Every time I would finish an event in Need for Speed Rivals, I would wonder why I wasn't having more fun. For everything I could tell, the game was one of the most remarkable racers I've played in quite some time. Great controls, large tracks, unique career and progression system, and high-octane events - yet it was missing that certain something. For all it does right, Rivals lacks any sort of glue to hold it together or bring players into meaningful matches and the result is often a racer that feels colder and more lifeless than it really is. Still, that shouldn't stop you from jumping into one of the most satisfying racers in recent memory.

"The world and courses of Rivals are often huge..."

Like many modern day racers, Rivals doesn't feature dedicated career, online or versus modes, everything is included in one persistent world. In fact, unless you specifically tell it not to, the first thing you'll do in Rivals is connect into a world with at least five other players. You can drop out of the game at any time, but you'll enjoy the game far more if you seek them out and go through the game's events with other human controlled players. The world and courses of Rivals are often huge and feel like they're made for the hairpin turns and sudden drops of the game. The best moments where when I was out-running the cops and escaping by mere seconds, trying to see if I believed what just happened.

The problem is that this doesn't always happen; in fact it doesn't often. Yes, the maps in Rivals are huge but that's not always a good thing. You'll often have five players on a single-map and each of them are in different parts completely, just carrying on in their own game. To combat this, Rivals allows you to interact with AI controlled drivers just like you would a human one, but these events often feel soulless and lack that spark of emotion and strategy that playing with another actual player brings to the game.

"...become a cop and attempt to ruin the fun of those pesky racers. "

One of Rival's most interesting ideas comes from its dual career paths. You can go the traditional Need for Speed route and take on the role of a racer, challenging others, upgrading your ride and eluding the cops or you could become a cop and attempt to ruin the fun of those pesky racers. Each mode is different and features it's own unique progression system along with some unique abilities. A cop can't upgrade his car, but doesn't need to buy his rides, while a racer will need to grind through races and events to unlock the parts and experience points they're looking for. Cops? Yeah, they just take the points that racers haven't used yet, making each reaction an awesome risk VS reward experiment.

While games like Forza and Gran Turismo celebrate the style of driving a car, Need for Speed celebrates the marriage of that style with pure aggression. Rivals is at its best when it places a bunch of like minded players together for some of the most satisfying tactical racing I've played in years. It never really hits Burnout levels and a lot of games feel cold and lifeless thanks to the sheer size of the maps and lack of feature to pull players together but that doesn't stop the latest Need for Speed game from being a satisfying and often times thrilling racer.