Written by: Ian

 

 

 

"Need For Speed World" is the first racing MMO from EA. With a download only approach and a free trial, is this a breakthrough racer? MMO racing has also been something that has not gained any real success in the market yet either, so with the big names of EA & NFS involved, will this be a riproaring success story?

 

 

There’s no story to world at all- even in the soft touch fashion of other MMO’s. You choose a name, car and logo for yourself, and then you are thrust into the city as a street racer, ready to compete against the masses. There’s no AI contact pushing you in any direction at all- some people might find this liberating, but some kind of plot would have been nice.

 

 

Going back to NFS on a PC felt a bit weird. The default keyboard controls are WSAD, but as the powerups are mapped to 1-4, I felt it was easier to control with the arrow keys. Obviously, if you have a USB controller, this is the way to go- the keyboard doesn’t offer the analogue precision that a 360 gamepad can, and it can become uncomfortable as well.

 

 

With the exception of the control scheme, everything is crushingly similar to any other arcade-focused, open-world NFS you have ever played. There are obviously other players in the city- but the races are in separate instances, and the human players are (a) normally centred around the race points, so most streets are actually rather empty, because this is not only where you join a race, but you can jump to any point as well, saving you from driving, and (b) are all essentially ghosts- you drive straight through them. Essentially then, when compared to ‘traditional’ MMO games, this is more Guild Wars than WoW. The interactions that are possible are simply not as full featured as a pay monthly game.

 

In credit to the game, there is also a pretty fully fledged single player as well- with all the usual NFS game types, and even including pursuits against cop AI. Unfortunately the AI seems a bit more simplistic than in the full retail games, and the rewards fairly insignificant as compared to playing against humans, but if you are ever playing at a lean time, it’s useful to know that you can still get some enjoyment and progress from the game.

 

 

Handling-wise, and car-wise, this is very much a traditional NFS game, with an arcade focus, and the various powerups only serve to increase the detachment from real world physics. The number of cars and customisation is pretty decent too- although not up to Forza standards, and there is certainly scope for EA to release more cars. The difference over older games though is that you now need to level up to gain access to new equipment, before then spending your hard earned cash on new cars or upgrades.