If any studio is going to master this new hardware first, my money is on Criterion and Ghost Games and their Need For Speed games. Granted, Need For Speed Rivals is a purely arcade-like game experience and racing fans who want more in the way of total car customization and more racing viewpoints will gripe a bit about the game as they usually do with other racers. Me, I’ll just be jamming on the gas, sliding through turns and causing all sorts of mayhem while enjoying the scenery and trying to wreck as little as possible. This one’s on current and next-gen consoles (not the Wii U, though – sorry!), so pick one and GO, I say. Online or off, it’s bound to be a blast.
SO, it seems that resolution is the BIG thing for many gamers and journalists out there rolling around on the ground fighting with each other and it seems that the PS4 has an advantage on SOME titles over the Xbox One, which is the reverse of how it was on many third party titles throughout this past generation. While those folks fight it out in clouds of dust and misspelled diatribes, I’ll just post these two trailers from Criterion’s upcoming racer and let you decide which looks best. The BEST way to see these videos is at their highest resolution (1080p), so hopefully you know how to do that with YouTube videos.
Anyway, Here’s the PlayStation 4 version below:
Annnnd below, here’s Rivals on the Xbox One. Oh wait, look at your HAIR! Ha! Next time close the window and fasten that seat belt. Sorry, I forgot to warn you we were going to go FAST. Anyway, ready? Good:
Did you notice anything different? Do you even care? Are you wearing socks right nor or are they stuck to the wall on the other side of the room after being blown clean off (and if so, I’m SO sorry if you were wearing expensive panty hose!)? I guess the sales figures will tell at the end of the day, but system bias will rear its head even more as both consoles roll onto shelves and the knives come out once again. Hell, they’re ALREADY out and have been since before each new system was announced. No one wins in that war, by the way… but sitting on the sidelines with a load of popcorn makes for some fine entertainment for me before I get bored and go back to playing some of those games everyone else is nitpicking over because of a few flaws or whatever that some won’t even notice because they only have one console at home and just don’t care what the competition is up to…
Well, EA’s upcoming racer Need for Speed Rivals (above) looks really great and that live gameplay demo at the press event was really quite cool as it went from single player to multiplayer modes seamlessly. Still, I’m not quite sold on the upcoming movie in production, as I think that money would be better spent on making the game as good as it gets and to other SKUs along with the one coming for Next-Gen consoles. Well, what do I know, right? Eh, we’ll see what’s what – the comment in the behind the scenes vid below about the film being an accurate representation of car culture is a TOTAL hoot, as it comes right before a crazy crash that probably would kill a driver in real life… oops.
Well, this should be interesting, as the game looks like it’ll keep racing fans OUT of theaters, not send them into one to catch this because they’d rather PLAY instead of watch… we shall see…
Criterion’s new multiplayer-centric racing game (which also has a fine single player component) has some spectacular speed (the rock-solid smoothest 30fps racer you’ll play this year), a massive open world feel and constant action even when you’re blasting around on the way to events. Plenty of licensed cars, plenty of racing action and plenty of opportunities to raise havoc online of off means plenty of time spent sunk into your couch when you should be doing more productive things. Then again, getting to the top of your Autolog listing and staying there IS important, grrrr! EA has a winner here – go let them know it with a buy, I say…
Here’s yet another cool look at Criterion’s upcoming open-world racer, this time it’s a fun live action ad that’s kind of like Carfight as the OK Corral. Well, in an urban setting, of course. I love the editing here and how the focus is on a handful of the many types of licensed rides awaiting players in the final version. I played another nice chunk of this at EA’s Naughty or Nice event last week and it’s just as fun as the first time I picked up a controller. The mobile versions I got to try were equally spectacular, so keep an eyeball peeled for those if you’re looking for one of the best portable racers out there.
Soooo, what are you doing this weekend? If you’re around NYC or are popping in for a bit, you can play two of EA’s upcoming titles and maybe WIN some cool prizes with your gaming prowess. Out of nowhere, a truck rolls up (through a mysterious cloud of smoke optional), opens up and *BOOM!* the gaming gets underway. Playable versions of Need For Speed: Most Wanted(Criterion’s spectacular return to form with a crazy amount of cars and seriously fun multiplayer content that should make any Burnout fan keel over with joy) and FIFA Soccer 13(depending on who you ask, arguably the best footie game on the market), are headed around the town for three days:
WHEN & WHERE:
Sept. 28, 3 PM – 8 PM: Upper 90 (697 Amsterdam Avenue New York, New York)
Sept. 28, 9 PM – Midnight: Genesis Bar (1708 2nd Ave #1, New York, New York)
Sept. 29, 10 AM – 1 PM: Legends (6 W 33rd St. New York, New York)
Sept. 29, 2 PM – 6 PM: GameStop (2322 Broadway and 85th St. #1, New York, New York)
Sept. 30, 9 AM – 9 PM: Upper 90 (359 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
Will I show up to beat some of you into submission or lose terribly to the better man or woman? I’m not quite sure just yet, as I still have a pile of work to get to here. But who knows? Oh, I’d probably lose to anyone at FIFA, as I like watching more than playing. But as for NFS: MW? I did win one journalist’s tourney at an EA press event a while back, so I can at least hold my own at that game.
Platform: PS3 (also on Xbox 360, Wii, PC) Developer: Criterion Games Publisher: Electronic Arts # of Players: 1 (online 2 – 8) ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +) Official Site
Score: A-
In Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Criterion Games' new Autolog feature is very much like a way too loyal robotic dog that lives on a diet of Red Bull-laced motor oil and rechargeable batteries, and that's a both a good and bad thing, boys and girls. If you absolutely THRIVE on competition, It's a good dog (Good dog! Goooood doggieeeeee!) because it keeps you on your toes, notifying you constantly that your formerly best times have been beaten, who beat you and yes, that you should drop everything and go get your record times back. Paradoxically, if you're a casual gamer who happens to plug into PSN or Xbox Live for some friendly competition (or a mere system update before playing the game) Autolog is a bad dog (bad dog! BAD! NO!), constantly interrupting your set racing schedule to let you know someone's peed or pooped all over your best times and how much of a LOSER you are for not going on ahead and racing every fool that's ready to take you down and leave the smell of virtual burnt rubber in your nostrils. Damn you, Autolog! Now go sit in your box… GO!
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