so I received NFS Payback as a birthday present on 30th November, and initially I loved it. However, after less than 3 days I was over 80% through the missions, and up to level 29. Seriously? I decided to start over, so deleted my save. I noticed that I wasn't getting level up shipments, which was annoying, but once I passed my original level, they started to appear again. On my second play through I've now reached level 50 multiple times....
So I've had the game for 2 weeks, and I've pretty much completed it twice over, and without having to log in any marathon gaming sessions. I've still got a few activities to finish up, but other than that, there's not much left to do. Tried multi-player but it seems to be full of Regera driving dodgem racers with no talent, turning pretty much every event into a crash-fest. Not my thing at all really.
Also, daily challenges.... I played on Tuesday and completed all the daily challenges available. 24 hours later, I played the game again, and the challenges were still showing as completed. You use the phrase "Daily Challenges" but I don't think it means what you think it means. Daily, as in new challenges every day? Or at least that's what I take it to mean. Am I being too literal?
So now what? If I start over I'll get no shipment crates on levelling up until I reach level 50. There's no sign of any expansion or DLC on the horizon, and everything is unlocked, so to get the Regera etc I just need to keep doing the events I've already done in order to get enough credits to buy the cars that I can only race in events I've already done....
NFS 2015 was a great game by all accounts, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a lot longer too iirc. Payback seems to be a step backwards in terms of content and player experience (ironically named too for that matter). It's a shame, because it had the makings of a great game, but it falls short in so many ways. It's a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, and I enjoyed playing it a lot, but at this point I feel like I asked for a Lamborghini for my birthday and got a Fiat 500....
The original (2005?) "Most Wanted" is my go to NFS game, and in terms of longevity and replay value it kicks Payback squarely in the nuts, in fact I'd go so far as to say that it was probably the pinnacle of the NFS franchise, and they haven't produced anything anywhere near as good since, but it's not for the want of trying.
The saddest thing though, is that in 2017, one of the biggest game developers in the world can't produce a game that stands up against a game released 12 years previous. Payback has no replay value what so ever and it should, because the main story is over far too quickly to demand the AAA price tag slapped on it, especially when you have tons of games that return 60+ hours for the same amount of money, or even less in some cases.
I'll sum this up with brief conversation with my wife, the person who bought me the game. I got the game on Thursday 30th November, and decided to restart the game on the morning of Sunday 3rd December....
Wife: Why did you start over?
Me: I wanted to go back and do it again, as I think I must have missed something out.
Wife: What makes you say that?
Me: I was 83% through the missions.
Wife: Well that game was worth the ****ing money I spent on it then!!!!
She got a much better deal for her birthday, I bought her Assassin's Creed Origins at launch, and she's still not finished it....
