDrive. It wasn’t the smartest integration, but it did prove a lot of fun as you roamed and raced to your pleasing.
We didn’t review the game, but Stefan played it long enough for an extensive preview, in which he said:
I can’t quite put my finger on why, but Rivals already has that feeling of a “Best of” compilation, revisiting the divided paths of Cops and Racers from Hot Pursuit, crafting another grand open world and taking so much of the infrastructure that Criterion pioneered to the next logical step. It’s with AllDrive that this game is really pushing the franchise to new heights, and along with much of the gaming industry, it’s helping to make this ever-connected future actually sound quite appealing.
It’s true – it really did manage to feel like a compilation, or mash-up, of all the previous Need for Speed games. AllDrive, as mentioned, proved very successful too, and hinted towards an interesting future which has yet to be fully realised.
Probably not quite Driveclub – if it had been finished – but close enough, we say. Though, all that really matters here is what you think: did you get on with Ghost Games’ debut racer well enough, and was it a truly next generation affair?
As per usual, let us know in the comments below. Leave a paragraph or two at most, with your general thoughts on the game. Then don’t forget to add a rating on the end to sum up your overall thoughts – you can choose from either Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It.
leeroye
I had this on a rental. I really enjoyed the cop career but the racer side not so much. I found myself getting bored after a short while though and never completed either of the careers. Im not really a fan of racing games so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.
leeroye
Opps nearly forgot. Rent it.
Jimster71
I thought it was a worse version of NFS Hot Pursuit. The maps weren’t as fun to drive and the handling wasn’t as good as in that game. It was almost impossible to get a group of friends in a server together for online play. The only chase cam view was too low, so that the arse end of the car obscured the road. The racer and cop careers were unbalanced – completing the harder racing events was a lucky dip to see if a cop would hassle you or not. On the positive side, it looked very pretty and I managed to sell it for the same price I bought it. A definite ‘Rent It’ from me.
TSBonyman
I almost bought it as there were no other racing options for PS4 but it looked too much like Hot Pursuit, i didn’t like the autolog in that, and shockingly i read that you can’t pause the game in Rivals. Already Avoided.
rSp8
What? You can’t pause the game? What do you do when you need another can from the fridge? What about the following inevitable visit to the toilet? Starting to go off the idea of this based on the comments here…
lambchop
I did enjoy this at first, but now reading this article I realise it’s fallen off my radar and hasn’t been played for ages!
arrybags
Got this with my PS4 on launch and haven’t really played it that much. I loved Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted but just cant get on with this.
I can’t really put my finger on what it is either, the graphics are great, the cars handle like in all NFS games, technically there are no problems with the game. I certainly wouldn’t advise buying it, but i dont think i have spent enough time on it to say completely avoid it.
Rent It
Jimster71
Same here, loved Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted but just couldn’t get on with this.
Ouninpohja
I’m playing it on PS4 at the moment.
Can’t say I’m enjoying it too much to be honest.
Lost count the amount of times the other police cars have rammed me into the scenery at high speed while we’re pursuing a racer. Or is that where the ‘Rivals’ part comes from? :)
Ouninpohja
Meant to say rent it too.
bigchrissyc
Im usually a big fan of racing games, and Need For Speed, but i found this game visually great, as was the actual controls, but i found it to get boring very fast. Having to repeat the same 20 levels to eventually get to rank 60 was boring, the racer career wasnt as interesting as the cop career either. Id rent it.
djdustb
It has so much going for it and so many bits that make it very frustrating to play. Greta fun if you juts want a great looking game to drive about and smash stuff it. The fact you cannot pause drove me mad, it is also really annoying when you just need to get home and bank the points and you get wrecked meaning you lose all the chance to upgrade even though you have finished what was required.
I played first as a racer thinking the cop side of things was going to be a bit dull, how wrong I was. Playing as a cop is brilliant and points do not matter so much as the cars are free. So you can spend time crashing and generally messing up other cars and racers.
Autolog and online was great fun even the companion app worked well to mess with other drivers. I think I am off to play this later today, thanks TSA for reminding me there are other games besides Killzone.
BARGAIN BIN IT but if it allowed pausing and was more forgiving on saving point it would be a BUY IT for sure.
mrfodder
This is very close to my thinking. Played through initially on racer and really enjoyed it and had a blast. That was until I got frustrated with the need to build up huge amounts of money before banking with the entire police force chasing you down.
I then moved to police mode expecting it to be harder due to the chasing down and discovered it was even more fun and didn’t have that banking frustration.
On a whole it is an enjoyable game and looks great on PS4, but it is flawed with both the inability to pause (real problem when you have kids) and annoyance of trying to bank money. BARGAIN BIN IT.