NEED FOR SPEED RIVALS Q&A – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MARCUS NILSSON
Q: What is Ghost Games bringing to the cops vs. racer rivalry?
We at Ghost Games have been given the keys to the Need For Speed franchise and we’re taking the best parts of the past games – action racing, cops, open world, accessibility – and delivering those in a new way with the power of Frostbite 3. This engine will help us deliver the best looking racing game out there. We’re also introducing a revolutionary new feature called AllDrive that destroys the line between single player, co-op and multiplayer.
What was the inspiration behind AllDrive? How does it work?
With a new studio comes new thinking and we wanted to bring something fresh to the genre. Just like we shook the racing world up with Autolog in Hot Pursuit, we think AllDrive will do the same. Instead of selecting single player or multiplayer in a menu, now you will be automatically connected to your friend’s game. The great part about that is you can be playing your single player career in a multiplayer environment and randomly run into a friend doing the same thing. It’s these kinds of fun, unscripted events that will bring out the excitement and adrenaline filled moments that gamers love.
Can you explain the career progression for both sides of the law?
In Rivals, you can choose to play as either a cop or racer or both. Each side of the career has distinct cars, tech, challenges and rewards. As a racer, you collect Speedpoints by completing different objectives on your Speedlists. The longer you stay out in the world the bigger the multiplier you can get, but risk losing it all if busted. By collecting more Speedpoints, racers can buy new personalization options, tech upgrades and of course cars. Cops are just the opposite as your goal is to rise in the ranks of the police force unlocking three different performance levels of police cars – Patrol, Enforcer and Undercover.
We hear that personalization is back in Rivals. What can you tell us about it?
We are happy and excited to be bringing personalization back to Need for Speed as we know fans have been asking for it. We feel it’s the perfect complement to AllDrive so that you can style and make your car stand out in a world where you, your friends and AI bots will be racing around at any given time. As a racer, you can choose from different colors, rims, decals, liveries and custom license plates. You can also modify what’s under the hood to up your car’s performance and choose your favorite evasive tech. We didn’t want to mess with the signature black and white for cops so you’ll be able to unlock the three levels of police cars I mentioned about above.
For those fans not at gamescom this week, can you tell us more about what you’ll be showing?
At Gamescom, we have 64 stations setup for gamers to get hands-on with Rivals. We’re also unveiling more details on career progression and personalization which you can see in our videos on the Need for Speed You Tube channel. Gamescom is a great show and we hope gamers enjoy what they see and play.
