Ranking EVERY Modern Need For Speed WORST TO BEST (Top 9 Games) 

playing nfs for the story is like playing mario for the combat

0:00 Intro 1:19 9 - NFS Payback 4:52 8 - NFS TheRun 7:54 7 - NFS 2015 11:32 6 - NFS Rivals 15:07 5 - Shift 2 Unleashed 18:04 4 - NFS Heat 22:46 3 - NFS Unbound 28:36 2 - NFS Most Wanted 33:36 1 - NFS Hot Pursuit 2010 38:19 Outro

Honestly 2015 was one of my favorites. The rain, the roads, the sound of the cars it was all amazing.

NFS: Most Wanted will always hold a special place in my heart since it introduced me to the franchise. I got it for free off Origin back when I was a kid, and I fell in love with it. Even though I knew where the best cars were, I always stuck with my Shelby Mustang GT500 because for me the real goal was looking badass, evading the cops, and doing cool stunts in the open world. Probably why I ended up liking Heat so much later on lol

WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE NFS THE RUN 😭😭

Maybe I'm playing nfs wrong but what I find I enjoy in the series is being able to customise cars. I found payback really fun because I could build up a garage and match my cars with what i would use them for. For instance for the enforcer missions I had a blacked out e30 or for drifting I had a silvia and a RX& that I styled after the RX7 from initial D. It was never about the games story itself it was about the story I'd make from the cars and having specific roles for them. Heat is very similar as well, it's a game I can turn the hud off and just go drift a car through the city just vibing. Personally I hate microtransactions in games but I didn't ever feel like it was neseccary in payback, you get shipments as you go and it's only things like tire smoke/nos colour and air suspension, which are pretty minor compared to body modifications,

If I am being honest, I think that heat is better than unbound

My favorite is definitely Hot Pursuit 2010 and Hot Pursuit Remastered 2020, these are pretty much the same with minor changes (better graphics, DLC cars for free in Remastered version and crossplay), but that's the reason why I love it, they kept everything from OG Hot Pursuit 2010 and made it slightly better.

I like NFS 2015 the most and visually it looks absolutely stunning on ultra 4k60 settings. Just bought it on Steam sale for five bucks. Love it!

Payback is underrated and deserves respect. I'm a huge fan of Blackbox era games yet I had an absolute BLAST with Payback when I played it recently, to the point that I'm willingly going for 100% achievements. Gameplay wise it's really fun, driving feels good, sure drifting is still the fastest way to go through corners but it no longer bothers me like it used to. I really liked the soundtrack. It fits the setting quite well, like Kicks by Barns Courtney is the main theme of the game in my head - it's just perfect. Story wise it's way better than I expected, sure it's over the top but most games from this franchise are. Main characters are fine, Mac obviously being my favorite. The only thing I kinda dislike are the offroad events, but they're sorta forced by the world map I think, which is fine in my book. A lot of long straights to speed through in the desert, with winding roads making for great drift spots on the left side of the map, canyons in the right upper corner, and the city setting right underneath it. Car selection god updated since 2015 and many cars which didn't see many visual mods in 2015 got them here, like the S15 and R32 for example. Yeah sure, that's the game that marks when Toyota became absent in the series, but honestly it doesn't bother me like it used to. There are many way better and cooler cars to drive than picking the Supra for the 3232525th time. In conclusion, I'm pretty sure I just had to grow up in order to truly understand this game's potential. Easy A tier, S tier contender - definitely better than Heat. Oh, and about the "microtransactions" aspect. EA back in circa 2017 was really agressive with putting lootboxes and premium currency into their games, I'm pretty sure that Ghost had no other choice but to kneel down to the publisher and just put them in. And honestly it's not even half as bad as people put it. Noone is forcing you to buy any lootboxes, you actually get them FOR FREE for simply progressing through the game, completing daily challenges, etc. Performance tuning with speed cards isn't that bad either, I had no problem with getting my cars to the spec I wanted. Worst case scenario I had to wait couple minutes until the shop gets restocked. Simply turn in every card you win for a race for the tokens (you get them from shipments too, a LOT of them) and use them to spin for the parts you actually want.

Hp2010 and rivals were the funnest of the modern games, by far imo. The others had customization and story over them but aren’t as fun (except The Run but I stopped because of using the same car for too long) as the ones I mentioned. Criterion is just too good 👍🏼👍🏼🔥🔥

NFS Hot Pursuit 2010 was hands-down the best overall game in the series since NFS Most Wanted 2005. It kept the gameplay simple by not pushing out too many features, but was still enjoyable for an arcade racer experience. The graphics were ahead of its time and the gameplay was very smooth with the PC version having amazing performance optimization. NFS Hot Pursuit 2010 was well-deserving of a remastered release for modern consoles in 2020. A masterpiece I fell in love with on my first gaming PC back in the day.

Personally I enjoyed payback so much I remember having one of the fastest builds for the skyline and remembering when a bunch of people would be at the long drag strip at the airport just drag racing one and another and having a total blast

Shift 2 Unleashed was my unexpected NFS, that became one of my favorites. The visceral feeling of using that Helmet Cam, is unbeatable, especially going fast around the Nordschleife. Spent hundreds of hours trying out cars, tuning them, and modding the game extensively, to have better handling.

Honestly racing games being 30fps has never really bothered me. Forza Horizon 2 and 3 are 30fps and they're two of my favorite racing games of all time, the presentation is still fantastic so it doesn't look or feel bad.

Ive always felt that HP2010 and Rivals are on the same level of amazingness, Rivals is basically just open world HP2010 and whilst I never got to play it when everything was fully online, playing it offline has got to be the most fun I've ever had playing an NFS game. The handling and sense of speed felt really good, and after playing Heat I realized how much I underappreciated Rival's soundtrack, absolute bangers in that game.

NFS The Run made me feel like a badass during the avalanche in the mountains portion. 😩

Rivals and Hot pursuit/ hot pursuit remastered are the best for me. They are just so fun and intense. The turbo sounds in the games give me goosebumps as well. These two games are the top two need for speeds I play now along with unbound. Rivals is criminally underrated holy. it can be horrible at times tho

Rivals was my first nfs game and I was addicted to it. I like being able to play as a cop and racer interchangeably and I also like the crostini at ion.

Hot Pursuit is the perfect arcade racer. It's just pure fun. So glad they "remastered" it for 60fps on consoles.

I agree with the list, but I prefer Simcade physics to the arcade. NFSIISE really had the best of both words, with 3 options: Simcade, Arcade and "Wild".

Nobody talks about it but heat will always be my #1. There’s nothing exceptionally wrong with it and I find that everything about it is interesting. Because there’s no issue with it I think that heat should be top 2. I always had a brilliantly fun time solo or with friends. It’s an amazing game and I always love it every time I play it

Weirdly enough Unbound’s graffiti style effects have grown on me. It made the effects more like an artistic interpretation that only the players see and doesn’t exist in the world they’re in, as compared with a full 3d effect that felt like it’s actually there in that world if you know what I’m saying. Among these games though I think it was Rivals and Hot Pursuit that I had the most play time. I enjoyed playing as a cop and busting other racers lol.

2015 I don’t know about you but I personally loved 2015, I bought it 4 years ago when I found it on sale in a bundle with gw2 and unravel and I just never played it until recently around the start of august, and I loved every aspect about it from the cars(which weren’t as many as heat or payback but they had a Supra) to the graphics and music and also the cutscenes, they were corny cheesy but good imo, and I loved the fact that they had ken block in there, that in its self was pretty dope. And for payback I can understand that it was put so low because of the loot boxes but i had a blast playing it, I loved its drifting and off-road, and I liked how the map was really big, it wasn’t as good as much as the other games but for me it’s a gem.

Great video man, Also there is a remaster of hot pursuit, currently playing it rn

Payback is my favorite game in the new generation of nfs but 3 things ruined the game 1. The speedcards to upgrade your cars 2. No cops ( not like it used to be ) 3. There weren’t to many regular races offline even tho online had way more

Everyone says nfs the run doesn’t have customization other than changing colors but every car in the game has bodykit presets with rims that make them look vastly different so it actually does has decent customization the only issue is that the customization while not bad is extremely limited to preset body kits and wheels rather than you being able to choose individual body parts

I love mw 2012, I love how simple the game play was and how the soundtrack had a mix of rock and electronic music. I still have it on my ps3

I was waiting for u to rank NFS MW 2012 up top and when I found out it's in the top 3 I knew that u really had the best times of your life. NFS MW 2012 one of the most enjoyable and fun I've ever played.

It's kinda funny how i don't mind a storyline base NFS game but most of the time I wanna race just like it used to be in the 00s like MW and Hot Pursuit 🤷🏿‍♂️

I've only played heat of these but i really liked it. Reminded me about u2 and carbon times (haven't played anything in between)

They did a remaster of the nfs hot pursuit 2010 but it had minor changes and they sadly removed some cars, even tho its expensive, at least for me, i think the remaster was good because they brought back to life a game from 13 years ago. That game made my childhood and its an absolute masterpiece

Finally someone who thinks just like me about mw 2012 and hot pursuit. I think criterion is great. I always liked the burnout-like style for nfs. Especially in mw 2012 the city design was great. All those ramps and billboards were placed wisely. Those realistic looking statues, metro stations, construction sites etc. I just loved it.

#1 Most Wanted 2005 #2 Under Ground 2 #3 Hot Pursuit 2010

Side note: I like how you talk over the music in the background. Makes it more interesting. Respect

Let's be honest. They never topped the Vibe and Graphics of NFS 2015. That game has a lot of issues, but it was truly a great attempt at being the successor to NFS Underground. Even the sequel (NFS Underground 2) couldn't capture that Vibe of the first game. In terms of atmosphere, it feels drastically different from Underground. A 10th Anniversary Remaster of NFS 2015 would be great. No need to update Graphics even, just add more new content, Offline Play, more Car Slots etc.

Most wanted 2012 is the greatest racing game I've ever played

We just want underground3/remaster they would probably be more successful with that

12:20 there's a command that you can type into the advanced start options that lets you play at 60 FPS

I'll always love most wanted, I used to play it every week in my spare time. Completed it more times than I can count and it never got old. I miss those times.

Am i the only one who loved the different vibes that Payback gave me? Of course it wasnt the best of all, but i dont think it deserves the last place 😔

I’ve played every modern nfs game and for some reason payback will always be my favorite

On the run was my first NFS game such a nostalgic trip I also loved the story

Payback was pretty decent tbh.

I like how someone is finally being open and honest about the storylines rather than coping and wearing rose tinted glasses and saying the old need for speeds were the best. Not by a longshot, the gameplay is what always mattered in this series the most.

Need for Speed 2015 is by far my favorite NFS game. Besides underground. NFS 2015, yes had a cringe story like but I love the gameplay, I love the customizations, the cars, the night rides, the soundtrack & especially, online gaming. I’m always finding racers & challenges. The game does need a day light with Night honestly.

ty for this tier list man, i recently bought the steam xmas NFS bundle where we get all of them starting from Hot pursuit till unbound i didnt knwo which one to start with

7:25 is this why my game doesn’t start? I bought it the other day and i can’t get past the title screen that says press start, I press every button and nothing works, same happened with the game driver San Francisco.

In the run there are some cars that have body customization for example the GTR has 3 bodykits

Most wanted so high up.. I reserve my judgement solely because you are using God tier music. The sonic track at the end 👌🏾

so, I guess I'm the only one who actually likes the payback. I actually really enjoyed that game and he's soundtrack.

2015 has the best atmosphere. I like the payback map and the daytime also the desert area looks pretty fine. Did not really like unbound they just added everything from heat and added some cars and effects. Map and anything else is really similar. Thought we would get much more….

Damn, I personally loved Rivals, and I even redownloaded it recently for some nostalgia and I have been really enjoying it. It has its theme well determined, good and aggressive cop AI, a diverse and beautiful map, a great soundtrack, and overall it lives up as the successor of Hot Pursuit 2010. I think you and many others are way too harsh on it.

I literally had te most exciting experience with rivals because of the cause that it used to create, the long pursuits felt just amazing with the soundtrack and the chaos that came bye with it. Something i never had with the other need for speed (and i've played all of them). The others just felt boring.

I didn't play nfs series, what should I start between those: heat, payback, pursuit remastered, rivals, or nfs?

Man I'm glad you think Hot Pursuit is as good I think! Absolutely love the Remastered one they released in 2020. Man it's so beautiful

Actually NFS the run is far better than many modern NFS

Idk, everybody hates NFS Payback while its my favorite NFS game

I've been playing NFS since 1993. Hands down my fav NFS games. NFS High Stakes,NFS Underground 2,NFS Hot Pursuit 3

NFS Most Wanted 2005 will always be my favourite and hold a special place for me as it introduced me to the whole franchise and I got into cars because of it ❤

I think NfS Heat is perhaps the best game of them all for the following reasons: - Good amount of customization - In-depth suspension tuning by combining different tires, suspension and differential to tweak the feeling of each car. The drifting is great and penalizes speed just right to not make it completely unsuitable. I like the physics. - Actually thrilling and challenging cop chases with high stakes. - This is the most fun NfS in racing thanks to some awesome track design and the AI is aggressive, but it doesn't stress me out too much. - It feels dynamic with the traffic and online mode, but there is no nasty penalty for not winning races, so just do your best and have fun. But I will point out this game might be too deep for those looking for a more straightforward arcade racer like Hot Pursuit 2010. What does frustrate me is the weak game engine, mod reliance to fix crappy car performance (Mitsubishi Evo X) and I am no friend to the soundtrack at all, although I reused some tracks for my mixtape. Also why are dirt races in there, they are not great? And add some polishing issues and the game as a product is inferior to Forza Horizon, even though I had more fun with it and will stay for longer. Heat Remix mod sounds great to my ears.

The run is basically my guilty pleasure

Very cool video, man! Just played through Most Wanted (2005) and I've been trying to find out which ones are worth playing. I tried Rivals on the 360 but the 30 FPS isn't cutting it lmao. I'd love to see a Need for Speed game set in Michigan, haha.

I have a PS5 and it`s been years since I played a racing game , which one is the best for PS5 as gameplay and graphics and handling ?

Appreciate the aruarian dance use

Nice list. Mine is quite a bid different than yours. I'd put 1. The run, 2. Hot Pursuit Remastered, 3, 2015,, 4. Payback, 5. Unbound, 6. Heat, 7. Rivals, 8. Most Wanted. Never played Shift 2. The Run was just so great. Loved driving across USA and seeing all the different areas. The things like the avalanche were just so awesome.

MW 2012 is one of my favorite NFS games in the series. Not my all time favorite though. Can't say its a good game without someone screaming about MW05. MW05 is a goated game and it's actually my second favorite behind UG2 (controversial, I know) but damn everyone worships MW05 like it's a God.

On the money without a lot of your reviews. I dig it! Subscribing!

surprised to see you rank unbound high even above heat i feel too many fans want unbound dead and fanboy heat don't get me wrong heat is good but the cops are too hard imo im glad they toned them down in unbound also surprised you said postive things about most wanted 2012 i feel that gets overhated too from the 05 fanboys

I thought heat was better than unbound for sure. I felt like heat had more substance, it had more variety. More types of missions, events, etc. The police were much better and more engaging. The heat system was better because it actually gave a reward, the multiplier was an actual reason to deal with high heat. Also, I prefer choosing day/night rather than the forced cycle. The characters were less annoying imo, I mean the main characters voice and lines in unbound are insufferable sometimes. Online in unbound sucks, it was much better in heat. The effects are opinionated, I hated it in the trailer, but surprisingly I didn't mind it. Don't like the characters as much but as I said, opinion. Unbound did do some things better but they were small, I think heat did the big things better. Unbound was still fun 100% but heat was better

I grew up not necessarily being into the racing genre, I actually got into it recently with NFS 2015, I genuinely really enjoyed the game and made me start Heat as soon as I got the platinum trophy. So for me coming into the series without playing anything else I had a great time.

Just realized you had arurian dance or whatever it's called in the background music. Was wondering why I vibed so much

For me, it’s only the following in this order: 1) NFS Porsche Unleashed 2) NFS II 3) NFS UG2 4) NFS Most Wanted 5) NFS HP2 I played the series up until NFS Carbon and then switched over to pure sim racing (ACC, RF2). I do occasionally play Forza Horizon 5 but for me the NFS series has lost its soul.

Good handling for nfs 2015 is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard🤣🤣

Why do I love most wanted 2012 1. Sound tracks...they are just wow 2. Maps and track 3. Finding cars 4. That sense of beating rivals.

From what ive found with playing all these games, simple is better. Carbon and Hot Pursuit 2 on the ps2 were such good games, because they were simple. Same with all of the Midnight Club games up to L.A. its simple. Guy race car, guy get money, guy modify car, repeat. And i love it.

Yeah payback has some thing that suck but is really a fun game to play

I couldn't disagree more with this list.

Yo you forgot to add the NFS heat studio part where whatever you customize on the mobile app you can get it reflect onto the cars in the game.

Im glad you put most wanted 2012 up there. My first and favourite nfs game

MW 2012 and Payback are the best modern nfs games imo. I love mw 2012 because of the vibe and how fun the pursuit was even tho no visual customisation but i take it as burnout with cops so i like it. I like Payback because it fixed a lot wrong 2015 did, it fixed that trash handling and the game has animated cutscenes which fit with the gameplay rather than real life shot which barely make sense to gameplay like 2015, i like how each character has their own type of mission and i take this one like a gta 5 nfs edition

When people talk about payback they conveniently leave out the crosstrek stuff which is the biggest talking point

Nfs most wanted 2012 is one of my favourite game also , you are only one , I have seen praising this game , I completed this game 4 times😊

whats the best one for just open world driving?

man i cant disagree with you more about 2015, yeah it has a lot of flaws but the map and gritty racing vibe is awesome and in my opinion unmatched.

I hate unbound so far because of how hard it is to beat the racers atleast now 5 hours into it i can barely make it to third place at best. I started getting into the series since nfs payback and i liked heat the most and least favorite was 2015 because it had a weird career mode and online only. The series has been just ok overall but has a bit too much flaws

Love the "Legend of Dragoon" map theme there.

thinking about buying a newer need for speed which one yall think i should buy?

C'mon the run is amazing

Payback is the best. The storyline was bad but when you complete it there is always something to do. Its very hard to fully max any car i have 500+hours on it and i have only 1 fully maxed car. And speedlist is very fun. There is always something new to learn. At first i tought that regera was the only car that can go over 400km/h but there is at least 5 that can go over 400.

World of Unbound feels more alive to me compared to dead bland world of Heat.

Most wanted, rivals, payback, 2015, hot pursuit will always hold a special place in my heart😢 ❤️

For me it’s 8 payback 7 hot pursuit 6 mw 2012 5 shift 2 4 nfs 2015 3 unbound 2 rivals 1 heat

Unbound worse than heat such a downgrade even payback and 2015 better

You should also base your decisions on which controller was available at the time of the game because the controller does make a huge difference.

i just now watching this as nfs unbound brings another huge update in june 20 and i’m very hyped they fixed and added a lot of stuff

Any story is better than no story at all, it feels like no progression without it. So Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted (2012) and Rivals is instantly F tier for me.

honestly need for speed became suche a cringe series, all the camera setups, flashy effects and stuff ..i'm not playing hot wheels ffs

Wait what unlicensed cars did they have in 2010?

Mine has to be Nfs Rival's because of the atmosphere, the chases, the graphics, and the tone. The game has a lot of nostalgia for me and soundtrack is a banger too. i know its hella buggy but its still really fun