In my opinion Need for Speed games have always been about fun. The thrill of a cop chase or a final NOS boost across the finish line rarely fails to deliver a hardy amount of satisfaction and enjoyment. Perhaps it’s the rubber-band AI that keeps me on the edge of my seat, or the customization that can occupy me for hours. Although one thing is for sure, NFS seems to have aged a whole lot recently, and developed a nasty case of arthritis and schizophrenia.  

In 2002 I welcomed the shiny new NFS: Hot pursuit 2 into my life, although delivering a somewhat satisfactory experience I certainly wasn’t complaining. That same year saw the release of the hit street racing, car tuning popular movie The Fast and the Furious. EA having just released their sixth NFS game possibly made the greatest decision ever. They put 1 and 1 together by applying the popular elements of the movie and shoving them straight into their next game, NFS: The Fast and the Furious Underground. This wise move ascended the NFS franchise into what I like to refer to as the Golden Age of modern NFS gaming (2003 – 2005). 

Introducing a mass of “import” cars, performance tuning, body modification and even a god damn story, Underground truly revolutionized the NFS series. EA, the sly dogs they are, caught on and noticed they were actually doing something right. Expanding further on Underground premise, Underground 2 could only been seen as an improvement on the original. Also containing something never before seen in NFS was Free-roaming. Yep that’s right, you could drive to your godamn race, or cruise around for 10 hours if you wanted. Again we saw the bar lifted with Most Wanted. This installation saw the customisation simplified, the reintroduction of muscle and exotics as well as Police chases. Considered the epitome of the Golden Age, Most wanted is viewed by many as the last great Need for Speed. 

EA, swimming in their pool of cash, once again peered out at mainstream pop culture only to catch glimpses of the latest Fast and the Furious instalment, Tokyo Drift. Following previous suit they of course had a crack at copying this movie cash cow with NFS: Carbon. Carbon heavily flaunted its canyon racing mode, where two drivers would duel it out in a drift down the mountain, desperately trying to imitate Tokyo Drift. Although somewhat successful, over the top customization and toned down police chases bought the Golden age to an end, in turn ushering NFS into the Dark Ages. 

Although not a total disaster Carbon did some things right, unlike ProStreet. The removal of free roam as well as police pursuits was a total step backwards which seemingly didn’t feel like a NFS game at all. Undercover… wait, what’s that? I stopped paying attention 2 years ago.

• Undercover was the 12th game in the series
• A new NFS game has been released annually since 1997
• EA  Franchise milking cash whores

These three obvious points have pretty much been the demise of the once loved Need for Speed series. EA apparently sold 5.2 million copies of Undercover over all nine release platforms which include the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PC, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and mobile phone. Around the time of Carbon’s release, something changed. EA realised they could just re-skin their last game and slap on the NFS logo. This process practically prints money regardless of quality, and they’ve been doing this for oh so long now. Especially with other game franchises acquired from aggressive industry buyouts. 

According to the graph, we can expect the next Need for Speed instalment to be the worst on record. I mean the next four Need for Speed instalments. EA has already announced a Free to play mmo for the PC, a childish themed racer for the Wii, and a hardcore touring car themed racer for inevitably all systems, as well as another unannounced title in the works all set for release this year and all with the Need for Speed logo copy-pasted on. Seems awfully similar  to the direction Battlefield is taking this year ..Yes that’s right, EA’s trend of the year is to release not just one game, but many of the same in slight money-grabbing variations. 

In conclusion I’m sure you didn’t need a reminder of EA’s quality dedication and jew-like behaviour. If only they abolished those silly deadlines for releases, and maybe aimed a little higher. eh.. one can dream. In the end the big guy at the top wants more money, and if he keeps the current trend going, he’ll unfortunately get it.