"You did not disappoint!": Fans express their excitement over the announcement of Need for Speed Unbound

Electronic Arts and Criterion Games have finally unveiled their long-awaited new entry in the iconic racing game franchise Need for Speed, titled - Need for Speed Unbound. The announcement came with an action-packed and visually stunning trailer, giving fans a look at the game's new visual style that mixes anime-like esthetics with the ultra-photorealistic graphics of the series.

Fans have been waiting for a new title in the NFS franchise for the last three years, following the now-defunct Ghost Games' Need for Speed Heat, which was released in 2019, becoming the last entry in the series before Unbound.

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Fans take to social media platforms to express their excitement for the upcoming Need for Speed Unbound

Developer Criterion Games' new approach for the NFS series has garnered positive reactions from fans, with most expressing their excitement towards the game's new art style that mixes stylized anime-like art with photrealistic graphics, courtesy of EA's proprietary Frostbyte engine.

While many fans of the series have expressed excitement, others are cautiously optimistic regarding the title, which is understandable. Criterion Games do not have a stellar reputation amongst the NFS crowd due to their last entry in the series, with 2012's Most Wanted being mostly disliked by long-time fans of the series. While the game was not bad per se, it never felt like a Need for Speed game, due to its non-existent progression and overreliance on online interactivity.

Some fans are also skeptical over the new art direction and how well it will fit with the dark and gritty tone of an NFS title and whether they can turn off the cartoony after-effects of nitrous oxide and drifts as shown in the trailer.

Unbound's graffiti-esque esthetics and a serious, yet energetic tone are very reminiscent to that of NFS Carbon and Pro Street, which are easily some of the most underrated Need for Speed games to date. While Criterion is yet to showcase proper gameplay, races, open-world exploration, and customization systems, the announcement trailer already has players hyped for the December release of the game.

The NFS franchise once used to be the pioneer of the arcade and open-world racing genre. However, over time, the series diminished into becoming just another EA game filled with predatory microtransactions.

While Ghost Games did try to reinvigorate the franchise with NFS Heat, it did not stir the masses, and ultimately EA pulled the plug on the game's support pipeline prematurely, without giving the game proper post-launch support.

While there is no information as of yet on how EA and Criterion Games plan to support the game in the long-term or whether they even have plans for that to begin with, the new direction taken for the game's visuals, customization and overall tone is really breathtaking. Need for Speed Unbound is scheduled to be released on December 2, 2022 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC.