Major Underground 2 vibes from Need for Speed Unbound reveal trailer

The first trailer for Need for Speed Unbound has dropped and it’s giving us major Need for Speed Undergound 2 vibes. Some of you may be too young to remember that game, but it was absolutely phenomenal. This is a good look so far.

Need for Speed Unbound – Official Reveal Trailer (ft. A$AP Rocky)

A$AP Rocky stars in the Need for Speed Unbound reveal

Need for Speed Unbound marks Criterion’s return to the Racing genre after almost a decade since their last entry in the Need for Speed franchise. Presented in beautiful 4K 60fps, the game will release on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 in December.

Those beautiful visuals promised will represent an area called Lakeshore, an open-world environment where the player will get to race around at ridiculous speeds. The new game promises to utilize the full might of next-gen consoles with the Frostbite Engine.

The trailer for Need for Speed stars A$AP Rocky, represented perfectly by a revamped art style that sees the franchise return to its street racing roots. The trailer places plenty of emphasis on art and graffiti, which will extend to gameplay as players can deck out their cars in a host of different styles. Nitrous boosts will also be awarded to players for exciting driving.

“Need for Speed is about trendsetting. Need for Speed is about breaking the mold. Need for Speed is about rebellion. It’s at the heart of that street racing fantasy, so we should be exploring new art styles and new visions and new ways the game can look, so that we can not only stand out from everything else, but also deliver innovation where we should be setting trends,”

Kieran Crimmins, Creative Director

A series that began in 1994, Need for Speed Unbound looks to be a serious return to the franchise’s roots. Street racing, neon, and cars that look like they’ve all gone through an episode of Pimp my Ride is what the series used to be known for. We’re glad to see it back.

Criterion has been away from the franchise since 2013, working on games such as Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefield in the meantime. They are the developer known for some of the greatest Racing games ever made, including Burnout Paradise and Need for Speed Most Wanted.

“If I was to boil everything up to what we trying to do here, we are trying to make the player feel like an illicit street racer, and make crazy bets like an illicit street racer, and feel the highs and lows and thrills of what it means to kind of embody that fantasy,”

Kieran Crimmins, Creative Director

Need for Speed Unbound promises to bring not just the return of street racing, but the introduction of street racing culture. Races will feature buy-ins that players can win back or lose based on the outcome of the race. Race wins will also give the player ‘heat’, which can build up quickly in one session and give players a higher risk of losing the money they have built up.

A$AP Rocky will feature as a leader in-game in the new ‘Takeover Scene’ mode. Takeover Scene will allow players to work together in order to take over elements of the Lakeshore region.

Need for Speed unbound releases on December 2nd, 2022, you can pre-purchase it on Steam here.

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