In-depth Speed Race gameplay trailer for Need for Speed Unbound released

Just over three minutes that includes some of the most detailed gameplay yet for Need for Speed Unbound was unveiled on Monday (21st November).

The trailer depicts how a Speed Race would go down in Lakeshore, from pulling up to the locale, the menu of options, side bets, and the racing action itself.

Things kick off with a player driving around in the open world approaching a meetup. As the player pulls into the meetup in A$AP Rocky’s custom Mercedes 190 E, a menu appears for the Edgewater meetup with options on the bottom for Rivals, My Rides, and in the center, Event.

The event, a Speed Race called the Lakeshore Express, is the option on display. Selecting the race includes a buy-in, in this case it’s $2,250, and warns of a “Heat Gain” of one flame out of five, so not an overly illegal activity. It looks to be an ‘A’ level race.

The reward for winning here is $6,750, essentially getting back triple what was put in. There are prizes down to fourth that will result in a positive monetary gain, fifth earns back the buy-in, sixth and seventh get some money back and eighth is a complete loss.

The actual race kicks off with a quick cinematic of characters in their cars before it swings around to the player and the countdown comes up on the screen.

On the racing screen, the heads up display has data in all four corners. The top left is the standings, where the players is at and who is around, how far ahead and behind. The top right is the completion of the event – a percentage of the race, what lap the player is on, and what the lap time currently is.

On the bottom left is a mini map, showing the route and what is around the player, like other racers and the checkpoints. In the bottom right is the tach, showing the speed, rpm and current gear of the car in the bigger circle and in the smaller one, the energy recharge meter.

The center of the screen will let you know how far until the next checkpoint and in what direction it is. Any specialty maneuvers, whether it’s drafting, drifting, catching air or smashing into objects, appears in the bottom right as well. Those moves are what help recharge the energy bars.

After winning the first race, we see four more events on the screen for the Cyrill Heights / Storm Drain Meetup.

• On the right a Street Race called “Riding the L” with a $0 buy in and possibly $1,500 pay out, a low risk ‘B’-level event with only half a flame of Heat Gain.
• Second from the right is a Drift Event, “Gardening Leave”, also a ‘B’-level with a $4,000 buy in and $10k payout for winning.
• The one in the middle is an Endurance Event, “Old Town Road”, and while this ‘A’ level event is only a $3,000 buy in, the possible payout is slightly higher than the drifting one at $10,500.
• Second on the left is a Speed Race, “Skyline Sprint”, which is an ‘A+”-level event with a one-and-a-half flame Heat Gain and a possible $12,000 reward.
• Finally, the one the player chooses is another Speed Race, all the way on the left, but this one is big money. It’s a big buy in at $12,000, but a possible $36,000 can be won here. Fifth on back gets nothing, and the Heat Gain is a whopping three out of five flames. It’s also a point-to-point race.

After selecting the car, we finally get a look at the side bets. Higher ranked drivers are larger bets, and players can choose to side bet any of the other seven competitors. After selecting Eléonore for a side bet of $1,300, the race is on… and almost immediately, the police are getting involved.

True to the Need for Speed franchise, players will need to win the race and evade the Lakeshore police department at the same time. This race being a three flame race, the intensity is brought higher as police cars and helicopters attempt to thwart yours and your competitors’ speed.

All in all, it’s a great in-depth look into what specifically a Speed Race will look like, and from the actual racing aspect of it, things are pretty high in intensity.

Need for Speed Unbound is due in just two weeks, on 2nd December 2022 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via the EA app, Origin, Steam and the Epic Game Store. Standard Edition goes for $69.99 and the Palace Edition will be $79.99.

Source: EA