'Need for Speed' First Impressions and Gameplay Video
posted by arn on May 5th, 2009 6:19 PM EDT in $9.99, Racing, iPhone games, iPod touch games
EA's Need for Speed [App Store] racing game has finally made it into the App Store after months of delays, and the question on everyone's mind is… was it worth the wait? I don't think we can answer that question this early on, but here are some first impressions.
As with most EA games, the production quality of Need for Speed is top notch. The game includes cut scenes with real actors and a smuggling story line to drive the action forward. When you first launch the game, it nicely throws you straight into the tutorial mode to get you used to the game's controls. Tilt steering is offered with auto-acceleration. The game's controls seemed well tuned and natural to me on initial play, but some players won't like the fact there are no calibration settings offered. The game also includes a few other gesture-based actions including braking (tap), nitro (swipe up), and speedbreaker (swipe down).
The game is very much an "arcade" racer that feels a lot like I-Play/Firemint's Fast and Furious racing game. The game puts you into very specific racing tasks such as Highway Battle, Sprint and Cop Takeout. The embedded gameplay video shows a bit of a standard street race as well as Cop Takeout — which requires you to take out a number of cops without getting caught.
Screenshot by qasim
Car enthusiasts will enjoy the fact that you can play in one of 20 of real-world cars such as the Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Gallardo and many more. Money earned from individual races (there are 24 missions) can be used to buy new cards and upgrade features on existing cars. Aside from performance enhancements you can also upgrade the appearance of the cars with different wheels, paint jobs, spoilers, etc.
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
The game looks, sounds and feels great and most early impressions have been positive. Those hoping for a more authentic racing or free-roaming experience, however, may not like what they get. We'll spend some more time with the title and provide a full review in time.
Additional notes and impressions by our forum members: Screenshots by RaZrVIN and qasim, Impressions from slickninja, Rylin, dannys95, Auhron.
App Store Link: Need for Speed Undercover, $9.99
Thanks for this! It truly is the best racer in the AppStore to date. Arn, just a heads up, you spelled cars "cards" here: "can be used to buy new cards and upgrade features on existing cars."
sweeeeeeeeeet
Hi arn is you want to drift its the same as Asphalt 4 but more harder though
YAY!! i'm mentioned lol
btw.. nice post!! lol
Booo! Not available in the UK store and I haven't got enough credit on my US account
Anyone know if you can drive inside the car view vs. 3rd person view?
Anthony no there is no inside car view all time u see back of ur car. But u can zoom like in safari browser with two fingers.
I played it like 30 min now and tell u its sweet I don't like tilt controls in racing games but trust me in this game tlit working flawless. This is my first 9.99$ game and I love it worth every cent. My opinion its 9/10
really fun but i still think for long term value fastlane is much better.
The races arent too difficult and the roads look too similar. Plus the cheesy storyline with the super cheesy cutscenes.
nahh, the tracks in Fastlane tracks look all boring and bland and blocky. Things keep popping up out of nowhere too. The graphics are just not as good. But I agree the story and cutscenes are cheesy.
control – 9
gfx – 7.5 (low fps)
gameplay – 8
value – 7
————–
8.0
Alright, I'm impressed… and slightly aroused… mmmmm racing goodness…
egh, not a fan of the sort of auto-steering that it does during turns
like if you hold your ipod completely straight you'll still start turning a bit and drift, takes most of the fun out of it for me
or perhaps it's just a lack of sensetivity that does that
I'm very impressed. Graphics are easily a 10, it's simply beautiful and smooth, just like the tilt controls which I'm surprised at. First racing game to actually get it right. Nice job EA.
insane !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can anyone give me a full list of the cars included? Everyone just says like: It includes cars such as whatever. But I just want to know whether to buy this, and that would help me decide. Thanx?
iCello,
There's a full list of the cars at http://appmodo.com/249/need-for-speed-undercover-for-iphone-is-the-ultimate-racing-app-full-review/ which also has prices
after playing more…i can say its the best racing game for iphone by far
very fun!!!
Is their any other thing to do besides the missions???? I mean 24 missions thats kind of short…
its ok… you have like 4.5+ hours of gameplay…
and its fun !
It's much less free-roaming than Need For Speed: Carbon, a Wii title I've put many hours into. But nice.
So good !!
I'm sure it will go on sale someday but $10 ain't too bad. Very impressed by watching this video. Good graphics with nice presentation. Can you listen to your own songs during play? If so, I'd rather listen to my Road Rash or Paradise City soundtrack while playing this.
yes you can listen to your own music.
THE GAME IS OUT!!!
Check it out an AWESOME Gameplay Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlC5LXbEF4
Graphics look good but the frame rate is not.
Typical EA game (on any platform) really.
Thank to EA!!!! Finally!!!! I'll be able to play it in 15fps!!! Sweet!!!
Oh and how much was it? oh yeah 9.99!!! it is a bit steep but I don't worry
cuz it is my dad whose making money for the family not me. hahaha
again man~ I love that sluggish game play along with the mediocre graphics and high price slapped on my face!!! yeah!!!!!!
Tiger Woods is excellent. Been playing it non-stop for days.
Only problem is, everyone else on the PGA tour sucks. Even with turning the caddy tips off, and not using putt preview at all, I beat everyone by at least 25 or so strokes.
Nonetheless, I still feel like I'm far away from perfecting the holes. Haven't even gotten an Albatross yet, but gotten damn close. It's a lot harder than the Wii title, haha.
Typical EA hater. You never even tried it, just watched a poor video on this site and made ignorant comments without even playing it first hand. 15fps it definitely is not, the framerate is a lot smoother than that video shows and as graphics go, this is by far the best on iPhone for racing games
Not too sure what all the naysayers were expecting with this game. An Xbox 360 clone I guess. I am greatly enjoying myself on this game. More so than I have on any other of my many other iPhone racing titles I've purchased. This and Tiger Woods come highly recommended by me.
I really don't understand why companies like EA can't make titles immediately available worldwide. If anyone from EA is reading this, could you please tell us why! Seems to me that it would be easy to get worldwide copyright licenses on all the content in the game, but maybe I'm just naive.
Tilt controls suck… give me the asphalt 4 controls and i'll buy it.
Asphalt had tilt controls too. In fact, it was the default method. And it was, at one point, a shining example of getting tilt controls "right". Then Gameloft issued an update that completely ruined the tilt controls. Uncontrollable mess of a game now. No longer playable, and I now designate it Ass Fault.
Seriously, Ass Fault has been THE worst racer on this platform since that update. Friggin' unplayable, and I don't know how ANYONE can recommend that POS.
I think tilt controls generally suck too, but this game is a whole new ball game. It's the only game I have ever played on iPhone where the tilt controls are smooth and perfect.
Tilt controls on this game are amazing and the only game that is implemented well
BEST video (better and clearer quality): great gameplay video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHpbyujA4KU
great game
sweet game, best racer yet. i didnt think EA would pull off releasing all the games they promised but so far they've released alot of games in the past couple of weeks.
P.S. american idol just came out. probably not gonna buy it.
I have been waiting for this game since it was demoed at last September's iPod event. It was definitely worth the wait. The controls are precise and easy to use. Framerate is smooth. The car customization options and numerous missions make for extended gameplay. EA did this one right. Some things are worth waiting for.
If end game 3×8 in TriCity. New Drift Mode – wow
Very nice. A pleasant surprise. Was initially very cynical about EA coming to the apps store with premium prices, but so far (well, with Tiger Woods and NFS) they've dished up some good stuff for the money.
Liking this, amazing how this is actually better than the last 3 NFS games on bigger consoles