Need for Speed fans, rejoice: Electronic Arts (EA) is giving the long-running racing franchise back to Criterion Games Criterion is a Guildford-based developer that worked on the critically-acclaimed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012).
Criterion's first task will be to rediscover and reestablish the soul of Need for Speed. Does the next instalment need a story? What sort of balance should it strike between arcade and simulation racing? Is customization that important? What about the cop chases? Should it just make Need for Speed Underground 3? These are all questions that Ghost Games has grappled with and ultimately failed to answer. With the next generation of consoles, however, Criterion has the chance to wipe the slate clean once again and re-establish the franchise as one of the all-time greats.
