In a Q&A session on the Need For Speed UK website the team behind the latest installment in the series, Need For Speed: Rivals answered several questions relating to the car use, progression, multiplayer and map size found within the world.
Check out the series of questions and replies below.
1. Are personalisation items bought or earned through progression?
You can personalise your car from the very beginning of the game by changing the color, rims and license plate as a Racer. Once we get your car looking the way you like, you will then have to earn and use your Speed Points to purchase different stripes, decals, liveries, pursuit tech and performance upgrades. As you progress through the game, you will unlock more and more supercars as well as liveries to purchase from.
2. Is there a progression cap? (like in Hot Pursuit)
Yes, but this works in a couple different ways. First and foremost you have two distinct careers to play through in the game – Cop and Racer. Within each career there are three sets of Assignments (Cops) or Speedlists (Racers) that will progress you through the narrative. While the narrative helps push you through the game, how you pick your Assignments and Speedlists is totally up to you. As a Cop, your Assignments differ by Patrol, Enforcer and Undercover, and as a mysterious Racer named Zephyr you’ll complete different Race, Pursuit and Drive Speedlists, and drawing the attention of the police force while you’re at it. After completing the narrative you can then go back and complete the other Assignments and Speedlists that you haven’t attempted yet.
3. Outside of playing with friends, what about Need for Speed Rivals provides replay value?
There’s tons of replay in Need for Speed Rivals. Beyond the two different career paths and narratives associated with each, the game tracks your max speed and jump distances on different roads. Also, for the first time, the game will track how long it takes for you to complete a whole set of objectives (Assignments and Speedlists) so that you can constantly challenge yourself to get better. Of course, it’s more fun to compare with your times against your friends, but it’s not required.
4. Exactly how big is the map? Can players easily memorise it like in Most Wanted?
The world of Redview County is bigger than Most Wanted and well over 100 miles (16X16 km) of open roads. It is a place designed specifically for driving in the world’s best cars at speeds over 200mph. There are also different shortcuts not shown on the map for you to find.
5. How can we unlock cars and racer tech at the same time, and what happens if we already have the fastest cars and best tech?
You will unlock new cars every time you complete a Speedlist or Assignment and head back to your Safe House or Hideout. After you unlock a car, you can then purchase it with your SpeedPoints. Pursuit tech on the other hand is all unlocked from the beginning, but you do need SpeedPoints to buy them. But, as you progress through the game you will unlock higher levels of each tech.
6. I don’t have any real friends who play NFS, will I be able to play online for the fastest time for leaderboards? I would like to have something like a top 1 million leaderboard so that I can see where my time stands
In Need for Speed Rivals with the power of Autolog we can recommend friends based on your location. You can compare with people in your location and compete with their times on your Speedwalls both in game and on the Need for Speed Network.
So what do you make of the revelations so far, with a diverse world and massive customization just the tip of the iceberg, hopefully more details will be released in the following months.
Are you interested in Need For Speed: Rivals? Let us know what you think in the comments below.