looks the part, sounds the part, and is surprisingly reverent to real-world car culture. I like the direction Ghost has taken here, and I think it's the right one, but beneath its flashy exterior it's not quite firing on all cylinders.

Great visuals and sound; Drifting feels satisfying

Story is brief; multiplayer underdelivers; Rubber band AI; daft time-of-night effects; No drag racing; and no pause button

The Need For Speed series has always been something of a chameleon. At various points, it's been a police chase simulator , a realistic track racer , and even a Cannonball Run-style action movie on wheels .

Visually stunning city; Deep; rewarding progression; Genuinely customizable handling; Nail-biting sense of speed

Rubber-banding AI; Draconian drift scoring system; Always-online means never pausing

Need for Speed takes driving into a gorgeous world with a modern edge, but its pesky attitude and strict online-only requirement make you yearn for the good old days.

Ventura Bay lays out a gorgeous; rain-slick city; Car customization is rich and fulfilling; Drifts take time to tune and master

Completely unplayable offline; Pestering story mode; Parts of the world are a lifeless sprawl

If ever there were something that typified style over substance it would be the latest iteration of Need for Speed. After a few humdrum entries, Ghost Games has looked back to the series' early glor

Amazing customisation; Great looks; Plenty of cars

Inconsistent handling; Major rubber banding; Incredibly annoying phone

Welcome to Ventura Bay, the featured city in the latest Need For Speed where the sun never shines and it rarely stops raining! Everyone here absolutely loves to race - except the cops, but they're total squares who don't get the streets like the kids do.

A great sense of speed and lovely visuals

The braindead; cheating; rubber-banding opponent AI

The Need for Speed series has had it's ups and downs over the years, from the highs of Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit to the lows like The Run and Nitro. This one doesn't have a fancy name or a sequel number attached, it's just purely "Need for Speed.

Concept: Restart the series with the basic beats of street racing, drifting, and car customization Graphics: Sometimes the live-action cutscenes bleed into in-game assets seamlessly, and other times you're just as surprised when a building pops into place while you're racing Sound: The constant...

With a series that's as long-running as Need for Speed, it's no surprise that it's taken on many different forms. It's gone from racing rare cars on rural highways to customizing tuners on crowded city streets.

. While it may be considered a reboot, traces of familiarity are prevalent throughout the new title, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it only works if incorporated correctly. As with most

Whether you look at music, movies, toys, or even video games, everything old is new again. There are a lot of ideas and concepts being revisited with the hopes that they will catch on again.