Well known to children in playgrounds, the game of cops and robbers is once again at the heart of this Need For Speed Rivals, which brings up to date a philosophy sublimated in the 2010 episode: Need For Speed Hot Pursuit. If the Ghost Games studio was clearly inspired by the Criterion game, it nevertheless tries to bring its personal touch. The beginning of hostilities also starts with a selection of supercars to drive crazy any professional driver accustomed to driving with pretty cars. The game begins with the – difficult – choice of his team, which proposes to embody either a policeman from the highway brigade, or a street racing driver without faith or law. If you have opted for the Police, then you find yourself in the uniform of a cop with unorthodox methods and whose sole purpose is to stop road scum by all means, even if it means breaking certain laws. On the other hand, if you decide to embody the ace of pilots, the thug, you will aim to become the most popular of racers, the search index being proof of your popularity rating. In short, you will have understood, the scenario of Need For Speed Rivals is on a confetti, has little interest, except to offer you to win cars. This is the main objective of the game and one of the few motivations for the player, failing to be entitled to a story worthy of interest.
Seek & Destroy
To compensate for this screenplay frustration, Need For Speed Rivals makes up for it with its realization, successful it must be admitted, thanks to neat graphics, even if the frostbite engine seems restrained and absolutely does not offer a rendering up to Battlefield 4. We can nevertheless appreciate the good quality textures and some quite credible light effects. Otherwise, to avoid jealousy and be consistent with themselves, the developers have voluntarily limited the framerate to 30 frames per second on the PC version. A way like any other to allow the most modest players and not having a daron graphics card to run the game correctly, to the detriment of course of the visual effects and the general fluidity of the whole. With this fixed framerate, it is then almost impossible to tell the difference between the rendering of the PC version and that on next gen ', PS4 like Xbox One. Only Sharingan owners will notice slightly more jagged edges on the console version. That said, parity between different media has never been done so thoroughly. Another good surprise: the open environment offered by the title of Ghost Games, which displays a more than respectable size.
Because if the map only displays the visible lines, with bitumen I mean, a multitude of shortcuts on earth are obviously present in order to vary the sensations. We can therefore visit several settings to travel a little, via coastal roads that wind on the side of cliffs, mountain paths often covered in snow, a desert with endless straight lines and much more. In short, once again, there is plenty to do! Other good news to highlight: the return of vertiginous jumps to perform, radars to jump while passing like a bullet and even new timed sections which make you earn money and give you a good excuse to walk around and so all unearth them. Progression in the single-player game is done in stages and for each of them, you must complete objectives noted on a speed list, an ingenious find from the developers. Indeed, progression in car games is often very linear, and to break the ambient monotony, the Ghost Games studio had the idea of letting you choose between three different speed lists for each level. You can therefore choose to win a medal on a time trial, destroy enemy vehicles or indulge in freestyle via jumps and drifts to chain. For trophy maniacs, don't worry since all the speed lists are playable once the scenario is over.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
Since embodying a thug driving a luxury car is no longer so extraordinary today, we set our sights on the Police to start the game in order to understand the gameplay. Fortunately, a cinematic explains the importance of defending poor citizens, and why it is necessary to drive like crazy to make arrests. Moreover, a moving moment, you are given the keys to your first black and white Mercedes AMG delivered with revolving lights and Walker Texas Ranger style bull bars. When you play as a law enforcement officer, you have the choice between three events: interception, rapid intervention and super pursuit. "Interception" mode asks you to catch up with a lone car going at full speed and stop its driver, by ramming it into nitro triggered or using your arsenal. Rapid intervention is a kind of time trial where each contact is sanctioned by a time penalty. 
As for the "Super Pursuit" mode, you are asked to catch up with all the participants of a street race (usually 3 cars) in the same way as for the "Interception" mode. So do not hesitate to rush across the field to catch up with the thugs, knowing that you can also patrol freely and attack the first that passes under your nose. There are two solutions for this: rush directly into your target and take a step ahead, or turn on the flashing lights to warn of our arrival; a very practical way to fill your bank account since it is during chases that you earn the most money. The money is also used to buy weapons to equip your vehicle when you play on the side of the Police, and there is a hell of an arsenal to collect. EMP, mines, harrows, rams, etc. You can even call in helicopter reinforcements to swing portcullises at your enemies. No customization option is available since each car exists in three copies, each assigned to one of the three speed lists offered at each level. And when you get tired of playing the peacekeeper, just go to the menu and choose your pilot career to instantly switch sides.
My way or the highway
Conversely, when you play on the side of the rogue pilot, life is very different from that of the police. As bad boy of the road, there are no rules, which pushes us to forget all the obligations imposed by the Police. Welcome to the den of tuning! Basically the system is the same, except that you are now the prey and no longer the hunter. The levels are still relevant except that this time, you no longer climb in the hierarchy but in the search index of the Police. The trials are also the same except you have to outrun the cops, but additionally win the race for the super chase. Another advantage over law enforcement: you can challenge whoever you want, policeman or thug, knowing that in the second case, a default race distance is to be covered before his competitor, which is a source of additional income . A significant and very useful livelihood since among the thugs, the taxpayer does not finance your extravagances, and you must therefore buy your vehicles, your weapons, but also customize and tamper with everything. As for the arsenal, we find the same toys as in the cops, except that the air support is replaced by the famous turbo which sends you off like a missile for a few moments, while the harrows give way to mines.
The huge advantage of being a bad boy is that you can now pimp your cash. Paints, vinyls and decals are there to give a more personalized touch to your vehicle. And if the flashy Jacky Touch decorations don't inspire you, the preparation workshop will have everything to seduce you. Reinforcements to increase the resistance of your vehicle, engine improvements to track everyone or even a suspension game to stay stuck in the asphalt: your finances will suffer. Although confined to the role of fugitive from the Police, the game remains well balanced thanks to the really more efficient vehicles available to the thugs, and this mode will unsurprisingly be the favorite of many players. Finally, let's talk about multiplayer and the famous AllDrive, which allows you to add online players to the population of NPCs that inhabit the open world of Need For Speed Rivals. As long as we are connected, the game automatically finds us a server to play with real players. So if it is impossible to find a server populated only by online players, all your games will be embellished with them, which allows you to change bots when you want a slightly more challenging challenge. Note also that the GPS can guide us to players connected via the map, so as not to leave encounters in the hands of chance. So useful.
