NFS The Run Has Special Challenge Series, Focuses on Pure Racing
Need for Speed: The Run, the new racing game from Black Box and Electronic Arts, has a special Challenge Series that delivers a more racing-focused experience than the regular single-player campaign.
The Run is getting ready to be released next month and has gotten quite a lot of people interested, especially since it uses the Frostbite 2 engine from Battlefield 2 and marks a return to story-based experiences, just like in older titles like NFS: Most Wanted.
Now, Kotaku reports that a Challenge Series mode is also available in NFS: The Run, which focuses purely on races, without any sort of story or narrative tying together the individual levels.
Basically, the Challenge Series uses the same tracks and environments from the regular single-player mode, and offers different types of challenges inspired by older NFS games. As such, there will be Most Wanted-style encounters with cops, Carbon-style nighttime races in canyons, or Underground-style races against tuned and customized cars.
Elements from last year's NFS: Hot Pursuit are also making a comeback, as players can perform Takedowns to eliminate rivals or cops, so vehicle damage remains an integral feature.
There are 70 challenges in total, broken up in 10 stages, with full support for the Autolog online system, charting the performance of players and sharing it with friends. Racers need to finish in first place and post times worthy of in-game medals, just like in Hot Pursuit.
What's really interesting is that such challenge races will have multiple timed sections, like the single-player story, so if you fail one, you're only forced to retry that certain section, not the whole race, thus preventing lots of frustration on behalf of players.
Last but not least, the website also points out that traffic is dynamically generated, so retrying time and time again until you memorize the behavior of all the other cars is no longer a viable tactic.
Expect more details about this Challenge Series in NFS: The Run soon.
---------- Post added 20-10-2011 at 06:32 PM ----------
NFS: The Run Stars Mad Men's Christina Hendricks and Vampire Diaries' Sean Faris
Need for Speed: The Run isn't just your average racing game, as the new title marks a return to story-based experiences, so EA and Black Box have confirmed that two major actors, Sean Faris and Christina Hendricks, will share their voice and likenesses for the protagonist, Jack Rourke, and his sponsor, Sam Harper.
NFS games have always offered distinct racing experiences as opposed to straight up simulators like Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo, delivering some pretty decent stories through older titles like NFS: Most Wanted.
Now, after a few games without any sort of narrative, NFS: The Run promises to once again put an emphasis on story, telling the adventure of Jack, a guy caught up in a cross-country illegal race called The Run, against hundreds of opponents, from San Francisco to New York.
Now, just as the demo for the game is released this week, EA and Black Box have confirmed that two major actors from TV shows like The Vampire Diaries or Mad Men, will appear in the new racing title.
Sean Faris plays the main protagonist of the game, Jack Rourke, "one of the best drivers around," but who allowed his cockiness and arrogance to lead him into a major debt with the mob. He must now enter in The Run, with the help of Sam, and has no other choice than to win the race and pay off his debts.
"I've definitely done my share of intense action scenes in movies but it's totally different and thrilling to actually be a character and driver in Need for Speed The Run. I got a kick out of seeing myself in the game, it's totally me! I'm a huge fan of the Need for Speed series so I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the game," said Faris.
Meanwhile, the voluptuous Christina Hendricks, which stars in Mad Men as Joan Harris and previously appeared in Firefly, will bring to life Sam Harper, " a woman with ambition, street smarts and a penchant for lightning fast cars" who helps get Jack in The Run and guides him through his journey as his eyes and ears on the course.
"It's very exciting to be part of Need for Speed The Run. I've never been a video game character before so this is definitely a first for me. It's been fantastic fun to do something so different and to show a different side of myself as well," said Hendricks.
As you can see, EA isn't skimping on hiring the best talent out there, so let's hope The Run's story will be able to make perfect use of these two great actors.
