"Dirty Pool Old Man" NFS: The Run, One Less in the Backlog Review

Wahoo! Another dusty title from the backlog down.



Actually got this for dirt cheap during Christmas because I always liked playing the Need for Speed series. Something about slamming into a wall doing 150 mph and still winning the race is just more enjoyable than slowing down for corners. This particular title came out a while ago only to bad reviews, that are understandable.

I frigging can't remember the lead characters name right now, (memorable...nope). He is in trouble with he mob, so he joins a race across the States, LA to NY. This is what I really thought was an interesting concept, with memorable and recognizable locations that would be highlighted in the game. Yea, you can slap a name on a mountain pass and call it the Rockies, or the open stretch of road, the plains. Lame.

Scattered throughout the game are other racers that they give a three line story of why they are racing and you must beat them. Nothing is fleshed out at all. In past NFSs, while story was weak, it was still something. Broken into 10 stages you race though deserts, mountains and plains. The highways, high speed accidents waiting to happen and the cities highly technical streets twisting though major metropolis. LA, Denver, Chicago and NY all as major hubs to the racing, escape from the mob/police. This where context sequences are used to get away from the cops. You f*ck up your car in each of this locations and the game offers up a new faster tier of racer. My choices mainly were Lamborghinis (I mean, come on, we all had the folder with the Diablo in our Trapper Keeper) and got to race a cream in you pants Aventador LP640. If I had the money I'd probably rent it for a day, I'd hate to see insurance rates on that bitch. While the racing was pretty drab, here and there are action sequences that tested your ability to drive and still win the race. In the Rockies you race down a road with blasting, tornadoes in the plains, dust storms in the deserts and finally the f*cking mob. These were at least, somewhat, cool?

What I didn't like. The load times on this game are ridiculous, I don't know about anybody else who plays racing games, but for me personally I like quick restarts to stay centered in that racing zen focus. When a load time lasts upwards of 3-4 minutes you start dreading finishing the game if you have to deal with this BS. The difficulty spikes dramatically right at the beginning of the game which is surprising, by the time you hit the final finish line you think that race was really kind of easy. The mob is always trying to take you down throughout the game and they have fucking guns and SUVs that somehow can maneuver just as well as my Lambo doing 161 mph. (???) Oh, and they have Helicopters with guns too. "They're f*ckin' shooting at me!" Then there is the every other racer category.  These f*ckers don't play fair. Here's an example, myself and racer dickhead are speeding toward a semi trailer side by side, we split to either side of the truck. Now the physics in this game has shown me that, my car can't f*king touch this rig without my car wrecking and doing flips. So what's racer dickhead do with the broken ass physics, he slams into the rig, right into me, like a bulldozer. There I go,...flip, flip, flip. F*cking BS. Slamming into a wall and still doing 120 or being taken out by racer dickheads. You take the fun with the bad I guess.

The only race I enjoyed was the final battle to the finish. They did do some cool and also nerve racking things with NY scenery. Back alleys, parks and the subway. Very intense, the first time through. I'd give this a Meh INU.

SWS out.