10 Things You Need To Know About Need For Speed Payback

EA and Ghost Games showed off Need for Speed Payback for the first time last Friday, with a new trailer, screenshots and official details all being released for the game. It’s the first NFS game since 2015’s reboot.

Very little had been known about the next title in the NFS franchise beforehand, but now we have loads of information. Let’s break down all the key things we know after the recent game announcement.

1. The characters

Unlike past games where you play as an unnamed racer, in Need for Speed Payback you’ll be able to race and control three characters: Tyler, Mac and Jess. This is “the crew” that features in the single player story and is shown in the trailer.

Each one has their own nickname, too, which gives us an indication of their characteristics (we guess). In the order above, they’re called: “the Racer”, “the Showman” and “the Wheelman”.

2. Fast and furious story

We’re not sure about you, but there was a bit of a GTA V meets Fast and Furious vibe in the trailer. The plot of the story features themes of revenge and (you guessed it) payback, revolving around Tyler and his crew – who were double-crossed and forced into exile.

They have to bring down ‘The House’, a cartel which controls the area’s casinos, criminals and cops. Alongside the races, events and stunts you’d expect from a NFS game, there’ll also be heist missions in what the game’s executive producer describes as a “blockbuster” driving experience.

Also, if you’re feeling brave, there’s a feature where players can gamble on their in-game performances to multiply their winnings (or lose everything).

3. Huge map

We haven’t seen the full map but just from the trailer and information we’ve had so far, it sounds like the map for NFS Payback will be the biggest and most detailed yet. It’s set in the fictional region of Fortune Valley, which includes the city of Silver Rock.

This is where the story will take place and where players will be able to explore. Also worth noting is the fact that both day and night driving and racing will be included – the 2015 reboot was set exclusively at night.

4. Different driving experiences

Because the map will be so vast, there’ll be a load of different areas to explore and driving experiences to have. Of course, there’s the city environment you’d expect, but the Liberty Desert, Mount Providence and Silver Canyon have all been confirmed as locations within the region of Fortune Valley – for some mountain, canyon, off-road and desert driving too.

5. The new BMW M5 is in it

This wasn’t spotted by us initially, but the new BMW M5 – not meant to be debuting until the Frankfurt Motor Show in September – has been revealed in the first promotional image of the game (far left). BMW then announced it’d be in NFS Payback with another image too, giving us our first look at the front-end of the M5.

6. Wider variety of cars

As you’d expect from a new game, as the series progresses, it appears there will be more cars in the game and much more variety too. There will be five classes: Race, Drift, Off-Road, Drag and Runner.

7. Deeper customisation

We already knew the next NFS game would have a much bigger focus on customisation and modification, which is definitely good news. It’s also been confirmed that there’ll be abandoned cars scattered around the map, ready to be rescued, restored and modified. Which is a tasty prospect.

8. Offline, police chases

EA and Ghost’s initial reveal gave very little away about the game, but there were a few important snippets – firstly offline play will make a return after being absent from recent NFS releases, secondly we can also expect action-packed police chases will also feature in NFS Payback.

9. November release

Unlike some racing games set for release this year, we have an official release date for NFS Payback. It’ll hit real and virtual shelves on the 10 November, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Are you excited? We are…

10. Pre-order perks

There are a number of different bonuses and benefits to pre-ordering the game, NFS has confirmed. If you pre-order it, you get the Platinum Car Pack with five “uniquely customised and tuned cars” (including the Nissan 350Z and VW Golf GTI Clubsport).

There’s also a Deluxe Edition of NFS Payback that can be pre-ordered, giving you exclusive NOS colour, number plate, leaderboard icon, story mission pack and – most importantly – also allows you to play the game three days before the worldwide release.

Are you excited for NFS Payback? Let us know your thoughts below. More on the game will be revealed at EA Play later this month.