Need for Speed: The Grand Finale

Need For Speed: The Grand Finale is a Need For Speed game which takes place directly after the events of Need for Speed: Carbon and preceding Need for Speed: World Online. The player, whose name is revealed as Bishop, decides to travel to a new city, and is rammed off the road, shot, and left for dead by Sgt. Cross. A racer codenamed 'Spartan' finds him and revives him, in exchange for him going into street racing one last time. It has been confirmed that the Need for Speed Underground 2 storyline which stalled at Carbon will be ended at The Grand Finale, before starting World Online as a "future" continuation to the storyline.

Gameplay
The gameplay of the game has been extremely reworked, in an attempt to evoke the simplicity of Most Wanted while also hiding deep layers of complexity under its hood. Bishop is free to drive around the city, targeting races to earn money, rep for battling the street racers and getting tougher races, and cars and parts. Bishop is free to use any part that he can get his hands on for free: it must be unlocked by beating a race in at least the top three though. Parts also have rep requirements: if a race to unlock a part is not beaten, but the rep requirement is met or exceeded, Bishop can buy that part early. Vehicles must also be purchased, though they can be bought at any point in the game provided Bishop has the money. This also works vice versa: Bishop can buy his way into events that he doesn't have the Rep for. This wins double the Rep, but means that if he loses Bishop needs to spend double the original fee to re-enter.

Bishop, if seen doing anything illegal, or if their Heat Meter is up far enough, will be chased by police on sight. Elements of the police include standard police (Ford Crown Victoria), power police (Mitsubushi Lancer Evo), muscle police (Porsche 911 GT3 Turbo), sport police (Chevrolet Corvette ZR1) and super police (Lamborghini Reventon), with Heat Level 6 being locked except for one challenge race. Every chase Bishop evades drives up his Fine meter: if he is arrested again, he must pay the fine. It also adds an impound strike to the car. If Bishop does not have enough money to pay the fine, he must surrender any remaining money and his car. As well, it will raise the Heat Level exponentially. The Heat Levels raise slower, but are global and affect the part of a city it is in. Higher Heat Levels means more and more powerful police cars patrolling, and a higher chance the player will be chased on sight. Instead of undercover cars being randomly put into races, the Heat Levels have been reworked: a higher Heat Level in the "province" you are racing in means that there is a higher chance that one of the cars is a cop car. As well, there may be a few races where it turns out every car is an undercover vehicle. If a province is at a higher Heat Level, there is a chance the Heat Level of a connected province may rise as well.

New to the game is the fact that the player can escape the cops during Cooldown by driving into his Safe House: however, doing so may lead to the Safe House being "compromised", and a permanent loss of that safe house. Some safe houses (like the starter) cannot be compromised at all. All car and part purchases/unlocks are made at the Safe House, to simplify gameplay.

Need for Speed will house an unknown number of vehicles, but multiple cars from Fusion RSes to Audi R8s are allowed. As well, easter eggs, once found, allow the player to reacquire their old M3 GTR and Darius' won Le Mans Quattro, and they are referenced as such in the car select menu (instead of "BMW M3 E46", the car is called "BMW M3 GTR", as is the same for the le Mans Quattro. Acquiring them through the easter egg or finishing the game on the hardest difficulty will unlock the GTR and Quattro for use in Quick Drive.)

The Showroom function returns, but instead of 10 cars you can have one of each car or 30 cars, which can be adjusted in the Options menu (it says so on the Showroom itself). Quick Drive will allow players to select any car (only a base car: except in the case of special cars [cars unlocked with cheat codes, or cars won from Street Racing Masters], cars from your Career, or Junkman event types), whereas Arcade mode allows you to select Showroom-made cars.

Driving has been improved: you can wreck other cars by smashing them into walls, but you are also vulnerable to damage. Much like in the Burnout series, nitro is earned through drifts, big air, and wrecking other cars, which will respawn onto the course. You start with Nitro, but you can upgrade and tune it. Upgrades include giving it more power without tuning it and increasing capacity. Some cars will have higher nitro capacity than others.

Cars are not classified under the three types of car origin points, but are instead classified under Tiers much like in Need for Speed: Shift, with the M3 GTR being in Tier R, the Volkswagen Golf GTI being in Tier 1, and the le Mans quattro (and, consequently, the R8) are in Tier 3. Tier 2 is for sport cars, much like the Ford Mustang and Mitsubushi Lancer.

The creator of the game, SPARTAN-984, said that "Need for Speed: The Grand Finale is an In Vitro game born in a petri dish, made using a dash of Need for Speed's genetics, along with some of Blur's visuals and particle effects. The cars will be heavily detailed, even on the PSP version, and will provide an arcade racing experience unlike no other. We do not intend for this to compete with combat racers like Blur or simulation racers like Gran Turismo."

Plotline
The story starts as Bishop, who has recently left Palmont City for a new place to stay. However, Sgt. Cross, now in a Corvette ZR1, chases him down in the le Mans quattro, which he has customized to look like his original car. After yet another long drive (which serves as a tutorial for most basic and advanced concepts), Cross wrecks Bishop, and shoots him. Bishop blacks out.

Shortly after, Bishop wakes up in another safehouse. He talks to someone named 'Spartan'. Spartan says that he can clear Bishop's records if he goes into street racing one last time in the city. Bishop groans, hoping to have found a new life, but is forced to begrudgingly accept. Spartan adds him onto his crew.

Bishop wins races and builds rep up, eventually challenging a Street Racing Master, Mackinaw. Mackinaw proves to not be a Master, as Bishop whoops him easily. This turns the attention of the Masters on him, particularly one of them, Champ who messages him saying "This is MY city. Don't try to dethrone me, or I will take everything from you. Your car, your food, your clothing, and your life. Challenge me and I will kill you before you get a chance to say anything else." Ignoring his warnings, Bishop continues to race.

Bishop eventually challenges two other Masters: Flames and Backbone. However, before he can finish Backbone, a third Master in a supercar comes out, wrecks his car, and then tosses a grenade into it. Bishop manages to escape before the car is destroyed, losing it. He manages to sneak his way out of trouble. Spartan says he's been receiving death threats, and kicks Bishop off the crew. Bishop sees this as an opportunity to return to regular life, but after a day's break sees he is desperately needed: Champ, the third Master, is killing most people in his path.

Bishop signs up as an undercover street racer, hoping he'll be acquitted of his crimes: though Cross warns them not to trust him, they dismiss it as the "ramblings of an old man." Bishop, now an undercover officer, moves through the city, battling other Masters. He amasses his own crew, made of other undercover officers, and together they assault the other crews.

Spartan eventually contacts him, saying he wants to have a single last race with him. Bishop accepts, but thinks of it as a trap, and brings out a low-cost car. His musings are right, as it turns out to be a trap: once again, he is brutally assaulted by Champ, who mortally wounds Spartan with a knife and then charges towards Bishop in a complete rage. Bishop, however, manages to outsmart him, and knocks him out, leaving him for dead. He leaves him the wrecked car, to provide him with a slow transportation method back into the city, while he escapes in the GT500 left behind with Spartan. He calls the police and tells him he's bringing a wounded street racer to a hospital. Though he uses nitrous and many other illegal means, including damaging some city property, Spartan dies with the hospital in sight.

Bishop discovers that Cross and Champ have allied and are planning to kill most of the people at a large race. Bishop cannot let this happen, and now he has nothing to lose. Telling the police that he's going AWOL for a little bit, and fueled by complete rage, Bishop smashes through the wall as Cross and Champ arrive. Cross and Champ charge him, but Bishop manages to route and evade them, costing nobody their lives and no injury. Bishop changes from zero to hero, and after reporting to the cops, is given an order: Champ has murdered, and Cross is bloodthirsty. He is given permission to destroy their cars and bring them in after injuring them to a certain degree.

Bishop begins destroying property in a supercar, part of a plan to draw Cross and Champ out from their hiding places, but also draws the attention of the PD, who begin chasing him. Cross and Champ eventually appear, turing the battle into a three-way. Despite Bishop being highly outnumbered, he manages to use his acquired skills and trashes Cross and Champ, before attempting to outrun the police. Realising that, while saving the city, he'll never get a new life here, Bishop simply outruns the Reventons chasing him and leaves the city. Shedding a single tear at the fact he needs to travel again, he finds his old BMW M3 GTR and his somehow restored le Mans quattro. Despite the R8 prototype being more powerful, Bishop decides he has more memories and more to live for with the GTR, and takes it, leaving the city behind and heading off towards another city as the sun sets.

It is revealed after the credits that Bishop indeed does gain a new life; he heads up to Canada, becomes a citizen, and gets a job. He's been able to keep his M3, and eventually, when his rap sheet disappears fully, will bring the le Mans quattro, rightfully his, back home. Cross and Champ are sent upon by the Reventons: though Cross surrenders and is sentenced to 20 years in prison, which he doesn't live through, Champ does not give up and after injuring a S.W.A.T. officer is shut down by the rest of the squad.

If the game is finished on the hardest difficulty, Bishop will be spotted leaving a large building that says "Automobile Manufacture". He is wearing a race driver helmet, though, and a man near him steps into an Infiniti and waves, uttering "See you later, Bishop." Bishop replies, "Always happy to test some cars." Bishop, the Head Tester, gets into his M3, revs it, and drives off towards home on an empty road.

Plotline Easter Eggs
If Bishop manages to elude Sgt. Cross long enough (for five minutes), a semi will come out of nowhere and destroy his car. Cross will shoot his body anyways.

With proper driving and the use of not-on-the-map shortcuts, Bishop can arrive at the hospital before Spartan dies. He'll have died in emergency surgery anyways.

Flub Theater
He Got Away - Cross attempts to wreck Bishop, but Bishop sideswipes Cross and manages to drive off freely.

Early End - Champ mistimes his jump and his car crashes into a wall, then explodes.

Vendetta Fail - When Bishop sees the grenade, he attempts to throw it back at Champ. As the grenade leaves the window, it detonates and destroys Bishop's car.

Game Modes
For all game modes, deeper customization is allowed through selecting the enemy's cars.

Race - Your typical, run of the mill race, supporting as little as one and as much as six cars. Trash the enemies and nitro your way to victory!

Time Attack - Run an infinite amount of laps, attempting to set the track's best record (or A track's record).

Road Rage - This mode's sole purpose is to rip your enemy's cars to shreds. Slam them into walls, medians, lightposts, buildings, other cars, even other enemies, to set the track's Takedown record.

Pursuit - Play as a police car (car's paint and livery are replaced with police liviery and police lights: wheels, body parts, and upgrade parts stay) or the "Robber" car. The police car's job is to takedown the enemy (or enemies - once again, the cop car can chase up to five enemy cars), whereas the Robber's job is to elude capture for the time limit.

Marked Man - One person is "it." He does not have boost, but has higher stats than other cars. Everyone else is not it. When a car is hit, they are taken out, and respawn as the Marked Man. Whoever is the Marked Man at the end of the race wins.

Elimination - Race, but once a lap has finished, whoever is in last place is eliminated from the race. The laps will vary depending on the cars competing.

Drag - Though turns are autopiloted, on the straights of Drag you'll be in control. No takedowns are allowed, and if you crash you will be eliminated. Drag is between three people, uses manual transmission only (but with helpful reminders for gear shifting) and has no Nitro whatsoever.

Freerace - Get from point A to point B... however you wish. Take routes through the entire city to get to the finish line.

Juggernaut - This game works like Marked Man, but it's a form of Road Rage. There is a single driver called the Juggernaut: he can earn Takedowns from other drivers, whereas every other driver works to take him down. Here's a more detailed description of Juggernaut:

Only the Juggernaut earns takedowns from trashing other cars.

If someone takes down the Juggernaut, he will become the Juggernaut and get the point for destroying him.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the round wins.

A variant is called Unforgiving Juggernaut, where any and all takedowns (excluding takedowns of the Juggernaut) are credited to the Juggernaut, and awarded accordingly.

Cars
It has been proclaimed that The Grand Finale will carry the most amount of cars ever seen in a Need for Speed game. The cars are arranged into four tiers: Tier 1 for city cars, Tier 2 for performance cars, and Tier 3 for supercars. Tier R, a racing vehicle tier, would be Quick-Play only until the game is completed. Vehicles could be purchased at any point in time so long as one had the necessary money. While Tier R vehicles could be purchased in Campaign, they could only be used in Quick-Play.

Weekly patches fixed problems and added cars in DLC packs featured in Popular Mechanics magazines.

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Tracks
Need for Speed: The Grand Finale, as well as allowing several tracks from the cities included, also includes some real-world race tracks. They are: Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Circuit de la Comunitat Valencia Ricardo Tormo

Circuit de la Sarthe
 * Circuit de la Sarthe 2005
 * Bugatti Circuit
 * Circuit de la Sarthe + Bugatti Circuit

Fuji Speedway GT
 * 1980s Fuji Speedway
 * 1990s Fuji Speedway
 * 2005 Fuji Speedway F

Infineon Raceway Stock Car Track
 * Infineon Raceway Sports Car Track

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Nurburgring Nordschleife
 * Nurburgring Sudschliefe
 * Nurburgring Gesamtstrecke (both rings)

Suzuka Circuit
 * Suzuka East
 * Suzuka West

Tsukuba Circuit

Twin Ring Motegi Road Course
 * Twin Ring Motegi East
 * Twin Ring Motegi West
 * Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway

Daytona Motor Speedway
 * Daytona Road Course

Brands Hatch

Indianapolis GP Circuit
 * Indianapolis Motor Speedway

As well, the game includes all Formula 1 GP circuits, including the new Abu Dhabi circuit, and the cut Montreal circuit.

Current Status
August 14, 2009 - The Grand Finale is announced as a new Need for Speed game. It is not the Criterion game, but the teaser shows several cars.

December 25, 2009 - An image circles the web of a red-and-green painted unknown supercar. It is identified as a Volkswagen W12 Nardo concept, and the entire thing was Photoshopped, a publicity event.

January 2, 2010 - Another trailer is launched, around a minute long, but still a teaser.

March 12, 2010 - The Grand Finale, after a long time of hard work, gets its first real trailer - the "official trailer". It explains the plot behind the game, reveals the player character in Most Wanted/Carbon to be "Bishop", and also provides some gameplay.

May 22, 2010 - Anyone who owns Need for Speed: Shift receives an invitation through the game to join The Grand Finale's multiplayer beta. It carries all of the cars from Need for Speed Shift (excluding all DLC) and allows for full customization of each, as well as having 20 racetracks and several race modes.

September 1, 2010 - The Team Racing and Ferrari Racing DLC cars are added to TGF's multiplayer beta as the release date of November 20, 2010 grows ever-closer... and the beta cutoff date of November 15, 2010.

October 1, 2010 - Exotic Racing DLC cars are added to the TGF multiplayer beta. Those cars are the final ones, as the beta has less than two months to live.

November 15, 2010 - TGF's beta officially shuts down. The last race is a Tier 4 race with Koenigsegg CCXes, Bugatti Veyrons, and Pagani Zonda Rs. Two Veyrons and a Zonda come in the top three positions. The beta's online multiplayer profiles, along with cars, are saved: all the player needs to do is redeem an email code and they will be able to use their beta profile, adjusted to the actual game itself.

On that same day, a few special editions are included, each based on several cars.

November 20, 2010 - Need for Speed: The Grand Finale celebrates a worldwide release. The top Special Editions sell out in a day: the game is hotter than almost anything else before it.

Soundtrack
Any game is crap without a good soundtrack. Thus, the best in music was borrowed from not only other NFS games, but also from other sources to provide the most diverse and unique soundtrack in-game. At least two songs are viral videos/internet memes.

No Time For Tears - The Enemy UK

Daylight (Troublemaker Remix) - Matt & Kim

All The Cash (Alex Metric Remix) - Evil 9

What Now - Alex Metric

Liztomania (Alex Metric Remix) - Unknown

Stigma - Noisia

Groundhog (Scratch Perverts DJ Hero Remix) - Noisia

Over 9000 Remix (Long) - DJ Gotcha (associated with IT'S OVER 9000 meme)

Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil' Wayne

Revolution Deathsquad - Dragonforce

Ride The Lightning - Metallica

Re-Education (Through Labor) - Rise Against

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Bill Nye Techno Remix - Unknown

When You Were Young - The Killers

One - Metallica

The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny - Lemon Demon (Is probably its own meme)

The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Guitar Hero III Remix) - Steve Ouimette

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Running In The 90s - Initial D (Associated with the "lol, internet" YTMND fad)

Comin' Home - Murder By Death

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked - Cage The Elephant

M.A.D. - Hadouken

White and Nerdy - Weird "Al" Yankovic

Right Here, Right Now - Fatboy Slim

Thriller - Micheal Jackson

Surfing Bird - The Trashmen

Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti (Better known as the Rocky Montage song)

Couch Potato - Weird "Al" Yankovic

The Final Countdown - Europe

Fresh - Devo

Sleepyhead - Passion Pit

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Rusted From The Rain - Billy Talent

Wishmaster - Nightwish

The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden

Breathe Underwater - Placebo

Juke Box Hero - Foreigner

Stonehenge - Spinal Tap

Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden

Paradise City - Guns 'N' Roses

Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio

Hidden Paradise Cars
Because of Criterion's impact on the game, once it is finished on the hardest difficulty the player unlocks a new mode: Burnout Mode. The mode is much more difficult than the other modes, and uses Burnout: Paradise's cars instead of the ones in the game. Each of the cars bought can be fully customized like the Need For Speed cars, and once bought can be unlocked and raced against other cars. Some vehicles, like the Krieger WTR, cannot be customized because they were not designed to do so.

The game mode was rumored at when a picture of someone driving a hidden Burnout car was released. The car was identifiied by an unknown member of the Paradise community as a Rossoline Tempest GT, one of the cars in-game. Following this, Burnout mode was admitted, shortly afterwards a patch was released that allows Burnout Mode to be triggered without game completion.

The game, no matter what, gives a warning before starting Burnout Mode: 'You are about to experience the most devlishly twisted difficulty game mode put into a racing game. If you are an expert at any type of racing, if you've played Gran Turismo 4 up and down twice, if you're even Chuck Norris, this will leave you tearing your controller apart. If we were nice, we'd allow you to cancel, but you hit the game mode. It's your own death, and if you manage to finish a special surprise will be left behind for you..."

The surprise was revealed when a forumite revealed that he had finished Burnout mode after five days of playing, commenting he'd have it done in one. The surprise: all of the Burnout cars and TGF cars are unlocked, and there is an invitation to get Bishop's M3 GTR in World Online through a unique promo code.