NFS: The Run Trailer... Michael Bay edition?

[Kasey Chang]

Apparently Michael Bay has enough time to help Electronic Arts edit a bit more of the trailer for the upcoming NFS: The Run, and it actually looks like a Michael Bay production now.

http://jalopnik.com/5856564/michael-bay ... is-awesome" target="_blank

[coopasonic]

I know I'm alone in this, but I'm excited for the game. I love a racing game with a story. I can't keep interest in Forza or Shift when the only thing driving me forward is access to more cars. I need a little taste of story.

[Isgrimnur]

What I would really want with a scenario with a coast to coast race is the actual ability to sit down and actually perform a real time version of that. It would make Desert Bus marathons look like child play.

You could pull off at a fast food restaurant in game, take a driver break as you would really, and your character would fill the car while you waited, but the race would go on. No pauses allowed, fully model all the Interstates and lesser highways, integrate Google Earth and real-time weather, etc.

Of course, it'll never happen in a retail release...

[BooTx]

Would it simulate having to pull over to take a dump in the bushes when you realize there isn't a rest stop for the next two hundred miles?

[DD*]

What I would really want with a scenario with a coast to coast race is the actual ability to sit down and actually perform a real time version of that. It would make Desert Bus marathons look like child play.

You could pull off at a fast food restaurant in game, take a driver break as you would really, and your character would fill the car while you waited, but the race would go on. No pauses allowed, fully model all the Interstates and lesser highways, integrate Google Earth and real-time weather, etc.

Of course, it'll never happen in a retail release...

That would rock - Cannonball, the sim!

[coopasonic]

I know I'm alone in this, but I'm excited for the game. I love a racing game with a story. I can't keep interest in Forza or Shift when the only thing driving me forward is access to more cars. I need a little taste of story.

Oy. I bought it in the origins sale. Oy. I played for a little over an hour last night. The actual driving is pretty consistent with other NFS open road games, ie not technical like shift/shift2, way more arcade. I'm fine with that, that's no problem at all.

The problem is the way the races are setup. The drive from SF to NY is broken up into around 12 segments. each of those segments is broken up into a half dozen or so sub-segments. each of those sub-segments is a completely independent race/event that you must win/complete to proceed.

Most often, the winning condition is "pass n opponents" where n is a number between 6 and 10. Sometimes it's a timed checkpoint race, other times it's a rival race, which is a lot like the "pass n opponents" race except there are fewer opponents that are supposed to be more aggressive. You start in 200th place and your progress moving through the pack is predefined.

Even after seeing all o fthis I was still hopeful because there would be so much content, 3000 miles between SF and NY, that's 20 hours at 150MPH. Or not. I looked at the progress screen and saw that I had traveled 896 miles in about 56 minutes. No, I was not going over 900mph. You drive 10 miles and the game moves you 100 miles east. Based on my progress so far I figure "The Run" will take about 3 hours to complete.

There is more content. As you progress through the run you unlock challenges that are disconnected one-off events with a leaderboard. As you complete events autolog recommends, you unlock more cars to use in "The Run". The problem of course is that I only have one friend on origins playing this game and he has only completed one event. Once I beat him and then gold medaled the event autolog has no more recommendations so I can't unlock more cars that way.

Now that I have said the game is crap, everyone buy it and add me as a friend on origins so I can get some autiolo recommendations!

[Kasey Chang]

Autolog is also in the older game, NFS: Hot Pursuit (oh, and I'm on there as KsChang)

Any way, tried a mission in Best Buy. That's the one where you're in a Shelby Mustang and you need to race others down a mountain through a bunch of switchbacks. It's tough, as the Shelby is like 500HP machine that goes straight just fine, but doesn't turn that well. And you need to pass a whole bunch of other cars. You have like X seconds to pass one car, then once you need, you get extra time to pass the next one, and so on down the road until you get to the end of this segment. You only have 10 retries for the whole segment. If you use them all up, it's "back to the top of mountain you go". ( Retries lets you back up to just before the oops. ) It's VERY difficult, as this car doesn't want you to hit the throttle when it's not pointing straight, else it spins.

[coopasonic]

Autolog is also in the older game, NFS: Hot Pursuit (oh, and I'm on there as KsChang)

No results for KsChang. Feel free to add coopasonic if your profile is hidden.

[Kasey Chang]

Sorry, I meant to say I'm on as Kschang with NFS:HP, not NFS:TR

[coopasonic]

Sorry, I meant to say I'm on as Kschang with NFS:HP, not NFS:TR

Origin IDs shouldn't depend on the game. I have Hot Pursuit as well, but I want to play the new hot(?)ness.

[Kasey Chang]

Tried NFS: The Run. At times it's exciting, but this "gain X places" seems to be regular racing combined with Wario World of mini-games.

And the different amount of wrecking you can do in the game is just plain WEIRD and arbitrary. You can plow through highway signs and whatnot with no damage, but a brushing up against a light-pole stops you dead? You can go THROUGH a barrier off a mountain road (i.e. die), but hit it on the side and you're stuck? Meh.

The mountain pass switchbacks are real PITAs.

And the rubber-banding is incredible. I got past one guy and I was doing so well, then suddenly he overtakes me with 0.3 miles to go.

And the amount of nitro one needs to use is insane. It seems these cars don't go fast by themselves at all. It's nitro, nitro, nitro.

On the other hand, some missions are genuinely exciting. That "avalanche" level is great... if the AI really put up a fight. And that "night run with no lights" level is cute too.

Just got to Colorado. This game so far is a bit of hit and miss.

[Kasey Chang]

Just finished the Run on easy. First time in the final run used up all 10 resets. Ouch. Those tight spaces in the freight yard kills me. Restarted, then got killed 3 times in the tunnels, and finally got out and kept up. Should have known that the game gives you a free pass so just save up nitro until then. STILL managed to die once when I misjudged the entrance.

The game basically lacks logical sense (oh, you made it across this barrier and that's it?) while tries to explain this great race. Cutting things up into stages is fine, but arbitrary (pass 6 guys or else) is just dumb. Where's the rest of the racers? SO what if I'm slightly short? Can't I make it up next stage? Etc. etc.

And the rubberbanding is, again, incredibly stupid. I was racing "Garrett". He's in a souped up AMG Coupe, I'm in a race spec Porsche 918. We should be pretty even (he may have a straight road advantage). I was going top speed and he was catching up so fast he zoomed past me! Heck, I actualy bumped him off the road... We both did a jumped, and I sideswiped him in mid-air. I landed straight, he didn't. I had like 6 second lead. And he was coming up SO FAST (the seconds to contact counter is scrolling down) it's hilarious... if you were not the guy he's chasing). And I made sure I took all the shortcuts too! Finally did beat him, after like 6 tries.

I don't mind seeing a sequel, but that really should happen on the stages is you are expected to keep within 1-3 places. If you fall out of that zone, you have 2 segments to make it up, or you're out. THAT would have made MUCH more sense, but would have screwed up their "scripting".

The quicktime events are rather funny.

Driver San Francisco is even sillier (shift?) but it doesn't pretend to follow a movie script or sorts. I mean, the stuff ends up being just plain CRAZY.

[Hypnotoad]

I enjoyed the first couple of phases of The Run but I was really tired of it by the end. The rubberbanding is awful and the last race drove me crazy. Since when do subway trains go 120 MPH? It doesn't even matter how far ahead or behind you get, you hit a certain spot in that race and a cut scene pops up with you and your opponent neck and neck.

Because of this game, I do find myself wondering how many small towns there are in America that have multiple Lamborghini police cars. All in all, it was probably worth the $5 I spent on it, but not much more.