Game info

• Title Need for Speed Rivals
• Developer [Ghost Games Criterion Games]
• Publisher [Electronic Arts]
• Year 2013
• Platform Playstation 5
• Genre Racing

Welcome to Redview County, where a street-racing rivalry between cops and racers never stops as both sides compete in an all-out war featuring the fastest cars, mods and technology in a gritty open road environment. Play as either a cop or racer, where each side of the law has its own set of high stakes challenges, rewards and consequences. Risk everything in the ultimate high stakes rivalry.

Player Select

This is an old game that I have previously played and loved on earlier versions of the Playstation, but when I saw it for a super cheap price in a Playstation sale, I figured it was worth a bit of nostalgia. I love racing games but I am not very good at them, so it’s always an adventure trying to find one that isn’t too out of reach for my mediocre skills.

It’s in the Game

There’s a good premise at the heart of this - you’re playing either as a street racer, or as a cop in pursuit, although the challenges and things you need to do are quite similar in each path. Drive fast, chase other cars, participate in races and head to head battles, and try and bank points before you have so many crashes you wreck, or you’re busted by the cops.

There’s an open world map that you drive around, with different events scattered around, and it’s fun to explore. The visuals are really good (have they been updated for PS5 or were they always this good?) and the weather system adds a level of reality and challenge to the game. You bank points, upgrade your car or add new vehicles to your garage and generally just try and get better and win more. It’s good fun.

I do have to pause for a moment and share how frustrating it was to try and get the game going in the first place, though. You could play through the tutorial no problem but then needed to login via EA… and the process wouldn’t work with 2-Factor authentication switched on. I don’t know what they’ve done but the login screens are not at all helpful and prohibitive in places. Thankfully the internet guided us right and eventually I did manage to get playing and racing.

Thoughts

So it was a bit of a downer to start with, but once I did get playing, the game quickly over-rode those negative feelings. It’s fun to go fast and explore the county, the streets and all the shortcuts. I’m not great at racing, but it’s fun to try and if I put in the hours, I reckon I can get a bit better and start winning some events. More importantly, the game is just as good as I remembered - hooray!

Rating: 4 / 5