

The latter feels too twitchy at low speeds and too prone to understeer at higher ones, and I found myself getting frustrated trying to find the balance. I much preferred the drift setup for all race types because I found it far easier to get around corners by poising my Focus in a slide via a bootful of throttle and liberal use of opposite lock, rather than navigate the bends with a grip tune. The main slider adjusts all settings, nudging your car towards a drift setup or a grip setup, but you can dive deeper and massage certain steering, tyre pressure, and braking power settings individually to fine tune your ride.

Play It’s still good to have customisation of any sort back in Need for Speed, and with it comes several basic tuning options you can use to alter your car’s driving characteristics. It seems at odds with the game’s philosophy. You can’t modify everything, though after I completed the story mode I splurged on a classic Ferrari F40 but was disappointed to discover I could barely do anything to it. There’s also a freeform livery editor, which definitely beats having to make do with simple, pre-set designs and wraps. You can sweep around your car, swap external panels, add flair to fenders, install canards, adjust stance, and more. Performance customisation is the basic kind (bolt in everything you’re eligible to purchase and your car will go faster) but there’s a little more to visual customisation. I completed most of Need for Speed in a single car, constantly cramming upgrades into it to keep it ahead of the competition. Garage spots are limited to five but the focus here isn’t collecting it’s perfecting. “The eclectic roster of cars is only a fraction of what’s on offer in, say, Forza Horizon 2, but it has a little something for most gearheads.
