Out of many popular franchises attempting to transition to Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4, Need For Speed Rivals seems to have the greatest chance from what was seen during its E3 demo.
Need For Speed Rivals' biggest calling card is how seamless single-player and multiplayer flows between each other. It's breathtaking how the Ghost Studios developed title can go from single-player to full on MMO like experience in the same race.
The demonstration started with six racers behind Ferrari F12 Berlinettas and six cops in Koenigsegg Agera Rs; all given time to drive around the streets of Redview County. Both sides of the law were provided different weapons to use including turbo boosters for racers and spike strips for cops like Most Wanted or Hot Pursuit. Racers could travel freely, completing set challenges and even initiate races with other racers by hitting a single button. Cops could initiate a pursuit the same way at a moments notice with racers driving around or those participating in a race. Everything just happened smoothly without an extra load time or anything. A great example from Need For Speed Rival's demo came from entering a single player race against A.I. and midway through, a passing cop player initiated a pursuit. Once the single player race was over, the pursuit continued without pause. Making things even more crazy is that at times, one doesn't know whose an A.I. or human. Most importantly, vehicle handling was vintage Need for Speed and felt perfect.
EA has touted Need For Speed Rivals' Frostbite 3 usage since its announcement and it makes sense why. It's drop dead gorgeous. Cars aren't as detailed as Forza 5 but, they have more pizzaz to them. Details like rain drops slowly dripping down from the back window to the wheels is simply insane to look at. The same goes for Redview County; something is always happening and just makes the world come alive though like previous entries in the series, no humans outside of drivers unfortunately. Lighting is insane, especially when rain and lightning comes into play. Visually put, Need For Speed Rival is neck and neck with Forza 5 for best looking racing game at E3.
Alongside Battlefield 4, Titan Fall, and its sports lineup EA may have had the best third party showing but Need for Speed Rivals is the icing on the cake.
Need For Speed Rivals is slated for a fall release on Sony and Microsoft's current and next-gen consoles along with PC.
