Need For Speed: Outlaw

Need For Speed: Outlaw is a racing video game co-developed by BasselSoft and Ghost Games, and published by Electronic Arts. Released worldwide on November 17, 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows, it is the twenty-fifth entry of the Need For Speed series, made to commemorate the franchise's 25th anniversary.

Development
The name of the upcoming 2019 game was revealed on March 9, 2019 in a teaser trailer that promises to deliver the "ultimate Need For Speed project" for the series' 25th anniversary. It is also announced that it will be released months after the American release of Need For Speed: Edge on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on June 20, 2019.

In addition to new travel, luxury and sports cars, historical and racing cars will also be added into the game, similar to previous installments.

Gameplay
Need For Speed Outlaw plays similarly with its two predecessors, Need For Speed (2015) and Need For Speed Payback, taking place in an open-world environment of United Freedom City (the in-universe stand-in for Chicago) where players can purchase new cars and can customize their vehicles with parts they either win or buy. They can also obtain prize cars by winning events or defeating certain rivals. The game also adapts RPG-like elements, they can level up their driver level to access more unlocks by completing races, missions, activities and quests. It is also one of the first where a player can customize their own avatar representing their in-game driver.

General gameplay is split into two modes: single player and multiplayer. Players earn rewards for driving with style, excessive speed and evading police pursuits. Offering a risk and reward design, earning experience goes towards rewards with long strings of driving maneuvers offering multipliers called Heaters. Challenges also offer opportunities to earn bank, but also raise the stakes in races. In online, players can connect their experience and link their playthrough with other players through the use of certain servers.

Events
Through the single player career or multiplayer experience, players, online or offline, can participate in several engagements through up to 15 different events across the United Freedom City with an optimal performance rating before entering as well as an Autolog recommendation from either a friend or a rivals. Players are allowed to swap their vehicle before entering an event.
 * Bait Crate - Find a hidden crate and reach the escape point before time runs out without being busted.
 * Circuit - Finish the last lap of the race in first position.
 * Courier - Reach all targets before time runs out.
 * Drag - Achieve maximum tyre grip, hit perfect shifts, and race to the finish line.
 * Drift Contest - Accumulate the highest drift score within the time limit.
 * Drift Train - Beat the target score by drifting in line with other racers.
 * Drift Trial - Beat the target score before reaching the finish line.
 * Elimination - Reach first place and be the last car standing before time runs out.
 * Endurance - Finish a lap in first place after a specified amount of time.
 * Gymkhana - Beat the target score within the time limit. Points are earned by performing drifts and jumps.
 * Mission - A story event with multiple objectives.
 * Sprint - Reach the finish line in first place.
 * Time Attack - Obtain the fastest lap time around a circuit course.
 * Time Trial - Reach the finish line before time runs out.
 * Touge - Accumulate the highest drift score before reaching the finish line.

Completing an event will reward the player with reputation experience, cash, parts and prize cars. Rival battles can also be a marathon composed of at least three different events.

Pursuit
If players are seen committing a driving offense, a Pursuit will occur with the police deploying an amount of available units differing across the UFC. When a player has a higher reputation level, new and more police units will be deployed at a given time. Players will find more police units patrolling downtown whilst others will have no police presence. Players can crush destructible debris to trigger collapse animations to immobilize pursuing police cars nearby. Areas lacking a police presence are called "Safe Zones". During the Pursuit, players cannot go back to their garage or enter shops.

A Pursuit will end once the player has been either busted or evades engaged police units by staying in Safe Zones in an amount of time. Players has an option to turn themselves in, upon initiating a pursuit, and pay a fine as a means of avoiding a lengthy Pursuit.

Cars
In the game, there are a total of 400 cars. Cars are divided into six different rarity classes:
 * Common -
 * Uncommon -
 * Rare -
 * Exotic -
 * Legendary - A lot of these cars cannot be bought in dealerships and only won on events.
 * Mythic -

Soundtrack
The game's soundtrack for Need for Speed: Outlaw features songs from various artists.

Reception
Upon the first four weeks of release, an estimated 300,000 units were sold across North America, and by the end of 2019, over 1,800,000 copies were sold worldwide.

The game also received generally positive reception, with reviewer consensus commending it as a "marked improvement over the 2015 reboot and Payback and a worthy contender of the 25th anniversary of Need For Speed".

Trivia

 * This is the first Need For Speed title that is developed as a collaboration of two companies, in this case, BasselSoft and EA's Ghost Games.