How is the Need For Speed reboot doing with the critics? Probably not as well as EA had hoped it would. Most review sites are scoring the game a middling 5 out of 10.
Destructoid’s Chris Carter (not the X-Files creator) gave Need For Speed a 6 and said, “When you factor in Need for Speed’s forgettable story, you’re left with a slightly above average racing game that’s not as enjoyable as past series entries. From a pure gameplay perspective, it works, but it never manages to elevate itself. If you’re in the mood for a new cinematic racer though, you could do a whole lot worse.”
Ian Dransfield of VideoGamer.com threw out a 5 and added, “It does exactly what it sets out to do. But what it sets out to do is boring, bland, unimaginative, and thoroughly dull. It’s sometimes fun, very pretty, and enables you to plaster stickers of dogs all over your newly-pink Mustang, and it’s riddled with great ideas like the fine online challenges with friends and enemies alike, annoying connectivity issues aside. But it meanders, settling on a rhythm that can only be described as ‘safe,’ not pushing the player to be anything other than adequate.”
Gamespot was nicer, giving one of the higher scores at 8 out of 10. Scott Butterworth said, “The game is far from perfect, but it is, at points, truly exceptional. Its jaw-dropping visuals, adrenaline-pumping audio, and highly-customizable handling make screaming around the darkened streets of Ventura Bay an intense thrill. The sense of ownership that comes with tuning a single ride to perfection rather than simply grabbing the flashiest vehicle available proved tremendously rewarding.”
Even IGN, notorious for going easy on games, called this one average. Luke Reilly said, “Need for Speed looks the part, sounds the part, and is surprisingly reverent to real-world car culture. I like the direction Ghost has taken here, and I think it’s the right one, but beneath its flashy exterior it’s not quite firing on all cylinders.”
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