Electronic Arts have releases the smartphone only instalment of one of their most popular racing games in the world, Need for Speed No Limits. The new game focuses on the same successful formula like most NSF games: speedy cars, modifications, upgrades, underground racing and cops. All this is topped off with some of the most wonderful graphics you will see in a racing game on a smartphone or tablet.
Need for Speed No Limits was released early this year in a few countries and is now available worldwide. The game is around 808 MB in size for iOS and after the lengthy download and install, you are greeted with a screen which says ‘Downloading some more content’. Luckily, this did not take much time in my experience.
The game immediately drops you into a tutorial/intro race where you get to learn the simple controls for steering and nitro in a Mustang GT. The graphics are very impressive right at the beginning with the water droplets on the screen, the reflections on the cars, lit up world and light/blur effects during nitro. All this makes for a very pleasant experience when taking screenshots but it kind of takes a back seat during a race.
The game is multiplayer by nature and cannot be played offline, even though there is no way to race against your friends. The game is played against real world players though. If you have played Real Racing, the multiplayer elements would seem familiar as the game is developed by the same company, FireMonkeys Studios who pioneered Time Shifted Multiplayer.
There are no sign ups or logins so that is also an odd feature to not have. The variety of cars and customisations somewhat make up for the lack of these features but I hope these will be added in future updates.
In terms of gameplay, the game is as arcadey as it can get. You can activate nitro while in mid-air and get a speed boost. Drifts can also be done in nitrous mode. The steering is easy and does not use the accelerometer or gyroscope. You just press on the left or right side of the screen to steer.
After the first few tournaments, the game will become monotonous. To unlock new cars or upgrades, users have to jump through many hoops and collect items from multiple races or sections of the game. Apart from earning in-game money, there are too many other variables such as fuel. As it is a free game, it is understandable that these tactics are there to force users to spend money on in-app purchases.
The game is fun to play and has good ratings in App Store and Google Play Store. Give it a try!
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