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Need for Speed: Payback

Need for Speed: Payback

|Sweden, United States|Sport, Racing

7.6 /10

Pretty good

Very hot

32.2k ratings
Time to beat
Complete
18.5h
Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

"This explosive adventure is filled with intense heist missions, high stakes car battles, epic cop pursuits and jaw dropping set pieces. It’s blockbuster gameplay never before seen from the series, fueled by a gripping story of betrayal and revenge. With Need for Speed: Payback, it’s no longer just about being the first to cross the finish line or racing to prove to be the best, it’s about building the perfect ride, getting behind the wheel and playing out an action driving fantasy. Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, players will drive as three distinct characters reunited by a quest for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. They will take on a variety of challenges and events as Tyler, the Racer; Mac, the Showman; and Jess, the Wheelman to earn the respect of the underground. Featuring the deepest customization from the series, players can truly craft a personalized and unique ride, or spend hours finding and tuning an abandoned derelict into a supercar. They can then push their cars to the limit and raise the stakes by betting on their own performance, where they can either multiply their winnings or risk losing it all."

Story and worldbuilding

In the city of Fortune Valley, skilled driver Tyler Morgan and his crewmates - off-roader Sean MacAllister, skilled spy Jessica Miller, and trusty mechanic Ravindra Chaudhry - live it up in the underground scene of street racing. However, after a job set by race fixer Lina Navarro ends in a shocking betrayal, Ty and his crew, partnered with "the Gambler" Marcus Weir, plot their revenge against the House, a nasty cartel running Fortune Valley's underground, by entering the Outlaw's Rush, a high-stakes street race where the elites race against each other. Action-packed chases, tight-knit street crews, and high-octane showdowns await in Fortune Valley. It's time...for PAYBACK!

Game highlights
Rating momentum

Pretty good: 7.6/10 across 32.2k ratings. Overall vibes are good; safe to add to your backlog.

Play style

Leans into Sport, Racing — a quick read on whether that fantasy matches what you usually enjoy.

Reviews

20 media reviews

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Media

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IGNLuke Reilly · 7 Nov, 2017
5.9/10

Need for Speed Payback is a big, competent, and confident arcade racer but it's really let down by its linear cop chases, its overwrought and insidious upgrade system, its dreadful dialogue, and its superficial action sequences. It feels fine and it looks flashy, but Payback really went all-in on its direct-to-DVD revenge tale and it was a bust for me.

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GameSpotRichard Wakeling · 6 Nov, 2017
5/10

Dull and uninspired, with a relentless emphasis on grinding, Need for Speed Payback is neither fast nor furious.

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EurogamerMartin Robinson · 8 Nov, 2017
7.5/10

Need for Speed returns in this, a grossly unremarkable open world racer that marks another step back for the series.

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PC GamerPhil Iwaniuk · 16 Nov, 2017
5.3/10

Enjoyable arcade handling packaged within a game that gets monotonous long before it rewards your time investment.

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PolygonOwen Good · 11 Nov, 2017
6.5/10

Need For Speed Payback doesn't do many favors for itself. It's a fun racing game whose flashy story would be fine if I felt like I was building a blinged-out career worthy of it. Instead, I felt driven toward pure stats upgrades, heedless of what the car was or what it looked like.

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GamesRadar+Sam Loveridge · 7 Nov, 2017
7/10

Need for Speed Payback successfully returns to its Fast and Furious roots with aplomb, but a focus on the grind and a beautiful but empty world means it ultimately falls short of greatness.

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Game InformerMatt Miller · 14 Nov, 2017
6/10

This open world has plenty of racing content, but bad progression, technical problems, and throwaway storytelling make it hard to get invested

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Rock, Paper, ShotgunJohn Walker · 14 Nov, 2017

Need For Speed Payback is really very terrible indeed

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VG247Matt Martin · 8 Nov, 2017

Somewhere, Need for Speed Payback makes absolute sense to someone.

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DestructoidDan Roemer · 14 Nov, 2017
3/10

Once the servers for this game inevitably go offline, with no way to obtain loot boxes, earn speed cards or trade tokens, I can't help but wonder if the casual consumer would genuinely ever have the patience to fully complete this game. Need for Speed Payback is another result of EA meddling in the concept of "games as a service" and taking an otherwise mediocre entry in the series and completely butchering it in the process to achieve this goal.

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