Need For Speed’s Legends Update Heads Down Nostalgia Avenue

Ghost Games weren’t kidding around about injecting the new Need For Speed with considerable fan service. Whatever your opinion may be on the arcade racer (see GTPlanet’s here), there’s no arguing that the franchise is one of the most well-known in the business. Spanning over two decades, with twenty-two (and counting) titles under its belt, there is a considerable history for the developers to draw from. With the Legends Update, that’s precisely what they’ve done.

Leading the pack is the return of Eddie, the antagonist that first appeared way back in 2003, in the first Underground title. His signature gold R34 Skyline comes along for the ride, and a new series of races allows the player the opportunity to earn it for their own use. Complementing Eddie’s return is the addition of numerous preset wraps for a variety of cars, all plucked from the PS2/PS3 era games (Underground 1 & 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, and Pro Street).

Addressing one of the main criticisms of the base game – the lopsided nature of the customization options across the car lineup – 113 items have been added across six vehicles. These include the (unfortunately, pre-Hellcat) Dodge Challenger, 1965 Mustang, Honda Civic Type-R, Lotus Exige, VW Golf GTI (first-gen), and the turbo brick (the Volvo 242). Brake discs and calipers can also now be visually modified.

For the fans that prefer their nostalgia to take the musical form, a total of 19 songs have been added, spanning nearly every console release the series has seen. They are as follows:

• Aquila 303 – The Need for Speed (1994)
• Overheated – The Need for Speed (1994)
• Scud – The Need for Speed (1994)
• Toxic Exhaust – The Need for Speed (1994)
• Menu – NFS II (1997)
• Romulus 3 – NFS II (1997)
• Sirius 909 – NFS III Hot Pursuit (1998)
• Callista – NFS Road Challenge / High Stakes (1999)
• Quantum Singularity – NFS 4 Road Challenge / High Stakes (1999)
• The Good, The Bad, The Eddie – NFS Underground (2003)
• Intro Song – NFS Underground 2 (2004)
• The Baddest – NFS Underground 2 (2004)
• I Am Rock – NFS Most Wanted (2005)
• Belt – NFS Carbon (2006)
• Hard Drivers – NFS Carbon (2006)
• Induction Kit – NFS Carbon (2006)
• Decalomania – NFS Pro Street (2007)
• Dampener Rod – NFS Pro Street (2007)
• Bezel – NFS Pro Street (2007)

There are a few other additions and fixes included in the Legends Update. Totalling 876mb, the full list is below:

• Brand new progression thread unlocked at Rep Level 25. Eddie and Melissa are back and ready for a new challenge in Ventura Bay. 15 new events with a great reward at the end
• Unlock Eddies Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (1999)
• 12 new Donor car collectables hidden around Ventura Bay
• 10 Urbex spots – Collect interesting spots around Ventura Bay
• 113 New customization items for a selection of cars
• New screens in My NFS to track new collectables and progression
• Rep Level has now been increased to 70, each level unlocking new decals for the Wrap editor
• 3 New Achievements & Trophies
• New Daily Challenges and new rewards
• Hundreds of new decals so you can make your favourite Need for Speed cars
• 20+ Pre-set Wraps from Most Wanted, Underground and Pro Street
• A selection of new music tracks to remind you of the old days
• Ability to mute new phone calls
• Phone call improvements
• You can now customize brake discs and calipers!
• Improvements to AI
• Various bug fixes and stability improvements

Head on over to our Need For Speed forum section for more discussion on the game!

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