‘Need for Speed’ is back and offers us a curious facelift in Unbound, which will reach next-gen this year

It remains to be seen to what extent the innovative aesthetic commitment that can be seen in the trailer permeates the mechanics and gameplay of the final game, but for now, it is clear that EA wants to renew ‘Need for Speed. At the moment, and a few hours earlier than expected, we have a trailer that already advances a date, December 2, 2022. And a few formats that make us rub our hands: Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. That is to say, the new ‘Need for Speed will be, in principle, exclusively next-gen.

This will allow Criterion to squeeze the graphic possibilities of the new systems (thanks to the Frostbite Engine, which will provide the game with 4K graphics at 60fps), something that shines in a trailer where there is hardly any difference between cinematics and the apparent game sequences more or less accurate. For the rest, we have the essential ingredients in any ‘NFS’: illegal races, street bets, urban environments, tuned cars and very high speeds for the most successful arcade driving franchise.

‘Unbound’ also corroborates the return of Criterion Games to the franchise after a few years with the saga shooting blind. Neither the reboot ‘Need for Speed’, nor ‘Payback’ nor ‘Heat’ had lived up to expectations, so we return to those responsible for the last universally acclaimed games in the series: ‘Most Wanted’ and ‘Rivals’, which along with also great ‘Hot Pursuit’ are the titles in which the British study took the reins of the saga.