With the increasingly complex organization of activities in games, it starts to look like one screen is already simple nestwhat's up The gaming experience has changed recently, and even if we play single-player, from time to time it pays to have a colleague or family member by your side who has a second screen and tells you where to go, why you need to get there, or remotely repairs your means of transport. In this case, we're talking about racing cars and the new racing game from Electronic Arts, Need for Speed: Rivals.
I got to the new Need for Speed like a piano with no hands. Although at first glance, the game seems as if EA simply took the older Hot Pursuit, enriched it with new graphics and cars. But in reality it is not like that. In addition to the fact that players once again have the opportunity to choose one of two factions - Cops × Racers, this is probably the first game that broke the barrier between a single-player campaign and a multi-player one. In Rivals, you simply distinguish between the team, whether you are connected to the Internet or not. In both, you meet artificial intelligence, but if you are online, you will be joined by live players from different corners of the world. The artificial intelligence here is really at an advanced level, and sometimes you can't tell whether you're fighting a living or a virtual entity. At any time it can happen that five racing cars will simply fly in front of you and you, as a police officer, will try to arrest all of them. However, the unification of single- and multiplayer brings with it the disadvantage that you cannot pause the game as you would expect. Even if you press Pause to get to the map menu, the game is actually still running, so you can only fully pause it when you enter the garage.
For both factions, a campaign awaits you in which you choose your own path - in each chapter you have a choice of three Speedlists, i.e. lists of tasks that differ many times, and if you play as a policeman, the next car that you unlock also depends on them . Although in truth I spent more time as a cop than a racer during that time (note we'll get to that later), the policeman's story interested me much more. It is dynamic and while in one role you drive a classic police car, in the other role you have to infiltrate in a silent red Ferrari. However, the reason I am nesthe spent so much playing time as a competitor, is the aggressiveness of the cops.
I dare say that such aggressive cops haven't appeared in Need for Speed since the old Most Wanted, and even then I'm wondering if they aren't even stricter in Rivals. It's easy for you to get into a chase where 10 police cars are trying to chase you down, and if that happens, all the SpeedPoint money earned for that session is irretrievably gone. The money you get in the game must be stored in the garage yourself, otherwise you really risk losing it. They will be lost immediately after Busted or Wrecked appears on your screen. Your car has a certain lifespan and it is very important that you get it repaired at instant repair shops, i.e. at gas stations. On the contrary, the police do not have to pay attention to the points - they are automatically deposited into their account.
The vehicle fleet, as well as the game map, have shrunk compared to previous titles. It is not known whether this is due to the fact that it is a debut for PS4 and Xbox One, or whether the former employeeanceven Criterion Games decided to focus more on the gaming experience. There are about 25 cars available in the game for each faction, and counting varianty of vehicles, all unique to that faction. Only the 2012 Aston Martin Vanquish is available for both factions, as players decided so in a certain competition on Facebookat. For the first time, six Ferrari vehicles – 458 Italia, 458 Spider, 599 GTO, Enzo Ferrari, F12berlinetta and Ferrari FF – officially returned to the series. Tuning has also returned to the game, which is far more comprehensive than in all the last parts. In addition to the option to buy performance parts, the option to change the color of the car, discs, and various stickers and paintjobs, or even the option to change the license plate, has been added. One of the arcade features is also present, namely the ability to buy weapons against opponents. Weapons have several levels and in most cases they differ. An example of a weapon could be an electromagnetic pulse, police barricades, a helicopter or even a turbo for a few seconds. Bumpers, spoilers and disc types are still taboo. However, having already mentioned shopping, I can't help but mention one important feature - as a cop you get new cars for free with a higher level, but as a racer you have to buy them from the garage.
One of the things that players of racing games are interested in is the types of races. The offer of game modes is quite limited here, on the other hand, I can amply compensate for the events in the game world. As a cop, you have Interceptor, Hot Pursuit and Rapid Response races. In the first mode it is an open world chase where you have to arrest one racer, in Hot Pursuit mode there is an illegal race for a change and you have to arrest all the participants before I reach the finish line. For a change, Rapid Response mode will test your driving skills and you must arrive at a specified location within a specified time while trying to avoid collisions. The races are not limited in any way, so it only depends on your attention whether you will succeed or accidentally turn in the wrong direction. In case you play as a racer, the aforementioned modes will be joined by the Race mode, a classic race where you don't have to worry too much about the cops. However, the advantage of the open world is that you can challenge another racer to a quick race at any time, which you only need to click on a single button. The game is therefore very fluid and you can see it even when loading the races, where you just have to come to a certain race and click on the button to start it.
The vehicle controls are still arcade-like, but that doesn't mean you can't tell the difference between driving a Ferrari and driving a Bentley. Personally, I could compare this control to last year's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, respectively to Hot Pursuit from 2010. Therefore, it is definitely not possible to say that the cars are controlled as badly as in The Run, even if Rivals uses a newer version of the same engine - Frostbite 3. Yes, we are dealing with the same engine that we also find in Battlefield 4. The presence of the Frostbite engine can be recognized in the graphics and on its attributed effects – especially rain. He looks like he came straight from Battlefield. If graphics are one of the things you care about, then it's more than clear that the game looks much better on next-gen consoles such as PS3 or Xbox 360. This is the only difference that favors new consoles over old ones. The game has not yet received any DLC, which is positive news for those who collect trophies in games, or those who want to enjoy the entire game without additional paid additions. Need for Speed: Rivals is available for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
- Need for Speed: Rivals can be purchased from the Slovak retailer Brloh.sk
Need for Speed Network for iOS
However, what I already mentioned in the very beginning of the article are additional applications for games. Just like Battlefield, Need for Speed also comes with a companion application that is designed exclusively for mobile phones and tablets. The app that EA developed for Rivals players is actually a newer version of the Autolog utility. However, its name has also changed, and with the release of NFS Rivals for consoles and PC, the application and service will be known as Need for Speed Network. To use the app, you must first own the game and be registered with Origin. After linking your account (or it will happen automatically if you have the same login e-mail on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.
After turning it on and then signing in to your Origin account, the iPad will automatically try to connect to your PC or console if you have it connected to the same WiFi network. The main feature of this application is a map of the fictional area of Redview County. In addition to the ability to navigate to the nearest race or other task on the map, there is also the option to go into OverWatch mode, which we will look at later. In the application, you can also monitor your statistics, respectively the statistics of other players you have added to your friend list on Xbox Live or on PlayStation Network. The stats here are remarkably detailed, and you'll find out which races your friends have completed, which radars they've passed, and how much time they've spent playing the game. But let's take a look at the OverWatch mode.
OverWatch mode, like Battlefield 4 Commander, will allow you to play cross-platform multiplayer with you, but also with completely different players to whom the game will connect. In OverWatch mode, you can remotely repair the player's car, refill nitro and also refill ammunition. However, helping players costs you gas, which you can find at the bottom of the screen. Gasoline is a kind of alternative for money, and with each level the capacity of gasoline increases and is replenished. Another alternative, if you want to spice up the race for the player, is the possibility of sending a helicopter, a blockade, or temporarily preventing him from using technology. You can also assign missions to them, which you can find in the upper left corner of the screen. Missions last a certain amount of time and are rewarded with varying amounts of points if players successfully complete them within a set time limit.
One thing I didn't understand though is the way OverWatch connects you to rival players. It looks like the app randomly selects players who are currently playing the game and loads them in your app, since the game shows the players even when you're playing in a separate game. But the list of players doesn't have to be random either - it happened to me that I came across players here that I only met last night on one server. So there is a possibility that OverWatch is tracking the very players you have joined in the game in the past.
