Need for Speed Unbound gameplay trailer showcases risk & reward racing

Need for Speed Unbound NfS Header

EA and Criterion have released a new gameplay trailer for Need for Speed Unbound, showcasing the risk and reward of trying to outdrive the cops, placing side bets with rival racers, and litting us take in more of its distinctive art direction. Need for Speed Unbound is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on 2nd December 2022.

The blurb for the video says, “To get to the top, you gotta take risks. Choose how and when to put it all on the line, pulling huge drifts on the street, outdriving the cops, or placing side bets with your own earnings against rival racers. Time is money, so find the fastest way to earn enough cash to enter the weekly qualifiers and make it to Lakeshore’s ultimate race, The Grand.”

It looks like a pretty fun open world arcade racer with cop races, a bit of argy-bargy, and there’s even pedestrians walking around, but it’s that distinctive art style really helps it stand apart from previous entries in the long-running NfS series. The game takes a modern photorealistic take on a city – Lakeshore is based on Chicago – but then layers grungy graffiti effects on top of the action. Tyre smoke billows with cel shaded style, all of the characters have a cartoony look to them, and pulling jumps and using the Burst Nitrous triggers screen-wide explosions of colour and graffiti art around your car.

If that’s not your vibe, it has been confirmed that every effect aside from the tyre smoke and light trails is entirely optional.

Further reading: Need for Speed Unbound car list confirmed with over 140 vehicles

This is the first Need for Speed of the generation, and having been used to tease a new generation of tech on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it’s a new generation exclusive. Development has been a little disrupted, though. Having started work in 2019, Criterion was then shifted over to assist in the final year of development for Battlefield 2042, putting their Need for Speed project on hold. They were able to get back to work on NfS around a year ago, but then it was announced that Codemasters Cheshire is now be a part of Criterion Games. Perhaps development was smoother on the inside, but from the outside it’s looked a bit jumbled.

Source: YouTube

Written by
I'm probably wearing toe shoes, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!