As a big fan of the changes made since Ghost adopted the NFS mantle, I have to say that Payback gets a lot of things right, but in the grand scheme of things, is a misstep for the series. Right off the bat, I'd just like to point out that I was particularly disappointed when I discovered the options for drag builds include no FWD cars. I was really looking forward to doing a drag spec EK Type R. My other big issue (arguably the more important one) is that the tuning has been dumbed down severely. I find it kind of funny how in the first event you do as Mac, he criticizes the social media kid for buying a car that's already set up to drift rather than building it himself. But then you go buy cars that are already set up to drift. I really enjoy the different categorized builds, but I wish they hadn't used them as a way to cut out the deeply customizable tuning options from 2015. I miss the tire pressure options, the downforce (on every build), the steer range/response, and the brake power/bias. I was very excited when I heard you'd be able to tune your gearing in Payback because I found in 2015, a lot of cars just ended up having useless final gears that didn't actually take the car anywhere. I was very disappointed when I found that gearing tuning was only on drag cars and that it's about the most simple system it could be-- "shorter or longer." I hoped you'd be able to tune each gear because I still experience an issue where i top out most cars in the second to last gear.
Also there's no more "drift stability assist" that I can turn off. I hoped for much greater challenge in terms of drifting. 2015 had the gymkhana routes, which I found sufficiently challenging-- carving through these incredibly tight spaces was a ton of fun.
Hey, on another note, no cops in free roam is really lame. They've been made into events that are just time trials with brain dead AI ramming into you with no concern for their own lives or the civilian traffic. Not to mention, I noticed the cops have nitrous (even the Crown Vic cops) which is just silly. Additionally, I notice that a lot of the time, even cruising at almost 200mph, two cops will box you in while another zooms ahead of you (presumably at well over 200mph) and just rips his e brake to go sideways and stop you in your tracks. So, going back to when I said "brain dead AI" this is part of what I mean. Additionally, they fly off of cliffs because the only speed they know is ramming speed.
Also the part collection system feels like a mobile game, which is annoying. Also, in 2015, I would often shoot for lower horsepower builds (namely on drift cars) because sometimes I enjoyed doing a more traditional drift build, rather than the 1000+ hp formula drift build. I can still do this, in theory, but frankly, the cars feel like they really lack potency before you start putting major power into them.
In summary, I feel like the car culture/gear head elements have been done away with/dumbed down, which is really disappointing. Cars were truly unique in 2015; I had so much fun tweeking my favorite builds, running 1/4 miles (against other players lol), drifting around, getting chased by police who at least had realistic behavior, etc. I think they've got a long way to go before I pick up this game again. I hope to see some big changes going forward and I hope some of you folks feel similarly.
Ayy thanks for readin
*edit: the civilian AI is also brain dead. During races, it's as if you're invisible; when free roaming, they stop dead in their tracks when you're a mile away. Both of which cause me to crash constantly because they either fly into you or just stop in the middle of the road.
