Can fake Criterion make future NFS in time?

[GK3512]

@GK3512 EA is confirmed to be in Gamescom 2020.Judging by the stable shot we saw in EA Play 2020.It's unlikely new NFS will be shown in GC2020.So HP2010 HD is a more possible choice if we do see NFS contents in the show.

[GK3512]

https://youtu.be/GI0p5KwII_Y
In this LPN05 video he claims this is Alpha version of NFS2021.But I have a very strong MW2012/Burnout 6 feeling about it.It looks like MW2012 but in Alpha(bad) graphics.If this will be improved as the basis of NFS2021,the series is doomed for sure.Since they are still living on what's left of Real Criterion's projects.Also forgetting what NFS really is about.

[Jacobba55]

Absolutely right. However, this could merely be filled with placeholders from Heat (such as handling model, jump physics, UI, checkpoints and more) to test gameplay and how it needs to be changed. Although to be honest, I'm more inclined to believe that this could reflect the final product's core mechanics; something that greatly concerns me. It will be interesting to see how this develops, and whether there will be any material with cops...

I'd actually made my own topic in Other NFS Games about the future installment and the leak, but I got rid of it in the end. The general gist is that this potential "Alpha build" is largely comprised of Heat materials, with a few key extra features such as the nitrous bonuses in the bottom right, in addition to brake light trails and how nitrous is used. These are from HP2010/Rivals, and UG era Black Box games respectively.

At this point, I'm already doubting the next installment and didn't even bother with Heat. I'm half hoping for fake(?) Criterion to pull it out of the bag, and half hoping that they don't sell us complete rubbish or the same game again. There's also the justified fears that they'll dilute the spirit of NFS (again) by adding Burnout influence, as you rightly pointed out.

My main hope is that this will be an open-world racing game, with a grip handling model, featuring competent cops who use their numbers rather than a finite damage bar... Maybe even driveable police cruisers, or a cop side, which is rather ambitious. But of course, that's extremely optimistic.

Best of luck to you @GK3512 and @BLVD69 of course. Hoping you guys are both well! We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[Jacobba55]

@GK3512

Oh also, I figured I'd add some screenshots for reference. I should mention that there also appears to be a billboard from the previous 2 GHOST games (Heat and Payback) as well as NFSMW12. Traffic also occasionally appears, still the same BMW 3 series model. Furthermore, there appears to be an in-game phone named "easier drive" which is marked with "emotes" and events to choose from. However, we can assume this could merely be a dev tool to initiate a race or quickly access different areas.

Thanks again for mentioning this!

(Please ignore LP-RIPPER24's head in the way)

[GK3512]

@Jacobba55 I've said in the past Fake Criterion is still hiring(Yes they still doesnt have a handling developer and it has been 6 month since the hiring started)Current situatioon of Fake Criterion isnt good for a completed/bugless racing game,let alone NFS.This game is set to be NFS2021 so the most recent chance of reveal is E3 2021.They have about 10 month to work on it/hiring to work on it.Sadly unlike MW2012 or HP2010 they will continue to use the buggy AF FB engine rather than RW/Chameleon of Real Criterion.Which means no major improvement will come even with better tech.(Fake Criterion=Coreless Criterion=Ghost so no change in the team as a whole)

[Jacobba55]

@GK3512

Understood. I had indeed heard about some of the GHOST team simply being moved to Criterion, so in essence it's just a change of name rather than developers...

If they're seriously going to keep the FB engine, I'm not sure what options we have left. Time and time again it's been pointed out that it's outdated and not suited for its purpose, yet for reasons likely related to cutting corners and costs, they continue to use it.

Ultimately, we're going to be left in the dark with little to work with yet again, until they reveal the game's name several months early (happened with Payback: "Paying it back" and again with Heat "Turning up the Heat") and produce something that looks vaguely promising, but quickly falls flat with glaring flaws.

Nice SCPD Reventon pfp though!

[GK3512]

@Jacobba55 The so-called NFS2021 early Alpha looks like MW2012 in gameplay wise.The bigger problem of this game is the direction by EA/Matt Webster-they still want to continue what Ghost did since 2015-chasing the Chav trend that has been gone for over 15 years.In the past 10 years there are only 2 mainline NFS are in 90s style-HP2010 and Rivals.Ironically HP2010 outsold Heat and other Ghost reboot titles with the Chav focus.So it's clearly NFS is moving towards a wrong direction and disrespect series history.Also the only reason the series survived 25 years is because there's always replacement team one after another.Sadly EA only has this empty dev as the new team.Which means no replacement and the fail of their project may leads to demise of the series(To me it's a good news after EA ruining the series history for all these years)

[GK3512]

@GK3512 Ironically Fake Criterion's hiring list still includes Narrative Lead Designer.Which means they will continue to write awkward and tasteless story nobody remember after finishing the game.Custom and Story return means they are still chasing the gone trend of FF from 15 years ago.Sadly Ghost NFS and later Blackbox NFS all showed this trend is gone(Non of Prostreet UC TR and all Ghost NFS outsold HP2010).I wont be suprised if this new team keeps this style and finish off the series as a whole

[GUCCIxADIDAS]

[GK3512]

@GUCCIxADIDAS Because Rivals was a rushed Real Criterion project(NFS HP2 2014)It was dropped to Ghost after Alex left the team.But Ghost ported it to Frostbite with lots of bugs(HP2 PS4 was a Chameleon engine game at first)Then when they rebooted the series they need to change the handling for slower cars(Rivals started with a 981 Cayman S while 2015 started with a junkyard Civic)Brake 2 Drift was heavily criticized during Real Criterion era.So Ghost changed it into a mix of B2D with Grip(Focus on Grip more)So the whole handling feels like a Grip handling forced into B2D. Hence why they are junk.