Key Highlights:
- EA has announced Need for Speed Rivals for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One.
- Ghost Games is leading development with support from Criterion Games, using the Frostbite 3 engine.
- Rivals introduces AllDrive, separate cop and racer careers, and the return of Ferrari to the Need for Speed series.
Electronic Arts has officially announced Need for Speed Rivals, the next entry in its long-running racing series, for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Ghost Games is leading development in partnership with Criterion Games, with Rivals built on the Frostbite 3 engine. The game returns to the familiar rivalry between illegal street racers and police, but places both sides inside the open roads of Redview County.
Play as a Racer or Cop
Players can choose between two separate career paths.
As a racer, the aim is to build notoriety by escaping police pursuits, completing risky challenges and earning Speed Points. The more successful the run, the more valuable the player becomes as a target, but getting busted means risking the Speed Points accumulated during that session.
Police players instead work towards rising through the ranks by pursuing and arresting racers. Higher ranks unlock new police vehicles and more powerful pursuit technology.
Both sides gain access to different gadgets. Racers can use equipment including turbo boosts, jammers and EMPs, while cops can deploy shockwaves, roadblocks and helicopter support. EA says Rivals contains 11 upgradeable pursuit and evasion technologies.
AllDrive Connects Single Player and Multiplayer
Need for Speed Rivals also introduces AllDrive, a new system designed to remove the traditional separation between single-player, co-op and multiplayer racing.
Friends can enter and leave each other’s sessions dynamically, allowing races, pursuits and other events to overlap without requiring players to move into a separate multiplayer mode. Executive Producer Marcus Nilsson says the aim is to create one continuous progression system where playing alone or with friends feels part of the same experience.
Ferrari Returns to Need for Speed
The announcement also confirms Ferrari’s return to the Need for Speed franchise after a seven-year absence.
EA specifically names the Ferrari F12berlinetta among the cars appearing in Rivals, with Ferrari describing the partnership as a return to the series.
Customisation will also return, with options including paint jobs, licence plates, liveries, decals, rims and performance upgrades.
Need for Speed Rivals is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2013 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are planned for later in the year.
EA is also offering an Ultimate Cop Pack as a pre-order bonus, including the Nissan GT-R Black Edition police car, a custom livery and bonus pursuit technology.
Further gameplay followed soon after the announcement, with GLN later covering extended Need for Speed Rivals gameplay footage showing races, pursuits and wet-weather driving.
