Need For Speed Unbound officially unveiled, skids onto PC in December
Hip-hop’s own A$AP Rocky is in it
The next Need For Speed has been revealed at last, and its new graphical direction is what I can only describe as pulling an 'Into The Spiderverse'. Yep, Need For Speed Unbound is looking pretty cel-shaded, with little cartoon streams of dust flying up from the wheels of your speeding vehicle. Substantially pimped-out vehicle, might I add, courtesy of rapper and general lad A$AP Rocky. Take a look at his motor in the trailer below.
Unbound’s single-player campaign tasks you with winning “the ultimate street race” to get back a priceless car that was half-inched from your family’s garage in scenic Lakeshore City. I say scenic, it pretty much just looks like a bunch of dockyards, underpasses and cop-infested streets judging from the trailer. You’ll have to pelt it around Lakeshore in your tricked-out wagon, betting on races and working your way up the street racing ladder.
You can even race against A$AP Rocky, who’s featured on the soundtrack. His song’s called “Shittin’ Me”. No, I’m not, it really is. If you’re not a fan then there’s the option to customise your car to distract yourself from the jams, including Driving Effects. I’m guessing these are the new cartoon-style visual flair. EA and Criterion are promising free updates but it’s all a bit fuzzy at the moment. I’ll let you know when they emerge after Unbound is released.
Today’s planned reveal of Need For Speed Unbound was undercut somewhat by an early store page reveal on Japanese retail site Neowing, which leaked the game’s title and release date yesterday, along with some screenshots. Neowing took the page down, but the catalytic converter was out of the bonnet by that point. Details of the game had been kicking around since Insider Gaming reported A$AP Rocky’s involvement at the end of September, and these were confirmed by today’s trailer.
I rewatched the trailer a few times just to giggle at the Roadrunner-esque trails behind the cars. I think I’m kind of onboard for this? We finally have a game that matches the snazzy RGB nature of PC hardware these days, for one thing.
Need For Speed Unbound releases on Steam, the Epic Games Store and the EA app for Windows on December 2nd. It’ll set you back £60/$70/€70.