Need for Speed: The Run is a 2011 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eighteenth installment in the Need for Speed series and is Black Box's final entry in the series before the studio's closure in April 2013. Following an extensive marketing campaign, the game was released on November 15, 2011, for PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS and Wii.
Unlike previous entries in the series, The Run features an extensive collection of races set against various real-life locations, including the cities of New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and San Francisco, and features a wide variety of real-life cars to drive in. In the game's single-player campaign, players assume the role of street racer Jack Rourke, who is taking part in a large-scale race from San Francisco to New York, seeking to win it against various odds. An assortment of multiplayer modes are also included.
Upon release, the game received mixed reviews from critics. In May 2021, The Run became unavailable for purchase in any online stores, and its online servers were also shut down in August 2021.
Gameplay
Need for Speed: The Run is a racing video game and the eighteenth title in the Need for Speed series. Players take part in street racing across real world locations in the United States. There are over of road, three times more than Hot Pursuit, making it the biggest Need For Speed game on release. Most event types require the player to overtake opponents to win the race. There are also time attack events and survival events where the players must prevent their vehicle from being destroyed while under attack. Cars are divided into tiers based on performance. During a race, the player can enter a gas station to change the vehicle they are using and perform visual customizations. Unlike previous Need for Speed titles, The Run features sections where the player exits their car and is travelling on foot. Gameplay in these sections is restricted to quick time events.
The driving model of the game is described as "sit somewhere between Shift and Hot Pursuit", not as arcade-styled as Hot Pursuit, but neither as simulator-styled as Shift. The Run employs a large range of real-world vehicles, seemingly taking in the usual mix of muscle cars, street racers and refined exotics, described as "each car presents a different driving challenge for the player". Exclusively digitized for the game is the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Pagani Huayra. The damage system is similar to that seen in Hot Pursuit. The cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades, such as paint colors and body kits. There are cosmetic body kits known as Style Pack kits and Aero Pack kits, which affect aerodynamics as well as performance.
An experience points (XP) system is used for unlocking cars and events in multiplayer and Challenge Series races. The game also features a Rewind option that allows the player to restart an event to their last checkpoint if they wreck their vehicle or to rewind their vehicle from a collision or missed opportunity. Rewinds are only available in limited quantities as their amount depends on the difficulty level that the player has selected; Easy has 10 Rewinds, Normal has 5 Rewinds, Hard has 3 Rewinds, and Extreme has 1 Rewind, as well as the most difficult AI opponents.
Additionally, Need for Speed Autolog, the Need for Speed franchise's social competition functionality, which was introduced in Hot Pursuit and was previously used in Shift 2: Unleashed, is also back as it continues to track career progression and compare game stats.
Multiplayer Up to eight players can participate in a single online match. Players are able to party with friends, pick a playlist of their favorite challenges and compete for supremacy across every stage of game. In addition to this, players never have to wait in a lobby again even if they are joining a race in progress. The multiplayer matches are split into differing game type playlists, such as Supercar Challenge, NFS Edition Racing, The Underground, Mixed Competition, Exotic Sprint, and Muscle Car Battles. Most of these modes pertain to different car varieties for each race, but the Supercar Challenge is meant entirely for the fastest cars on the fastest tracks. The player can select an event and vote towards the race course where the multiplayer game should be taking place on. Players also take part in a reward system known as "The Bonus Wheel", which randomly selects a reward and required goal criteria for it.
Wii and 3DS versions The game is similar to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Players race down freeways until they meet a police car. The police then try to chase them down and wreck their car. They also encounter other objectives such as a straight-up race. There is another mode where players 'duel' a rival. They can also race to toll booths that double as checkpoints.
The 3DS version also features Autolog, which is integrated throughout the career mode and uses 40 in-game challenges scattered throughout the campaign. The game also takes advantage of StreetPass, letting players upload their best Autolog scores to other Nintendo 3DS devices. In multiplayer, the game features a straight race mode where eight people compete. There is also a four-on-four Cops vs. Racers mode. The game supports Wi-Fi and local wireless connections. However, the Wii version lacks online play, yet it has split-screen multiplayer.
Plot
Black Box version Jack Rourke (Sean Faris), an experienced street racer, finds himself in serious trouble with the Mob due to a massive debt with them. After narrowly escaping being crushed within his car at a scrapyard in Oakland, due to his failure to repay what he owes, Rourke evades his captors by stealing one of their cars. Heading to San Francisco, he makes contact with his friend Sam Harper (Christina Hendricks), a fixer who arranges his entries into street races, who offers to help him deal with the mob on one condition - Rourke must enter an illegal, large-scale street race from San Francisco to New York City, for which she will front the entry fee, and win the race's cash pot of $25 million for her. Rourke agrees to her condition, knowing that he will be allowed to keep 10% of the prize money for himself, and receives a tablet device from the race's mysterious organizer that details the race's route.
4 hours later, Rourke selects a car from his personal garage, and begins the race by completing three stages covering the route from San Francisco to Las Vegas, learning he must be in the top 150 before reaching the end of the third stages to stay in the race. In addition to dealing with other racers, seeking to win the cash prize, and the local police, who seek to stop and arrest the racers involved, Rourke finds himself attempting to defeat Marcus Blackwell - a family member of the Mob, who wants to ensure his defeat after he escaped his execution. Rourke manages to win all three stages, but is caught out by a police roadblock, forcing him to evade the cops and secure a new vehicle for the next four stages of race from Las Vegas to Chicago, learning he must be in the top 50 to keep in the race.
As Rourke holds out against the increasing efforts of his rivals and police to stop him, he soon finds the Mob entering the race to stop him. Despite reaching Chicago in the top 50, the Mob catch him out with a roadblock, forcing him to lose them initially in a police cruiser. Upon securing a new car for the remainder of the race to New York City, Rourke contends with both the police, the Mob, and an armed helicopter along the next stage of the route, but evades both sides and reaches a garage that can supply him a new vehicle, at Harper's request, to compete against the top drivers. As the police step up their efforts, Rourke evades capture, overcomes his rivals, and defeats Blackwell in New York to win the race. Afterwards, Rourke meets with Harper in a streetside diner, who reveals his trouble with the Mob has been dealt with. Harper gives Rourke a key to a safety deposit box containing his cut of the prize money and suggests that he takes time to relax, but upon seeing him question this, she offers him an opportunity to double his money, stating she got a call to another high-stake race.
Firebrand version
Matt, a former pro racer, wakes up in his Ford Mustang that has been pushed into the ocean in San Francisco by members of the Mob, and breaks out of his car, only to spot a mysterious woman and drive to the start of The Run on the Golden Gate Bridge in her Lotus Exige. Several miles into The Run, Matt then takes out a Mustang driven by a mystery man who was terrorizing them and ends up stealing it, before hitting a broken glass bottle. After repairing the Mustang and performing a heroic jump, Matt and the mystery woman are then ambushed in Death Valley by the mystery man in a Dodge Challenger on the way to Las Vegas, only for the driver to reveal himself as Matt's old accomplice, Jason. The next day, the mystery woman replaces the Mustang with a rented Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and Matt reminisces about his and Jason's racing career, as well as their friend Wynona, who was killed on the track after taking the keys to one of the race cars.
As The Run advances to Colorado, Matt rescues Jason and offers him a ride to Denver. In Denver, the rented Camaro is replaced with a Nissan GT-R and both Matt and the mystery woman are ambushed by the Mob, who are revealed to be the Di Marco crime family. They escape by jumping on a train and taking an Aston Martin One-77 en route to Chicago. The next day, the mystery woman leaves Matt, who later gets picked up by Jason in a Porsche 918, which later gets repainted blue as they drive to one of Jason's "Chevy Metal" dealerships. Now equipped with a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Matt and Jason tune into the Mob's radio feed and discover the Mob's plans to visit Dickson Farm and Matt takes a Mustang from a semi-truck to Dickson Farm, when the mystery woman is handcuffed and Matt is attacked by the Mob.
Having uncovered a Pagani Huayra and rescuing the mystery woman, the mystery woman explains her ties to the Mob, carrying a briefcase which contained evidence against the family in the process. She admits to using Matt as a courier to sell the evidence and disappear, before the family betrayed her. On their way to New York City for the final stage of The Run, Matt races his way to Times Square, only to realize that The Run was a setup by the police and the Mob. After escaping and ditching the briefcase, the mystery woman reveals her name to be Sophia Di Marco as the two drive to Canada.
Development Since the release of Undercover, Black Box had been working on another entry to the franchise, presumably continuing the action focused street-racing gameplay of Black Box's previous titles. This game had an extended development window to give the developers a chance to create a game that "could really blow the doors off the category". It was confirmed that the game would feature a fictional storyline and characters. The game was first hinted early in November 2010 by Senior Vice President of EA Games Europe, Patrick Söderlund in an interview with Eurogamer, before the release of Hot Pursuit. Söderlund stated he wanted to alternate developers to give them time to make a good game. Eurogamers Robert Purchese asked, "You say there will be an arcade NFS game every year in November, but next year's game won't be developed by Criterion. Is it Black Box?", Söderlund stated "You can assume that, yes. Yes. I would say so, yes."