A car chase in Need for Speed Payback that looks a lot like a Fast & Furious Still
EA just dropped the first look at this year’s Need for Speed installment. Titled Need for Speed Payback, this will be the first game in the series since 2015’s Need for Speed with EA having shifted from an annual to a bi-annual release schedule. The minute and a half long teaser showcases the game’s theme and hints at a plot circling around betrayal and, you guessed correctly, Payback.
The trailer seems to be heavily inspired by the Fast & Furious franchise which ironically, was itself inspired by the Need for Speed series of games during its earlier days. The movies have since moved on to become more action-oriented flicks featuring the use of cars in some clever and not-so-clever ways. After experimenting with different genres such as underground street racing (The Underground series), track racing (Need for Speed Pro Street, Need for Speed Shift), and arcade racing (the new Need for Speed Most Wanted), the franchise seems to be following the Fast & Furious movies and settling on the plot-based game format with car-focused action that it helped pioneer with 2005’s critically acclaimed Need for Speed Most Wanted, considered by many to be the best in the series.
The short teaser suggests that the plot will center around a crew betrayed by one of their own and seeking vengeance of some form. The official synopsis for the game sheds more light on this:
Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, you and your crew are reunited by a search for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals, and cops.
From the looks of it, car customization is going to be a big deal in Payback as the trailer hints at heavy vehicle modifications being possible, taking it from scrap to supercar. The graphics look impressive and the game’s storytelling looks like it’ll most closely resemble Need for Speed Run in the series although we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out.
Need for Speed Payback is set for release on November 10, 2017 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. EA has promised more gameplay videos are on their way in the upcoming days and with E3 just around the corner, we suspect we’ll be seeing one of those at the conference itself. In the meanwhile, you can learn more about the game by visiting the official page here.
