Recently I tried the latest efforts from the Need For Speed franchise and all I can say is that I'm disappointed.

I grew up playing Need For Speed: Underground, Underground 2, Most Wanted (2005) and Carbon. Although I consider titles like ProStreet, The Run, Most Wanted (2012) and Rivals to be good enough to avoid being called mediocre, the franchise's most recent releases simply feel soulless. NFS (2015) was like a step in the right direction despite it's flaws, then Payback took 100 steps backwards by being a casino first and foremost, instead of a racing game. Heat recovered a sense of identity, just for Unbound to be the very definition of mediocrity and wasted potential.

To me, the last great NFS game from start to finish was 2010's Hot Pursuit and it's remastered version, released back in 2020 (as seen on the gif uploaded with the post). It's a fun game on both racer and cop careers, with 70+ cars to choose from, good graphics and art direction, controls that make sense and a killer soundtrack.

How hard can it be for them to get it right? There's an excess of feedback from the community, but it all falls on deaf ears.

I live on copium, hoping that one day, Take-Two Interactive will resurrect the Midnight Club IP.