We are one month away from the release of NFS Unbound, a game that has been causing a lot of ink to flow since its announcement and its gameplay trailers. Developed entirely by the Criterion Games studio, the creators of the Burnout series in particular, this Need For Speed vintage 2022 is indeed distinguished by its very pronounced artistic touch, a mixture of realistic graphics and cel-shading. Some love it, others like it a lot less, but one thing is certain, the game leaves no one indifferent. We had the opportunity to talk to Kieran Crimmins, Creative Director on the game, to ask him all our questions about the new features expected in this opus. Gameplay, physics, crash, DA and customization, we even discussed with him the future of the Burnout license.
JEUXACTU: Since Need For Speed Most Wanted in 2012, Criterion hadn’t worked on a real new NFS, I don’t count Rivals that you co-developed with Ghost Games and the remake of Hot Pursuit, why did you wait so long?
Kieran Criminals: Just for information, I worked a lot on NFS Rivals. It was really a big big project. Otherwise, we actually worked on several different projects. We worked on the two Star Wars Battlefronts and in particular all the design and development of the vehicles. We also did a lot of things for the Battlefield series. We did a mission in virtual reality and between all that, we did… I can’t even remember. There were so many games, a plethora! But we also supported the Need For Speed series. Even though we weren’t the lead studio, we helped Ghost Games a lot every time. But since Ghost Games has its own studio… Actually, we’re kind of the same studio you know… They’re just across the street. I can literally see them from my desk actually. And even though we weren’t the lead studio on the games, it’s not as if we had eased off, contrary to what one might think. And then we worked so hard on a ton of vehicles for other games in between. But yeah, it’s time for us to step back into the world of Need For Speed, which is both a special and exciting time for us, as you can imagine.
Did you learn a lot precisely by working on other projects, not just racing games, and that you were able to reuse for this new Need For Speed?
Completely ! Since we’ve always been considered the experts on vehicles and we’ve always been in support of a lot of other games, to make sure to offer the best possible virtual experience. But that means that this know-how that we have acquired, and not only for the physics in the simulation, or just how to calculate the best physics to integrate into the Frostbite and this whatever the game. But also how to manage to translate that into a truly fun and perfectly playable experience. We have always had this philosophy, that we must be able to feel the gaming experience through the controller. So whatever game we’ve been working on, you feel like you’re that hero inside the vehicle. You’ll feel like you’ve been driving this vehicle for millions of years, and you’re this kind of expert. But also with a lot of depth. There is a level of mastery that you are capable of attaining whatever you undertake. So it’s not just you run the game and it’s a one-time experience. Everything has deep and interesting gameplay, it’s that kind of experience.
NFS Unbound stands out for its very assumed artistic touch, which mixes realistic graphics and cel-shading, how did this desire come about?
In fact, we were looking for a certain style of street art, just to get some inspiration. And we really wanted to stand out. We really wanted to do something that could be a step towards innovation, to do something that was interesting. Need for Speed is a bit of a series that shakes up codes and trends. So we wanted to amaze people not only with the gameplay, but also with a certain style in the art direction as well. And you could imagine our ideas, like this street art that’s being painted and spreading all over the world And then we were playing the game, and we were like, how do we make this stuff even better in terms of representation? Can we make the sensations better? And then, it was quite obvious, a bit like that in fact. We just put it in the game, like that, and see if it worked. And then we started like that, we experimented with the thing, and we realized how much it was fun to see these big bursts and this visceral feedback through these very stylized special effects and all that was around. And it was the same with the characters. We had a lot more emotions with this choice for the characters we made, and it also reinforced the urban side and the street racing aesthetic towards which we tried to tend. So, it was like it was one of those kind of main moments where at the beginning, you’re like, is this going to work? And then as soon as you try it, you’re like, Oh, it totally works. Not only does it really increase the kind of atmosphere you’re looking for in the game.
Since the first trailer there has been a lot of feedback for the art direction of the game, were you aware during development that people were going to either love it or hate it?
There has been so much Need For Speed since the beginning, so many different versions: pure simulation, street racing, chase, track racing. And everyone has their favorite NFS I imagine. And everyone gets their idea of the series through their favorite episodes. So we didn’t really think about that. We didn’t think about whether people were going to like it or hate it. We just tried to make the best possible game, the most inspiring and interesting Need for Speed, with the time we were given. So the driving effects that we can add to the cars, they are completely customizable. Which means you can change the style as you want.
I have the impression that you returned to a simpler gameplay, less open than before? Is the open world over for Need for Speed?
No way. It’s a totally open world game. There is a linear main story that ties it all together, but yes, it is an open world game and it is possible to go through it in its entirety. But on top of that there’s a new single-player campaign, with a structure that allows you, and I understand the question, to see the game more siled. In fact, what the game allows is to make each race, as well as your choices, more focused. You are therefore going to have to be more strategic about how to take risks on this race or event in question. Because time is limited, which by the way is a limited resource and you have to pay to access it. And the whole point of the campaign is to take people into fancy street racing, because this art direction is also about giving players a street racing experience. So we want them to bet the maximum amount of money, to lose it, to bet on your skill, to turn away from it, to meet you, to show off with their car and they bet on your rival. And this structure, it is completely new. It’s never been done before. But the feeling that comes out is that you’ll feel like playing a street racing game is amazing.
Almost everything has been tried with Need For Speed, how will this episode be different from the others in terms of gameplay?
If you’re talking about the campaign structure, or anything that revolves around that, the single-player campaign has a completely new structure. It’s much more tactical in its approach, with a system of risk and reward that we’ve never worked out in a Need For Speed before. The series had already tried the experiment very briefly and it was a success, but concerning the system of risks and rewards, we completely reinvented the mechanics. So, like I said, every decision you make has a choice, a risk and a reward associated with every upgrade, the money you spend on upgrading the car, whether it’s a drift challenge, or a takeover mission, or a street race, or whatever, it all depends on how you’ve tuned your car. And then each of these events gives you a level of “heat”. And in any game session, be it day or night, that heat gauge will increase. If it’s too high, then the cops will be very tough. So from there, we implemented new game modes, especially the rookie-led one, the “Takeover” event which is a whole new game mode based on precision driving. I probably don’t have time to detail everything for you (the interview is timed, editor’s note), but know that it’s very cool and very interesting, and it’s something we had never done until here.
And what about accidents, crashes? Have you pushed the boundaries of the genre? Did you learn from what you did with the Burnout license to come up with something new, for example?
So yes, there are a lot of crashes in the game. You’re going to be able to do some really cool big crashes in the game, stuff that has never been experienced. It’s a Need For Speed game and I know some people don’t like cars being smashed up, but personally I think it’s so cool and they’re spunky too. So yes, absolutely, we can do it. And then, we completely redid the physics of the vehicles as well, with a more advanced definition, more qualitative, we could call it HD physics, and the calculation of the physics is also something completely new, never done before. And when we did play-testing, the feedback from players was amazing and they were telling us that they had never played a Need For Speed like this before, and that made a big difference. And on top of that, we’ve implemented a more varied version of assists for the physics system as well. As a result, it is possible to switch from classic driving to a more drift-oriented experience with more control. But if you want to turn all that off, play a bit more like a real sim, or have fun with car pulls, that’s possible too. We can adjust the cars to your liking.
The Criterion studio is assimilated to the Burnout license. Do we have a chance to see the license return one day? Or is she dead and buried?
Oh no, not at all ! We would like to make a new Burnout. Finally, I still want to specify that we are not in the process of making one. We are making this game for the moment (NFS Unbound, editor’s note). In fact, the list of games we would like to make is incredibly long, but among the ones that we place at the top of this list is releasing a new Burnout. It’s a phenomenal game and it was really good to do it. And a lot of people are known to love Criterion for the Burnout franchise. But I repeat once again, we are not developing a new Burnout huh…