I've always liked this game because I have a bit of a soft spot for Need for Speed games, especially the modern ones, but I will admit this game was pretty lackluster at launch with many features I still don't like, such as the split online and offline and subpar story. The first year of post launch support was also pretty mixed, with crappy paid DLC but some welcome features to online mode that are staples nowadays, like the linkups.
Heading into year 2, Criterion announced they'd be splitting; half of the studio would work on battlefield and the other half would work on post launch support for Need for Speed. I remember the community was defeated by this and we were worried there wouldn't be any more need for speed. Then Criterion invited a bunch of influencers in the NFS sphere, like youtubers and streamers, to talk about what the community wanted in a need for speed game. Ever since then, the content that the team has been putting out has been amazing. Only a few weeks after that little meetup they had announced a roadmap and would call it "project kaizen" aimed towards making the game better and releasing multiple big content updates to make the game better.
Even though this current team working on the game is extremely small, they have been doing an amazing job making this game what it is today, with each update surprising the entire playerbase with new game modes and features. The most recent lockdown update has been amazing so far, bringing a gamemode I can't stop playing with amazing rewards. The work that this little team has been able to do in year 2 is absolutely amazing and they really deserve all the credit in the world

ok now that my autistic rambling is over i'll put bullet points under the 3 paragraphs because thats probably the only thing people reading this will look at
· handling: I'm gonna be a little controversial and say I like the handling. It's got a hell of a skill curve and the people complaining about it don't take the time to learn it. You can drive crazy fast in this game and every car is viable if you're good enough (kinda, there are some meta cars though)
· singleplayer gameplay: it's very repetitive. do some day races, do some night races, do the end of week races, rinse and repeat. I think they should've just kept the formula from Heat, with day racing giving money and night races giving REP while also having a cop-centric risk reward mechanic. It made things much more interesting. The story in this game is also so boring and uninspired, there's really no motivation except for the driving, which is amazing and exciting, with the driving effects and other racers trash talking you during the race.
· multiplayer gameplay: much better with recent updates. the addition of PVP lobbies really saved the multiplayer for me. It's not the best system but the dev team is working with what they have. Freeroam is also fairly fun with linkups and boosted playlists popping up now and then.
· cops: the cops in this game are such a downgrade from Heat. They add nothing to the gameplay except for keeping you from getting to races in singleplayer. they are a bit better in multiplayer with the hot pursuit and lockdown gamemodes though.
· graphics: this game is beautiful and I LOVE the driving effects. Everyone hates on them way too much but I love them and they fit this game so well

idrk what else to say. I'll always play a NFS game even if it's got a lot of flaws, anything NFS related is gonna be miles more fun than anything Forza anyway.

I've always liked this game because I have a bit of a soft spot for Need for Speed games, especially the modern ones, but I will admit this game was pretty lackluster at launch with many features I still don't like, such as the split online and offline and subpar story. The first year of post launch support was also pretty mixed, with crappy paid DLC but some welcome features to online mode that are staples nowadays, like the linkups. Heading into year 2, Criterion announced they'd be splitting; half of the studio would work on battlefield and the other half would work on post launch support for Need for Speed. I remember the community was defeated by this and we were worried there wouldn't be any more need for speed. Then Criterion invited a bunch of influencers in the NFS sphere, like youtubers and streamers, to talk about what the community wanted in a need for speed game. Ever since then, the content that the team has been putting out has been amazing. Only a few weeks after that little meetup they had announced a roadmap and would call it "project kaizen" aimed towards making the game better and releasing multiple big content updates to make the game better. Even though this current team working on the game is extremely small, they have been doing an amazing job making this game what it is today, with each update surprising the entire playerbase with new game modes and features. The most recent lockdown update has been amazing so far, bringing a gamemode I can't stop playing with amazing rewards. The work that this little team has been able to do in year 2 is absolutely amazing and they really deserve all the credit in the world ok now that my autistic rambling is over i'll put bullet points under the 3 paragraphs because thats probably the only thing people reading this will look at · handling: I'm gonna be a little controversial and say I like the handling. It's got a hell of a skill curve and the people complaining about it don't take the time to learn it. You can drive crazy fast in this game and every car is viable if you're good enough (kinda, there are some meta cars though) · singleplayer gameplay: it's very repetitive. do some day races, do some night races, do the end of week races, rinse and repeat. I think they should've just kept the formula from Heat, with day racing giving money and night races giving REP while also having a cop-centric risk reward mechanic. It made things much more interesting. The story in this game is also so boring and uninspired, there's really no motivation except for the driving, which is amazing and exciting, with the driving effects and other racers trash talking you during the race. · multiplayer gameplay: much better with recent updates. the addition of PVP lobbies really saved the multiplayer for me. It's not the best system but the dev team is working with what they have. Freeroam is also fairly fun with linkups and boosted playlists popping up now and then. · cops: the cops in this game are such a downgrade from Heat. They add nothing to the gameplay except for keeping you from getting to races in singleplayer. they are a bit better in multiplayer with the hot pursuit and lockdown gamemodes though. · graphics: this game is beautiful and I LOVE the driving effects. Everyone hates on them way too much but I love them and they fit this game so well idrk what else to say. I'll always play a NFS game even if it's got a lot of flaws, anything NFS related is gonna be miles more fun than anything Forza anyway.