Need For Speed Payback will be fast, potentially furious
Fast(en) your seatbelts
If I were in charge of a big car game, I'd be taking a long hard look at the Fast and Furious series and wondering if I could incorporate some kind of automotive heists or "IT'S ABOUT FAMILY" muscular soap opera into the equation. Turns out I might be on the same page as EA: Need for Speed Payback, coming November 10th this year, sounds like it'll be a big, daft tale of revenge. Set in "the underworld of Fortune Valley", it sees three playable characters taking on The Man The House and there will be heists, "high stakes car battles" and "epic cop pursuits".
The Fast and the Furious started off as Point Break with cars, then it all went a bit dull for a while, and somewhere along the line it embraced silliness and became The Avengers. But with cars. Always with cars. Imagine superheroes and criminals who find it difficult to do anything without being in a vehicle. They'd drive muscle cars down the aisles of Tesco to do their weekly shop, attend university lectures in tanks, and you'd better believe if they had to queue to renew their driving license, they'd show up at the office in a monster truck and pull up to the window revving the engine.
If Payback is anything like that, it'll be OK by me.
Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, players will drive as three distinct characters reunited by a quest for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. They will take on a variety of challenges and events as Tyler, the Racer; Mac, the Showman; and Jess, the Wheelman to earn the respect of the underground. Featuring the deepest customization from the series, players can truly craft a personalized and unique ride, or spend hours finding and tuning an abandoned derelict into a supercar. They can then push their cars to the limit and raise the stakes by betting on their own performance, where they can either multiply their winnings or risk losing it all.
I'll admit to some disappointment that the characters aren't actually called Tyler Racer, Mac Showman and Jess Wheelman, but I suppose we can't have everything just how we'd like it to be.
Along with the actual announcement, there are pre-order bits and pieces, including three days of early access playtime for people who buy the Deluxe Edition. The pre-order bonus sounds like it'll be the vehicular equivalent of those pre-orders that give you a really powerful gun early in the game and break the balance.
For players that pre-order the game, they will receive the Need for Speed Payback Platinum Car Pack and get instant access to five uniquely customized and tuned iconic cars at launch, each with exclusive Platinum Blue Tire Smoke. The Car Pack includes:
Nissan 350Z 2008
Chevrolet Camaro SS 1967
Dodge Charger R/T 1969
Ford F-150 Raptor 2016
Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 2016For drivers who want to get the extra edge over the competition, the Need for Speed Payback Deluxe Edition gives players up to three days of early access to the full game, along with exclusive customization items such as the Deluxe Edition license plate and NOS color, in-game discounts, Rep bonuses, everything the Platinum Car Pack has to offer, and more.
Ghost Games, creators of the 2015 reboot of the series, are the studio behind development.