Need For Speed Unbound set for December release | FOS Future Lab

The art style is certainly distinctive and is in keeping with the intense look and feel NFS titles have gone for before and the drama of a more street-based narrative. From impact markers, to tyre smoke, to the game’s characters themselves, big props to the developers for coming up with something genuinely unique. Speaking of the game’s characters, musician A$ap Rocky is due to play a key character in the game, which will also feature his unique Mercedes 190E Cosworth.

"Need for Speed is about trendsetting,” said creative director Kieran Crimmins. “Need for Speed is about breaking the mould. Need for Speed is about rebellion. It's at the heart of that street racing fantasy, so we should be exploring new art styles and new visions and new ways the game can look, so that we can not only stand out from everything else, but also deliver innovation where we should be setting trends."

This is the first time since 2015’s Need for Speed reboot that a developer other than Ghost Games has been behind an entry in the series. Not that Unbound developer Criterion is any stranger to NFS and other racing titles. In addition to past favourites like 2010’s Hot Pursuit, it’s also responsible for initial entries in the Burnout series.

In spite of a developer change and shift in theme and focus, this isn’t considered a reboot. A number of assets will be carried over, including a great deal of car models used in the previous three games. Cars like the C6 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Nissan Silvia will be based on models going back as far as 2015 and beyond.

That said, with NFS Unbound being developed to take full advantage of the performance of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, it is set to be a step on in terms of graphics and physics. A given are 4K resolution and 60 frames per second visuals, which will extend to the physics, which will be all new for the game and, according to Criterion, deliver the best driving experience of any racer it’s produced.

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