Not too many racing games get mainstream acclaim as much as they used to. More recent examples like Forza Horizon get a lot of love for mixing arcade and sim driving together in a happy medium. For those looking strictly for a more arcade-like experience, Need for Speed used to fit in that niche quite well. Need for Speed Underground and Hot Pursuit were landmark racing games that brought the street racing craze from Fast and Furious to video games in a big way. Though as of recently the franchise has had continuous struggles with its identity.
It's no well-kept secret that EA's signature racing franchise has struggled in the last few years. Need for Speed has been trying to find its footing in the last decade, despite being a powerhouse gaming franchise in the early 2000s. Last year's Need for Speed Heat was a step in the right direction, despite ultimately being Ghost Games final project. And now that a supposed Hot Pursuit Remaster is on the way, which in and of itself is a reboot of the original Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit from 1998, looking to the past could inform Need for Speed's future.
Need for Speed Has Been In a Tough Spot
Arguably since the first Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit reboot back in 2010, EA's racing franchise has had far more downs than ups in the last decade. There have been some bright spots like the Most Wanted reboot, which was generally received well despite being nothing like the original from 2005. That being said, it is telling that the majority of Need for Speed games developed after the Hot Pursuit reboot also ended up being reboots of previous titles. Eventually the racing series started branching out into newer/original titles instead of reboots, largely to middling reception in many cases.
One of the first was Need for Speed: The Run, which frankly is a little underrated despite not being fantastic. This game took on a more grounded driving experience with lesser arcade-like flair compared to previous entries, along with a linear world/stage design. After that was Need for Speed Rivals, which was Ghost Games' (now rebranded as EA Gothenburg) first foray into the iconic franchise. Rivals had a much better reception compared to The Run, but was still in contest with other racing titles like Grid 2, Forza 5, and Gran Turismo 6. It wasn't until the 2015 Need for Speed full-reboot, and even worse so Need for Speed Payback, where the franchise took a deep dive.
Remedying the Sins of Need for Speed Payback
2015's Need for Speed received criticism for its always-online nature, despite being primarily a singleplayer experience. While the game's art design and visual fidelity was great, a slew of performance issues related to connectivity problems hampered the online experience for many. Plus not being able to pause a singleplayer game due to the online requirement definitely rubbed players the wrong way. 2017's Need for Speed Payback did at least fix that issue, but a slew of other issues like the loot box "speed cards" for car customization unnecessarily randomized car customization. Not only that, but the lack of free-roam cop chases and strange handling decisions hampered the game.
Ghost Games' swan song was the best of the most recent Need for Speed games, despite the last few titles not doing very well. Need for Speed Heat didn't reinvent the franchise in any way, but did bring back a lot of the positive aspects from the series' past to improve the experience. Need for Speed Heat follow more closely to the original Most Wanted from 2005, focusing on an open world full of tense and tough cop chases with a campy storyline. Granted this was easily one of the best games in the series in years, it still wasn't enough to prevent the layoffs and restructuring of Ghost Games into a supplementary development studio for other EA games.
Hot Pursuit Remastered Is Good For Now
Now an alleged Hot Pursuit (2010) remaster is on the way, and that could be just what the franchise needs for now. Need for Speed Heat wasn't a sales giant or massive success by any means, but it did break player records for all of the series' entries during this generation. Continuing that momentum with a widely enjoyed Need for Speed game could be the perfect move, whilst potentially giving more time for Need for Speed to make a resurgence with something new and exciting. There is a next-gen Need for Speed game in development for PS5 and Xbox Series X, so biding time with a remaster could set up a beneficial buffer for the next fully-fledged Need for Speed game.
A Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit remaster is reportedly in development.