Need for Speed The Run – A Quick Review

After several hours behind the wheel, I have to say Need for Speed The Run is pretty damn good fun packed with some wild driving and intense action and unlike many of the other Need for Speed episodes, it’s more than just smashing into the cops.

If you remember, I bought Need for Speed The Run on sale a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of the Need for Speed movie. Oddly though, I don’t recall this game getting a lot of publicity when it came out. Or if it did, it seemed to die down quickly. Kind of shame really as The Run has turned out to be a lot of fun and one of my favorites from the series.

The premise is simple, start in California and race across the country to be the first to arrive in New York. Easy enough, but this game actually has a story line and some plot twists that switch up the action. The roads leaving California are twisty and hard to navigate. The roads across Colorado are long and straight but terrible icy. The roads along the Plains are rolling hills that can and will launch you into oncoming traffic if you’re not careful. And while you’re racing to gain a certain number of positions in each state, the police are hell bent on stopping you. Trying to avoid a roadblock on the icy roads of Colorado doing 150mph is no mean feat.

And the further you progress the more determined the competition is to take you out.

I’m in 29th position as I make my final approach to New York. I’m currently under siege by men in black sedans with some heavy firepower. Clearly it’s going to take a couple a tries to get through this level. My last attempt ended in me getting riddled with bullet holes and splattering myself across the highway.

This was after I crashed the car and got myself trapped on the train tracks and had to press the buttons like mad in the sequence shown on the screen to make my escape.

Need for Speed offers some really great roads to drive that offer a lots of challenges. More than once I’ve been running flat out only to get taken by surprise by the steep angle of the upcoming turn so that I can aovid the farm directly in my path. Or the seemlingly innocent stage where I have to gain 8 place, but I have to do it while multiple poilce are trying to take me out. And there are the cut scenes where you actually get out of the car and do battle with the police. This new challenge has you pretty the buttons in a specific sequence as you try to make a get away. This forces you to switch cars and adds an interest dynamic.

The Run does have a couple of issues though. The typical EA rubber band effect is in full swing in this game. You can whip past an opponent or cop car at 190+mph only to have them catch right back up and pass you, even when using NOS. Who knew the police cruiser could hit 200mph and catch a tricked out Porsche? Like I said, this is nothing new, it’s been like this for years.

Overall, The Run has been a quite impressive and I’ve had a good time racing across the country. I like the way this is laid out since it’s not just the same series of tracks or racing around the same town. I like the change of scenery.

Since I got the game for less than $9, there is very little to complain about. I’ve gotten several hours worth of entertainment out of it and I’m sure there’s a couple more to go before I finish this race. If you’re looking for something new and haven’t jumped on board with all the Early Access games out there, Need for Speed The Run is a pretty good choice.