Need For Speed Payback Review: A Great Start is Ruined By Grind

2017 marks one of the biggest and most exciting years from video games, and that extends to the racing genre specifically. In addition to a new entry in the Forza Motorsport franchise, one that supports the latest and greatest in console hardware (the Xbox One X), there's a Project Cars sequel, a new Gran Turismo game, and after a year off the market, EA and developer Ghost Games have brought back the Need For Speed series with Need For Speed Payback.

Given the mixed reactions to the PS4 exclusive Gran Turismo Sport, the awful progression system Forza Motorsport 7 is killing itself with, and the niche nature of Project Cars 2, Need For Speed Payback had the unique opportunity as a mainstream multi-platform triple-A title to really capture the market. But it doesn't.

Need For Speed Payback starts off on a relatively strong note and addresses a few of the major criticisms of the 2015 "reboot" of the series. The story campaign can be played offline for instance and the story begins by throwing players right into the action to introduce multiple driving styles and its three protagonists. There's the drift specialist, Mac, the getaway driver, Jess, and the sort of main character, a precision driver named Tyler.

The game doubles down on the cinematic action and brings with it a story and easy-to-play racing experience that’s pleasant to look at as it is to play. Need For Speed Payback is essentially an interactive Need For Speed movie and the closest thing you’ll find to a Fast and Furious game this year (based on the earlier movies where it was more cars and cops, of course).

The story revolves around a car heist gone awry, and crews of racers battling "The House," an organization profiting from rigging races in the game's fictional take on Las Vegas. Most of the dialogue is cringe-worthy, and sometimes just plain terrible when it comes to the "car talk" but overall it's totally serviceable in moving the player along and providing reason and motivation for the car action. The game boasts a great soundtrack too that plays nice with the impressive visuals and sound effects for a nice style that stands out from the other big racers this holiday season.

Is Need For Speed Payback’s Driving Good Though?

As for the gameplay, driving is fast and forgivable. Of the three big racers out this season, Need For Speed Payback is the easiest to pickup and play from a driving mechanics standpoint. It's highly unrealistic so in no way is this a sim racer and it's not trying to be. Especially when it comes to inconsistent AI who sometimes make it punishing or impossible to complete side challenges.

Cars drive right through many objects - from light posts to fences - with ease and can bounce off walls without being wrecked. Turning is responsive and breaking or hand-breaking is extremely overzealous, making sharp turns easy to manage, and it plays well into the style the game is going for.

Players can choose between multiple third-person camera angles while driving, or a first-person hood view, and the right stick on the controller makes looking around or side to side, smooth and easier than the other games on the market. Unfortunately, unlike the competition, Need For Speed Payback doesn’t have its car interiors rendered so there’s no in-car experience. Given the game type however, it’s arguably not needed.

As for the structure of the game, while story beats largely dictate the cars and locations, Need For Speed Payback utilizes a checkpoint system (and things like speed traps) to guide players down its objective paths. For driving through these various checkpoints types and beating times, players earn a star rating. Stars earned lead to unlocking in-game rewards.

Otherwise, the world is open. After the tutorial and story introductions, players can access and explore the Need For Speed Payback game map. In between the main races and story segments, there are collectibles and mini events. It's here where the excitement level falls off.

Grind and Loot Boxes Ruin Need For Speed Payback

As soon as the Need For Speed Payback map begins to populate, the pace of the gameplay comes to a grinding halt. There are a lot of icons for repetitive activities to complete but it's the main game progression that really kills it. Players are able to quickly get a car of each type (i.e. speed vs. off-road) in order to participate in the main races but in order to really compete, the game requires players to increase the "level" of their vehicle of choice in each class.

This can be done in two ways: by simply purchasing a better car from a shop which requires exponentially more credits (hours of your time) than the game's activities pay out, or acquiring car upgrades ("Speed Cards") by purchasing or earning them in events. By finishing a race for instance, three flipped over cards appear on screen and players can randomly choose one of the random rewards in hopes to have one stat on their vehicle increase ever so slightly. It's arbitrary, stupid, and feels entirely out of place. Players have no control in levelling up and tweaking the performance of their vehicle and worse, it's a slow and not-fun process that turned us off from the game quickly.

Page 2 of 2: Is The Need for Speed Franchise Dead?

The Need For Speed reboot in 2015 didn't work and earned mixed responses form fans and critics so Ghost Games and Electronic Arts took a year off, returning in 2017 with their next attempt in Need For Speed Payback. It doesn't work either.

There seems to be some obvious disconnect between prioritizing a strong, unique game design with a noteworthy story and... progression systems (read: monetization). It doesn't do any of these things very well.

Random card drops do not enhance any element of a car racing game. It's never going to be fun to repeat races or events over and over again, to see a number go up, in order to exchange it for another number to go up, to compete in race that'll need to be repeated again and again to get to the next stage where the cycle begins anew.

This is especially problematic since we know, as an EA product, this grind is likely intentional to psychologically manipulate a portion of the playerbase into using real-world money to purchase loot boxes which are called "Shipments." Shipments include vanity items (to pretty up cars), in-game currency (there it is!) and "Speed Rolls" - another form of gambling which, in EA's own words, "are like a slot machine where you can roll for a chance to win Speed Cards that you can use to upgrade your cars."

Ugh.

How Many Cars Are In Need For Speed Payback?

There are 74 cars from nearly two dozen car manufacturers (no Toyota or Ferrari due to licensing) available at the launch of Need For Speed Payback but given the payout system, most of them players will simply never drive.

2017 Acura NSX
Acura RSX-S
Aston Martin DB11
Aston Martin Vulcan
Audi R8 V10 Plus
Audi S5 Sportback
BMW M2
BMW M3 E46
BMW M3 E92
BMW M4 GTS
BMW M5
BMW X6 M
Buick GNX
Chevrolet Bel Air
Chevrolet C10
Chevrolet Camaro SS
Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Dodge Challenger SRT8
1969 Dodge Charger
Dodge (SRT) Viper
Ford F-150 Raptor
Ford Focus RS
Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang Boss 302
Ford Mustang GT
‘32 Ford
Beck Customs ‘32 Ford
Honda Civic Type R EK
Honda Civic Type R FK2
Honda NSX Type R
Honda S2000
Jaguar F-Type R
Koenigsegg Regera
Lamborghini Aventador
Lamborghini Diablo SV
Lamborghini Huracan
Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4
Land Rover Defender 110
Lotus Exige S
Mazda MX-5 Miata NA
Mazda MX-5 Miata ND
Mazda RX-7 Spirit R
McLaren 570S
McLaren P1
Mercedes-AMG A45
Mercedes-AMG G63
Mercedes-AMG GT
Mercury Cougar
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Nissan 180SX Type X
Nissan 350Z
Nissan Fairlady 240ZG
Nissan GT-R Premium
Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R Aero
Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R
Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 V-Spec
Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec
Pagani Huayra BC
Plymouth Barracuda
Porsche 911 Carrera S 991
Porsche 911 Carrera S 993
Porsche 911 GT3 RS 991
Porsche 911 RSR 2.8
Porsche 918 Spyder
Porsche Panamera Turbo
Subaru BRZ
Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Volvo 242DL
Volvo Amazon P130

A removal of gambling systems and loot boxes, and replacing grind with improved gameplay, could save the franchise in future iterations. This path Ghost Games is on though, is an off-road race where everyone loses.