Need For Speed (2015)

[Peasantslayer]

Basically Midnight Club LA.

 

[ImaRobot]

Well that's to be expected. Most games are only supported around 6 months these days before the devs move on to the next one (I'm surprised Driveclub, PCARS & The Crew are supported for a lot longer). Ghost have done a lot of goodwill by giving us free updates instead of DLC whoring like past NFS games, so I'm pretty satisfied. Shame the base game itself isn't that good, and customization options are generally lacking (save for livery editor), and that's why it dies off quickly.

I think the norm with racing games is 6+ months after release, you've almost named all the current racing games on the market, and one more to add to the list is Forza as well. They all continuously release more content after that mark, but I'm wondering if that's because they aren't a 1 year cycle, and that EA/ghost are trying to push for a yearly one. I have no problem with whoring DLC, as long as its reasonably priced, and worth it.

They've done little for actual DLC, as most of the content was fixes or slight changes/additions to things already in games (Manual, Snapshot Pro), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as you can only do so much when you're offering everything for free.

One thing I hope they focus on for the next game is the driving model. I'm not sure what they where thinking with this, but it was horrible.

 

[Ameer67]

So, it has been 6 months since the release of NFS 2015. Was it worth skipping 2014? Was it a successful game that lived up to the Need For Speed name or was it a dishonor? What's your folks' takes?

 

[ImaRobot]

So, it has been 6 months since the release of NFS 2015. Was it worth skipping 2014? Was it a successful game that lived up to the Need For Speed name or was it a dishonor? What's your folks' takes?

So this one was a two year dev time? I didn't realize that.

With that said, I think the launch was pretty lackluster, they have implemented things that the community was rightfully screaming for so thats always a plus. Although, I like to take things into consideration with what has came at launch, and while everything sounded, and still does sound great on paper, execution was very poor. There is no pull for me to go back into the game, hell I still haven't even felt the urge to even finish it because as soon as I turn it on to play I run into the one and only thing that is still bothering me, the handling model. I can live with everything else, but the way the cars drive is what pushing me away.

They absolutely nailed the customization(for the most part), however. The environment was also very beautiful in certain situations, but I think that is hindered by the fact that it's always raining, and I feel a day/night cycle would have helped this game dearly.

For how it turned out, you would have thought that they where on a one year cycle that they weren't able to make the deadline.

 

[JR98]

I think it was an alright game, but once the main story was over I just haven't been interested in it to go back to it outside of the updates, there just isn't anything to do besides repeating the same races over and over again, but the wrap editing, photo mode and customization does bring me back to it every once in a while.

For 2016, for me to buy it, they really need to improve the customization aspect, adding a wide variety of parts for EVERY car, not just a select few, and it needs to be playable without being forced to drift the entire time.

 

[FT-1]

So, it has been 6 months since the release of NFS 2015. Was it worth skipping 2014? Was it a successful game that lived up to the Need For Speed name or was it a dishonor? What's your folks' takes?

Personally, I think Need For Speed (2015) is flawed and lacking in content but it is taking the series in the right direction.

Can I see myself playing Need For Speed 2015 again in a year's time? Probably not, especially if Forza Horizon 3 is coming out this year. Would I be interested in a NFS 2015 successor? Most likely, especially with overhauled physics, more content and a new environment which keeps the underground vibe. Basically Midnight Club: LA running on a Frostbite engine. I would love that!

 

[Stephan]

Hopefully, they'll make some worthwhile car packs down the line but I expect them to be in the same price range as Rivals' weak DLCs.

Go read Ben's reply to that dude's question. Looks like they are true to their words that there will be no paid content/DLC. Well better start hoping that in E3 EA Ghost shows us a good NFS game.

 

[Kitten]

That is some weak DLC's... That is so disappointing. Im quite glad i didn't pick this game up

 

[Grandea GTR]

Still better free than paid.

 

[Sage Ages]

I was under the impression that since they've been switching up developers (Shift onwards if I'm not mistaken), the games have had a two-year development. How long was this game in particular?

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Still better free than paid.

Not really. For those that want all post-release content simply handed to them – regardless of how much work it requires from the studio – sure. But from the studio's perspective, paid DLC is better. Games like GT6 or GTAV have enough of an install base that they can push out free DLC and (probably) still end up in the black. But for other games, it's a viable income stream.

Had Ghost Games decided to start offering paid DLC packs now-ish, I imagine it would've been a relative failure. Six months in, the playerbase has dwindled. It would make sense to offer them earlier on in the game's life, before moving to free stuff. Or – ideally – mixing the two, to keep people hooked, while still getting some money off of the exercise.

I mean, in NFS' case, it would've been financial suicide to push things like a proper Photomode, or the hackneyed manual transmission, as paid "additions". As far as I'm concerned, those are basic features expected in the genre. But new cars, or events? It wouldn't have been a bad approach. My guess? They stuck to this free-only update policy to build up customer loyalty. I expect a more typical paid DLC approach with the next game.

Also, from a fan perspective: I like supporting the companies that make the games I like. It's why I've bought most DLC's in Forza, and bought pretty much everything on offer in GT5 (skipped Motegi). It's understandable that this line is drawn at a different point for each person, based on how many games they play, how much they like the games, etc etc.

Which brings me back to NFS: I doubt I would've spent money on any paid packs had they offered them.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Not really. For those that want all post-release content simply handed to them – regardless of how much work it requires from the studio – sure. But from the studio's perspective, paid DLC is better. Games like GT6 or GTAV have enough of an install base that they can push out free DLC and (probably) still end up in the black. But for other games, it's a viable income stream.

Had Ghost Games decided to start offering paid DLC packs now-ish, I imagine it would've been a relative failure. Six months in, the playerbase has dwindled. It would make sense to offer them earlier on in the game's life, before moving to free stuff. Or – ideally – mixing the two, to keep people hooked, while still getting some money off of the exercise.

I mean, in NFS' case, it would've been financial suicide to push things like a proper Photomode, or the hackneyed manual transmission, as paid "additions". As far as I'm concerned, those are basic features expected in the genre. But new cars, or events? It wouldn't have been a bad approach. My guess? They stuck to this free-only update policy to build up customer loyalty. I expect a more typical paid DLC approach with the next game.

Also, from a fan perspective: I like supporting the companies that make the games I like. It's why I've bought most DLC's in Forza, and bought pretty much everything on offer in GT5 (skipped Motegi). It's understandable that this line is drawn at a different point for each person, based on how many games they play, how much they like the games, etc etc.

Which brings me back to NFS: I doubt I would've spent money on any paid packs had they offered them.

I agree that the features that were added on as DLC weren't that great, but I'm sure it would've sucked major ones if they costed money.

 

[MXH]

Go read Ben's reply to that dude's question. Looks like they are true to their words that there will be no paid content/DLC. Well better start hoping that in E3 EA Ghost shows us a good NFS game.

Welp, that's it then, I guess.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I think the norm with racing games is 6+ months after release, you've almost named all the current racing games on the market, and one more to add to the list is Forza as well. They all continuously release more content after that mark, but I'm wondering if that's because they aren't a 1 year cycle, and that EA/ghost are trying to push for a yearly one. I have no problem with whoring DLC, as long as its reasonably priced, and worth it.

Well I don't play Forza so that didn't cross my mind when I made my post. Most of the racing games that I played last generation (Codemasters' Grid/Dirt/F1, NFS Undercover/Shift/HP/MW/Rivals, Ferrari/Supercar Challenge, Milestone's V8 Superstars) were all supported for 3-6 months, and the devs completely abandoned them after that, even if several game breaking glitches were still unfixed. The only ones to receive extended support was GT5/6 and Burnout Paradise.

This generation though the games seem to be supported for longer. I think partly because devs know they can get more money for less work from DLCs, and partly because full games take longer than yearly to make so a 6 month plan isn't going to entice the userbase long enough to keep playing. Good or bad, well that depends on the quality of the DLC. Driveclub & The Crew I think has been worthwhile, PCARS not really (content better saved for PCARS2). With NFS, I'm glad that they kept their promise of no DLC. I kinda hope this trend would stay for their next games, but I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this.

 

[Moglet]

Wow. What a huge letdown. They promised so much and delivered some nice features (some of which should have been in the game from the start) but to call it a 'living game' only to pull out after ~ 6 months is appalling. They have also flat out lied to their user base:

Neon Lights
With the Lamborghini Diablo SV or Morohoshi-San being included we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for you to take an early, in development look at neons. They will be applied to Morohoshi’s car only and here’s a taster of what you can expect.

I imagine the reason they have pulled out is because the game didn't sell as well as they had hoped, something you could tell from all the times it was present in sales for about £20 despite being less than 6 months old. I'm going to be very wary about buying future releases based on how this game progressed. Lying to the userbase is not the best way to try and pull things back. Maybe for the next release they need to reduce the amount they hype it up before it gets released. They shot themselves in the foot by trying to promise so much without being able to deliver it.

 

[Peasantslayer]

It was fun for a week or 2, I got it for £20 but in hindsight I should have got The Crew for half that.

 

[The Stig Farmer]

Surprised that they've announced they're going to make another game after all...

 

[CleanCut]

Wow. What a huge letdown. They promised so much and delivered some nice features (some of which should have been in the game from the start) but to call it a 'living game' only to pull out after ~ 6 months is appalling. They have also flat out lied to their user base:



I imagine the reason they have pulled out is because the game didn't sell as well as they had hoped, something you could tell from all the times it was present in sales for about £20 despite being less than 6 months old. I'm going to be very wary about buying future releases based on how this game progressed. Lying to the userbase is not the best way to try and pull things back. Maybe for the next release they need to reduce the amount they hype it up before it gets released. They shot themselves in the foot by trying to promise so much without being able to deliver it.

I agree that it's never a good idea to promise something and not deliver, and I thought the same thing with the promise of neon lights. But if a game isn't generating money, what are they supposed to do? File bankruptcy and live in cardboard boxes so they can finish neons? Ultimately it probably depends on EA, not Ghost. And we all know what kind of company EA is. They are probably the ones telling Ghost to pull the plug and get cracking on the next game.

I have absolutely no animosity towards Ghost. I think they did a really good job at listening to the fanbase and trying to implement suggestions. The game is very well optimized, there's no serious bugs in it (compared to a lot of titles nowadays ((looking at you Rocksteady and Arkham Knight - what a fiasco - you wanna not trust a developer's promises, try looking there))), and as I said, this was a learning experience that will enable them to make a better game the next time.

 

[Moglet]

I agree that it's never a good idea to promise something and not deliver, and I thought the same thing with the promise of neon lights. But if a game isn't generating money, what are they supposed to do? File bankruptcy and live in cardboard boxes so they can finish neons?

Just don't suggest they're going to be coming in a future update. That's all they needed to do. They've also still been telling people to 'stay tuned' when suggesting new cars until recently. It all smacks of EA suddenly pulling the plug which isn't Ghosts fault, they must be gutted that they can't make the game as good as they wanted.

 

[ImaRobot]

I agree that it's never a good idea to promise something and not deliver, and I thought the same thing with the promise of neon lights. But if a game isn't generating money, what are they supposed to do? File bankruptcy and live in cardboard boxes so they can finish neons? Ultimately it probably depends on EA, not Ghost. And we all know what kind of company EA is. They are probably the ones telling Ghost to pull the plug and get cracking on the next game.

Do we know that it's not generating money? If it's not, then this whole free DLC thing was a shot in the foot from themselves. Not that there was anything substantial, but if they'd got some revenue for it, we likely would have seen more. They could have offered some at minimal prices and prolonged the life of the game.

I have absolutely no animosity towards Ghost. I think they did a really good job at listening to the fanbase and trying to implement suggestions. The game is very well optimized, there's no serious bugs in it (compared to a lot of titles nowadays ((looking at you Rocksteady and Arkham Knight - what a fiasco - you wanna not trust a developer's promises, try looking there))), and as I said, this was a learning experience that will enable them to make a better game the next time.

I'm not sure if it's a bug or not, but there is definitely a problem with cars getting magnetized towards walls, as well as some of the ridiculous crash scene situations that shouldn't have resulted in such in the first place. I grazed a wall going really fast before and it cut to the crash vid sending me flying.

Just don't suggest they're going to be coming in a future update. That's all they needed to do. They've also still been telling people to 'stay tuned' when suggesting new cars until recently. It all smacks of EA suddenly pulling the plug which isn't Ghosts fault, they must be gutted that they can't make the game as good as they wanted.

It's likely that there was probably never anything else to stay tuned for in the first place. If the ground work was there and in process, they'd be losing even more if they cut it and didn't release it. This just seems more like a case of a new dev underachieving, that resulted in a plug being pulled.

 

[CleanCut]

Do we know that it's not generating money? If it's not, then this whole free DLC thing was a shot in the foot from themselves. Not that there was anything substantial, but if they'd got some revenue for it, we likely would have seen more. They could have offered some at minimal prices and prolonged the life of the game.


I'm not sure if it's a bug or not, but there is definitely a problem with cars getting magnetized towards walls, as well as some of the ridiculous crash scene situations that shouldn't have resulted in such in the first place. I grazed a wall going really fast before and it cut to the crash vid sending me flying.


It's likely that there was probably never anything else to stay tuned for in the first place. If the ground work was there and in process, they'd be losing even more if they cut it and didn't release it. This just seems more like a case of a new dev underachieving, that resulted in a plug being pulled.

Well, I agree about the DLC. I mean, I would have been willing to pay for substantial content had they chose to release it that way. I know others may feel differently, but I would rather pay to have a title extend its longevity than to get free updates for (in my case because PC) only two months and then have the plug pulled.

As for the magnetic walls, I was chaulking that up to handling physics more so than a bug, but yeah.

I really feel like this is EA's doing.

 

[ImaRobot]

Well, I agree about the DLC. I mean, I would have been willing to pay for substantial content had they chose to release it that way. I know others may feel differently, but I would rather pay to have a title extend its longevity than to get free updates for (in my case because PC) only two months and then have the plug pulled.

As for the magnetic walls, I was chaulking that up to handling physics more so than a bug, but yeah.

I really feel like this is EA's doing.

Yeah, that's how I feel about DLC as well. I didn't even think about PC players, I had totally forgotten that it barely hit the shelves for you not too long ago. That's a shame really.

The thing is, if it was the handling model it would be happening at all times, being pulled even if you are not next to any. I've only had it occur if I was not too far from a wall. Not exactly sure what it would be, to be honest.

 

[DJTHEKING]

So finally.... This game is probably the biggest deception i ever had for a video game, even if i got it for free.

I literally finished the game in under a week. And the updates, or most of them, were literally useless.

I thought i would touch it again in the case of a new update ater the last one(which deceived me a lot, as they said it would be ''THE BIGGEST UPDATE EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR''), but now i have no reason to play it again.

EA just showed us again that they're just plain stupid as always...

 

[CleanCut]

The thing is, if it was the handling model it would be happening at all times, being pulled even if you are not next to any. I've only had it occur if I was not too far from a wall. Not exactly sure what it would be, to be honest.

True, and now that you mention it, I remember when I first got the game and was racing around in a stock BRZ and didn't notice the magnetic walls thing at all. In fact I even commented on here as to such. It only started once I started messing with the handling sliders. I wonder if it's connected to that somehow, or if it was just coincidence.

 

[Niyologist]

It was fun for a week or 2, I got it for £20 but in hindsight I should have got The Crew for half that.

Yeah. The Crew has more fun factor.

Also. Ghost Games/EA should have at least done some land expansion. The downtown area is still inaccessible.

 

[ghostrider135]

Ok I'm just hearing the news, I'm also going to say I am beyond disappointed, I won't be happy until I get the neons I was promised, Also the majority of the cars still severely lack visual customisation.

The game still isn't finished and I stuck by it and even suggested a few people should get it, Now it just seems like a slap in the face, Look at how R* are still supporting GTA: Online 2years after it came out......with free updates.

 

[Moglet]

Ok I'm just hearing the news, I'm also going to say I am beyond disappointed, I won't be happy until I get the neons I was promised, Also the majority of the cars still severely lack visual customisation.

The game still isn't finished and I stuck by it and even suggested a few people should get it, Now it just seems like a slap in the face, Look at how R* are still supporting GTA: Online 2years after it came out......with free updates.

Well to be fair to them GTA V has made $2.3 billion in revenue. Obviously that figure is reduced dramatically when you look at pure profit but it's still an insane amount of money. I can't seem to find sales figures or revenue figures for Need for Speed but I imagine it's quite a bit lower!

 

[sems4arsenal]

Yeah good riddance, I regret buying it digital for 30$, now I can't sell it. You live and you learn, was fun-ish for a week or two but in hindsight it's my least favorite racing game in a while.

Heck I enjoyed FUEL better.

 

[Gerarghini]

Be someone who payed $70 🤬

 

[C_Raccoon23]

So, it has been 6 months since the release of NFS 2015. Was it worth skipping 2014? Was it a successful game that lived up to the Need For Speed name or was it a dishonor? What's your folks' takes?

While the time during the beta and the first couple days of release were pretty exciting for me, in the end, it really wasn't worth the extra year.

Due to not having much else to play at the time, I wound up putting 100 hours into the game, but once I reached that point, I dropped it completely. I just couldn't tolerate the physics anymore. The more I played it, the more I couldn't ignore the fact that driving in this game is not natural at all, even for an arcade game. Then there were other issues as well on top of it...

It was nice that the game received free updates, but honestly, basic and standard features in a racing game like manual transmission and photo mode should have been there day one. And all the features and extra events in the world aren't going to make a game better if there's no good foundation to begin with.

Anyways, it's a wrap now. With Forza Horizon 3 coming this year and me saving up for an Xbox One wheel, NFS 2015 is just dust in the wind. I won't be staying tuned for the next NFS like I did for this game, that's for sure.