Need for Speed: The Run Critic Reviews

The Run takes the venerable franchise in a startling new direction while preserving all of the aspects that have made the series so successful. This one is definitely worth taking a look at.

If you focus on the pure details of the cars and racing itself, Need for Speed: The Run stands head and shoulders above past installments as well as other racing simulations.

A solid, polished product that's a bit rough around the edges on occasion, but not so much that it takes away from the core experience, which is boosted by a solid storyline and robust array of online options that makes it one of my favorite entries in the series to date. If you're looking for an arcade racer with a lot of flash and the speed to match, give The Run a spin. It's great ride.

A lot of my driving fantasies were realized in this game. I found myself grinning the whole time, gripping the hell out of the controller, leaning into turns with my body, gritting my teeth as I mashed on the nitro button to boost past rivals. If you've ever found yourself daydreaming about whipping past slow cars on the highway, passing on the sidewalk, or bashing police cars off the road, you're going to love this game.

NFS: The Run is a fast, frantic, and thoroughly enjoyable racer. The idea of a movie-encased racing game is an excellent one, and despite the fact that EA's first attempt lacks due tact or sophistication, the over-the-top plot does add extra context and excitement to the basic premise of driving at ridiculous speeds.

The Run falters with its high-profile but underdeveloped plot as well as some awkward design choices. However, it overcomes these potholes with courses that are a blast to drive and simple multiplayer that keeps you hooked in.

As I said, I've been a fan of the Need for Speed franchise for quite some time, but even I've been rubbed a bit raw by some of the franchise's evolution over the years. It's not like EA and Black Box were struggling to find an identity, but they seemed to always be looking to switch things up just for the sake of switching. With Need for Speed: The Run, it seems like EA finally found the right mix of action and challenge, and the sporadic out-of-the-car sequences give just enough of a break to keep you pushing forward.

I enjoyed the refreshing diversity of the 40+ track sections you get to experience as you cross our great country.

More like an FPS than a racer, The Run lacks the performance and depth of Gran Turismo and Forza, but delivers on insane speeds and nail-biting arcade thrills.

A very pretty and in some parts surprising arcade racer. It takes a step or two towards the original Need for Speed and that's a good thing. There's one annoying problem, though. The stupidly expensive police cars are just, well, really stupid.

The driving in this driving game is fast, sexy and frequently exciting.

It's possible Need for Speed The Run won't provide as many hours of entertainment as previous NFS games, but then it packs in unique events and some incredibly exciting chase sequences, meaning it packs a lot of entertainment-per-hour. It's not very forgiving of mistakes, but then it provides greater rewards as a result.

Does so many things right. It's an action game for people who like cars, or perhaps a racing game for people who like action. In fact, it's both of these things at the same time. Too often racing games get repetitive and lose their luster about halfway through. The Run takes a simple formula and amps it up to appeal to junkies of both genres.

The ingredients used in Need for Speed: The Run do not differ from those used in previous games: fast cars and dangerous racing remain the main attractions. The story mode, even being short and simple, delivers high doses of adrenaline. And while we're driving, it's all that matters.

Doesn't reach the heights of last year's Hot Pursuit, but at it's core, The Run is still a well-tuned arcade racer that gets a lot more things right than it gets wrong.

Need for Speed The Run is currently the best arcade racing title. It feels like a Hollywood experience. Unfortunately the campaign has a short length but you can spend many hours on the multiplayer and all of the challenges.

Although the single-player adventure runs out of fuel way too soon, the intensity of the racing while driving beautifully rendered "dream" autos makes up for the brevity, and a few replayable modes (Challenge and online) greatly increases Need for Speed: The Run's gameplay driving distance.

Need for Speed: The Run is by no stretch a bad game; it just fails to capitalize on its chances. San Francisco to New York is a long haul, and it's even longer when not enough happens in between.

Need for Speed: The Run did not match some of the players expectation, because of the poor narrative and below standard AI. Nevertheless, thanks to an intersting driving system the game results in fun arcade racing.

Overall there is nothing bad about The Run. It promised and did not deliver a completely engrossing story.