Need for Speed Rivals Hands-On

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Need for Speed Rivals Hands-On

Need for Speed Rivals Aston-Vanquish

When the idyllic forests and glittering coasts of Redview County are screaming by your window, there’s precious little time to appreciate online functionality like Alldrive. Which, in a way, suggests how well it’s been implemented in the blazing-fast Need for Speed Rivals.

From the newly minted Ghost Games in Gothenburg, Sweden, Rivals launches alongside PS4 on November 15th. It puts players firmly behind the wheel of either a cop or racer in a massive network of roads, laced through boiling desert and rainy hills. Rivals made an impressive appearance at the PS4 launch event here in New York City, with a live demonstration of the Alldrive multiplayer functionality, and even a few perilous night races using PS Vita Remote Play.

With DualShock 4 in hand, I dropped into Redview — which was heavily inspired by the California coast — where several players were already burning through the map. Ghost Games’ Founder Marcus Nilsson was at my side as a fellow cop. No pressure. Pulling up alongside his beautiful patrol car, he started a pursuit event. One touch of L1 and we were in the event together, chasing after a group of racers that tore over dirt roads and asphalt alike. Neither menus nor load times separated the free-roaming drive and the multiplayer event.

Need for Speed Rivals on PS4Need for Speed Rivals Bugatti-Veyron

By default, Need for Speed Rivals will place you in the drivable world of Redview County along with your friends online. But you can change that to a public setting to mix things up, or take on the adrenaline-pumping challenges solo. And there’s always something to do in Rivals, given that Assignments (cops) and Speedlist items (racers) dot the right side of the screen. Completing these activities will earn you better cars and game-changing upgrades, and they keep you locked into the thrill of the chase.

Both cops and racers have access to special tech that enhances the tactical variety of every race. Cops, for example, can deploy electrical fields, or fire off debilitating shockwaves that punch cars right off the road. Meanwhile, racers break the limits and laws with turbo boosts and jammers.

Need for Speed Rivals, 03

With 100 miles of drivable road — not including the twisting shortcuts throughout — there’s much to see and more to do in Need for Speed Rivals. And the team at Ghost Games has targeted a consistent 30 frames per second, along with native 1080p, which makes Rivals look quite stunning — especially at such high speeds. Furthermore, you can bring Rivals onto PS Vita with Remote Play. It only took seconds for the Vita to take control of Rivals, and then all the sights and sounds of Redview popped on the portable’s screen with surprising fidelity.

Need for Speed Rivals launches alongside PS4 later this week on November 15th. Whether you’re a driver with a whole crew of racing buddies, or a lone wolf hungry for a challenge, Rivals wants to keep your car running and your knuckles white.

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28 Comments

3 Author Replies

  • Hype train is running a bit fast this week eh Clements? Enough, I want Sony to fly around the world so fast they make it Friday.

  • Will this game be a [Digital Code] on Amazon.com come release date before midnight launch. I’m going all Digital for PS4. Also I’d like to know if you Preorder on Amazon.com if it comes available. Before the release do we still get the Amazon.com exclusive Preorder bonus stuff too?

  • Or else I’m going to freeze myself like Cartman did.

  • Good to hear that Rival is shaping up nicely.
    Any news on when it’ll be available in the PSN store?

    Oh yeah. alomost forgot- Beyond!

  • @2 can’t you preorder on PSN?

  • And another Hands On! Go Ryan Go! This is Day 1 Digital for me as well. Love the series. Love the last two titles. Love the video previews over at IGN. Can’t wait! Beyond!

  • Hmmm. According to Amazon, the Nov 15th release date is very squishy. Their official line is “Delivery estimate We need a little more time to provide you with a good estimate. We’ll notify you via e-mail as soon as we have an estimated delivery date. ”

    First, no Watch Dogs to play on my shiny new PS4. And now it looks like another shoe dropped. Ugh.

  • Looking forward to this on PS4!

  • Sounds really good i’ll pick it up tomorrow, hey Clement do you know if we can two player play one using PS4 and the other via remote-play?

  • I thought this was going to release on the 19th ? If on the 15th, then yay! But still… i’ve seen some online shop with 19th…

  • Tempted to get this at launch, but so far there just isn’t enough info, videos, images etc… Like a lot of launch titles (unjustice is another example).

    Hopefully there will be a demo on the PS4 store, since barring a flood of new media in the next two days, I haven’t seen enough to buy it.

  • Remote play makes me more curious for this. Though I would have totally bought a PS Vita version. Oh well.

    Don’t want to burnout (heh) on racing games before DriveClub…

  • Thanks Ryan! I was hoping for that! The tiles i wanted to get at launch were being pushed to 2014 so this is great news for me!

  • I just picked up my copy at my local GS and I’m really excited to use the remote play feature.

  • Just curious: while Remote Play sounds and looks awesome, how about off-TV play directly on the Vita?

  • Downloading this Friday as soon as I get home with the PS4. I love having the NFS games on my HDD.

  • And yeah, “Dat Remote Play”!

  • What’s the deal with availability on this?!
    The Amazon release date shows the 15th, but my estimated delivery is Dec 27th?!

  • I love the series, but I want to know why it got away from customizing the cars. To me that is what made the game great, spending as much time customizing your cars as you did playing the game. The individuality and different ways you could make a car look compared to other players.

    WHY OH WHY can we not visually upgrade our cars anymore?

    Chances are I will still play this one as well, but if I could bring one thing back to the series it would be visual upgrades.

  • @19 TBShark

    Customization is back! There is a video on the official Youtube channel showing of the customizations. At first I thought it was just paint jobs, but it reminds me of Underground. The only thing I didn’t see was custom body kits like side skirts, bumpers, and exhaust.

    QUESTION:

    Does the game offer a HOOD cam view? I hated how Most Wanted (2012) removed the hood cam. Please confirm!

    BEYOND

  • I pre ordered ps3 psn version cant believe I cant upgrade for 10 dollars like call of duty and bf4 now all im going to have on ps4 is shooters and no racers cause driveclub delay
    or will this ever be added to 10 dollar upgrade?

  • Ordered today on the Amazon buy 2 get 1 free deal.

  • I didn’t think that racing games were your cup of tea, kind of like those sports games.

    “Do you make the touchdowns in the hockey, and the home runs in the basketball?” :P

    Love you Ryan, keep up the great work!

    P.S. I can’t help myself. Beyond!

    You are one of the founding fathers after all, and this mustn’t be forgotten. :)

  • I wonder if this game will be better than Most Wanted from last year. At the given moment I haven’t had any plans to pick this up but I hope a friend will and let me borrow it to see if its anything of my taste.

  • Can you do 2 player with one player on the PS4 and another on the Vita?

  • It’s been awhile since I played a need for speed game since psp actually. I just might get this because this is so much fun & on the PS4 this will be amazing. PS4 day 1 shipping I’m out!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • No demo no purchase…

  • If I’m being really honest with myself, this is the game I’m buying a PS4 for. I’d get it on PS3 or 360, but it’s probably uglier. i’d get it on PC, but I’m afraid the online will be abandoned in 2-3 months. I had so much fun online with 2010’s Hot Pursuit that I am crossing my fingers this brings me half that enjoyment.

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