EA has published a new trailer for the upcoming Need for Speed Unbound showing off some gameplay footage for the first time and revealing a little more detail about “Tags”.
Posted to the game’s social media accounts, the trailer is just under 40 seconds long and very quickly rattles through some of the variety of that unusual suite of visual effects available in the game.
According to the official Twitter account, these bright, anime-like effects can not only be turned off but not even fitted to the car in the first place, which should soothe the worries of those players not sold on “Tags”.
According the game’s art director, Darren White, “we wanted to deliver an art style that matters for gameplay, one that clearly celebrates player actions, enhances the player experience, and rewards them along the way”.
That style comes by way of living street art, with these visual effects — called “Tags” — popping up when you deploy boost, drift, jump, and all kinds of other actions as you can see in the clip above. White notes that street art “is an incredibly creative form of self-expression, and like street racing, it represents an unruly freedom to express yourself against rules and restrictions.”
Need for Speed has teamed up with street artists like Chicago’s Joseph “Sentrock” Perez and Joel “JCRivera” Colon for the game’s art collection, which can also be added to your cars by way of vehicle wraps.
Your avatar is just as customizable too, with fashion collaborations and other character clothing, and custom poses.
Eagle-eyed players might spot that the S14 Silvia in the clip appears to have no roof, and that appears to also be a part of the game’s vehicle customization suite.
Alongside adding components like body kits, roll cages, and mechanical items, players will be able to remove parts too. The official site states that you “can expose the mechanical guts of your car and intimidate competition”, although we’ll need a somewhat longer look at the game to see exactly how extensive that is.
Need for Speed Unbound will launch on December 2 on PC, and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, with EA Play subscribers getting three days’ early access beginning November 29.
