Was Need For Speed Payback Really THAT Bad? 

Please lets not forget cause of this game, Jake Paul is canon to the NFS extended universe

roaming racers and derelicts should return

The upgrade system was what i hated the most about this game

The card system and the fact that you can't compare your cards on one car to the other cars in your garage were my only gripes about payback, but the story, customization, soundtrack and offroad races were the things I enjoyed about it.

I 100% completed this game. IIRC they doubled the money rewards in a patch, so the grind wasn't too bad. The FEM final showdown started from the observatory through the whole map was the most memorable event, way better than the final one. Also, there's a crashed UFO out there in the desert.

In a short answer, no. In a long answer, divisive. I enjoyed the game even if it’s a diet modern Fast & Furious story wise and with its dumber moments, the gambling gimmick for parts and other issues. I came into it when they had an ongoing abandoned cars event where they put a random car in the map and you have to escape the police to keep it. Was one of the better things in the game that not that many people mention.

I will die on the hill that the one thing i think they did well was the drifting in this game. I don't know why people complain about brake to drift in an arcade racing game, but Payback really nailed BTD handling

I distinctly remember the feeling of rushing through the canyons in my rally evo being a highlight of the game. Sadly in heat rally events became "go play around in some sand," and just didnt hit the same

It was Ghost's passion project until EA told them to make money I still remember the weekly dev log and teasers before it's released, they were so passionate about this game

19:22 let's not forget seeing a lh truck taking corners at 130 mph so you don't catch it too early is... An experience

i also really like how this game brought in some new brand names: Chidori, Outlaw, Nextech, Carbon, Americana, The Alchemist. and that these brands are still included in Heat and Unbound

I remember when your name was Moses B… You surely came a long way! Great job man!!

Finally someone did it. Microtransactions exist and they are bad, but Payback is one of the few games that are more than its monetization can tell you, and i just realized it when i actually got to play it. I hope many are able to realize it too

The only thing that really bugged me in Payback was the car upgrade system, thankfully on PC you can mod that to give you what you want rather than randomly. Payback was my favourite modern NFS game, the story was fun and the gampley diverse.

after the outlaws rush i think the curator talks to you on the radio about it. personally, the curator was the most hyping up part of the whole game and i loved it so much

Finally, someone acknowledges the positives of payback personally, i found payback's story was more intriguing than anything came afterwards from nfs series. they mimicked the fun gameplay loop of nfsmw without calling it "Blacklist". Only if there were pinkslips 😣 If you didn't pay a single penny and played it in hard mode (always underleveled), the gameplay becomes lot more fun it forces you to do all kind of stunts to recharge nitros, kinda like witcher 3 death march

WIth the handling customization system, it was possible to have really good grip handling. The thing is, it was impossible to win any race with this setup, because the game was made around drifting in corner. I had a bad time with the campaign, but when it ended, I cheated my way to 99999999 money and just spent my time customizing every car just to hear the engine sound, they are pretty good in this game. I drove to the dealership, bought a stock car, gave it a ride to hear the sounds, and then went to the garage. It was really fun, and that's it.

There are people who to this day, believe that microtransactions are still present in the NFS franchise thanks to Payback.

AFAIK freeroam cops were planned but cut due to lack of time to finish and polish it, so they resorted to those "packages" you collect to initiate a cop chase.

My favorite feature is how it always uses 100% of my cpu at all times, driving it to 90 degrees Celsius! Oh and how it loves to just go into the background when i exit instead of closing

dude i'll just say it now, as someone who loves the older games, i love this game and always have since launch. it's nice to see a lot of people come around to it now. it's not perfect by any means, but i feel like it was definitely overhated.

I find it funny how this need for speed in my opinion had everything people were asking mainly a daylight cycle, better police, more customisation and a more open map yet this is always looked back on a pretty bleak light. I always loved this game in the ghost saga even more than heat. The map was interesting and the cast of characters was interesting to say the least. Also having actual crews even if they have no depth whatsoever adds to the world and reminds me the good old days of Carbon which stands as my favourite of all time

I'm a *major* fan of this game, aside from the speed cards of course. And I think it has one of the best NFS maps we've ever gotten.

Damn, had this video idea in my notes for a while, same title and everything, should have got to it sooner! But you did it better than I could! Amazing video

In all honesty, watching all your videos on nfs games has really made me wanna get back into the series

you need to talk about night-runners i swear that game will get u giggling trust me thats a racing game experience that is a must

I definitely have mixed feelings on NFS Payback: On one hand, it was great to drive a different variety of cars (like Hypercars, SUV’s, tuners, etc.), roaming racers, derelicts, an amazing original soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese, customization, a pause menu, map variety, and event variety. On the other hand, this game fell short with the world feeling dead- No free roam cops to make the world fun, no medium to heavy traffic density, no pedestrians on the sidewalks (like Unbound, Midnight Club, The Crew, etc.), etc. There were also issues with the upgrade system that was more luck based, a lackluster story since the trailers made the story look like there would be more tension, and the airport was not even accessible in the final game- a perfect place for drag races and top speed. I will add that the game was rushed, and I remember how buggy the game was when it first released. I thought Payback was decent, but if it did have more time, it would have received less hate. This game definitely has a lot of vibes from the first iteration of The Crew, since both games had different car classes (street, drag, off road, etc.), both games having abandoned cars to find in the open world, the Speedcross DLC being similar to events in the Summit, getaway missions, and Joseph Trapanese composing soundtracks for both games (which were amazing in my opinion).

you say it ended out of nowhere, but at least we had a final race at the end, and not some terrible chase in a game that has terrible hit registration when it comes to car to car combat.

BEST THING TO WATCH ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, THANKS MOSES!!!!

I love how the 240Z advert at 15:37 is from "Carsales" here in Australia to drive home how expensive they are. PERFECTION!!!! 🤣

If the game had the Heat styled upgrade system, it would be one of the best games in the series. But in my opinion, integrating gacha upgrades into the game ruined it.

Unite mod makes Payback really good and addicting to play in my opinion!

Payback was only not "that bad", I felt it ended up really fun. The initial launch product was so weak to me that after pre-ordering, I didn't touch it for 3 to 4 months. As the features began to drip feed in, it got better and once the "free roam" copswere added, it hit it's sfride. I became a regular 2-3 hour a day player as it brought a small touch of Burnout/Most Wanted (the Criterion one, of course) to the gameplay. I could go on but will just say that the car types made every build feel different, especially my favorite, the Runner. Hell, I had 6 different Barracudas. Payback was not that bad, it was pretty good. Much better IMO than Heat. 🤮

The memory of the progression system based on cards give me chills everytime i think on going back to this

I just replayed both payback and heat and cars on payback handle soo much better than heat especially at high speed for me

9:00 worst upgrade system explained Turn 10 Studio: oh we can make it worst

Locking a car upgrade mechanic behind an rng p2w gambling mechanic made me avoid that game like COVID19. The seeds for that mechanic were already planted with NFS World (remember that game?) on the PC, they just brought it multi-platform in 2017 (PC, PS4, Xbone).

I liked the car classes like Drift Class, Runner Class and Offroad Class.

This was actually my favourite game besides underground and most wanted. I loved the map and the cars. It was actually worth completing the story which I did! I still play it and love it!

I go back to Payback from time to time when I can and tbh, I still enjoy it. Not as much as Heat, 2015, Unbound, and the greater NFS games of the 2000s, but I found a new liking to Payback. My gripes with the game: very slim chances of luck regarding the upgrading system, the off-road handling not being as dialed in(thankfully fixed in Heat and Unbound), and no free-roam cops. Positives(many): Packed action with missions, all of the events(even Offroad events) still packed that fun, while no free-roam cops, they sure gave me better thrills than NFS2015 cops. The soundtrack is cool, especially the songs like Kicks, Burning Man, and Unholy War, I started to listen to them on an almost daily basis. The characters, I found a new liking towards them despite their faults and the story being inspired by Fast and Furious but done better than current Fast and Furious movies, lol. The car selection, Ghost did pretty good and improved from 2015 and beyond, especially with the customization. While this game isn't a 10/10, I give it a solid 7/10 because while certain aspects did make me have certain questions about the game negatively, those positives still are making me come back to it and I forgot about the online, I made a couple of friends through there and it was fun whether cruising, racing, drag races, marked man races, and car meets(sort of). This game for me, is better than Forza Horizon 3 and The Crew 2. Plus, I adore the Highway Heist Mustang and I want to build one and go on a vacation to Vegas with it. Do you all think it's a good idea? I think it is but let me know! P.S. UltraViolet, I'm one of your new subscribers! Amazing content you post!

I just gotta say; This has to be one of the most positive reviews on Need for Speed Payback that I've ever enjoyed. 😊

so I’m hearing all the Persona music in this video, and I’m waiting for another Persona review man!! Loved your P5R review, keep up the great work!!

Nice way to wake up; a new Ultraviolet video!

I agree with you. I played the game and I miss Cops in free roam mode. 29.3K Subscribers. You deserve more.

Another explanation for the cop chases not existing outside missions is actually in the world setting for Payback. For some reason, not many are as aware, but street racing is LEGAL in Fortune Valley. The cops have zero reason to chase you for street racing. Weird...but thars the game. I didn't write that stuff. The cop chases are broken down like this 1-Cop chase you after you practically stole someone's car, a crime. 2-Cop chase you later down the story, because you smash their equipment 3-Cop chase you more down the story, because The House has started buying into the police force. 4-Cops leave you alone after fellow drivers cause a ruckus outside the airfield, a potential riot, which is against the law. That's at least, the lore breakdown for why there no cop chases in Payback. Ain't gonna lie, Fortune Valley sounds pretty rad. Great for car meetups and actual planned races without some outlier bad cops disgracing the force and bullying people for merely existing in a Ferrari.

AYOO DAS MEEEEEE On a more serious note, great video man xD

I like payback but I rather play rivals

This is a game I quite enjoyed playing. it was all around fun and the soundtrack was great (something I still play off and on today). Grinding the upgrades wasn't the most fun, but I loved when they upped the level cap on cars I wanted to drive more than what they originally limited them to, like the Buick GNX.

One of the biggest reasons Mac ISN'T a grating presence is because he's played by (and modeled after) David Ajala, who I recognized at the time (I got the game over a year later for $5 USD in a digital sale) as Manchester Black on 'Supergirl', and he's one of the best parts of 'Star Trek: Discovery'...

Summed up my exact thoughts on this game. I remember having a blast with this game when I got it discounted that christmas, shortly after launch.

I bought this game 6 months post launch. First NFS game I had ever bought. My biggest problem with the game like many others was the micro transactions and speed cards but the map variation, car types and the abandoned car drops were some my favorite things. There was no other way to get the Crown Vic police intercepter other than mods (my favorite and rarest car I own). Part of me still wishes for a sequel to the game.

Back in 2017 I thought it was mid at best, now it's honestly one of my favorites. And I say it as a Blackbox fanboy, with MW'05 being my Top 1 NFS ever... It all changed when I bought the Need for Speed bundle on Steam around Christmas last year. I mostly wanted to try Unbound but I didn't want to play it on lowest graphics settings (I had a 4gb RX570), so I chose the latest game I could comfortably play on highest settings. Back then last time I played Payback was in 2019 so I basically was re-discovering this whole game. And man, I absolutely loved it. Story wasn't that much cheesy as I originally believed it to be, soundtrack was great, handling model was fun and satysfying, the map was also fine and well done with some great long straights, hills with lots of curves, and a lot of dirt paths. Game looked good and ran good (with some minor FPS drop in Silver Rock). Even the slot machine based performance tuning wasn't all that bad to be honest, it was annoying at start but I kinda liked it in the end. You get speed cards after every event anyway + in order to achieve absolute maximum out of your car you had to stop for a moment and think about which exact manufacturers you should try getting in order to get the 3x/6x combo. You get a lot of cash and slot tokens from FREE shipments for doing daily challanges anyway. Not even for a moment I felt like this game tries to sell me anything. This whole microtransaction thing was 100% forced on the developers by EA, it's definitely not something Ghost wanted to add by themselves. Tldr: If you played this game X years ago and thought it's bad - give it another chance, you might actually like it. Even if you're an Blackbox era games fanboy.

I love the NFS Games from 2015-2019, their map design is very unique and is what I would expect to grow massive and add more variety as we go on. The gameplay systems and the story however is another tale!

I remember playing the p1rated version of this game without microtransactions and was a decent experience, far from PS2 NFS games but I genuinely had fun, I beat the game after playing for around 1 month (because of lack of time haha) and had a good playthrough.

This game had one of the best licensed soundtracks in a Need for Speed game

i have the game and ctually have one massive problem with it; the checkpoints, in heat or any other nfs game(probably) the chackpoints register even if you don't go through the center. BUT NO in payback you can"t even miss it by 1 cm, you have to touch it.

I haven't finished watching the video as of me writing this, but the term you gave to the lack of free roam cops describes my general feelings about this game, which is a lack of thematic cohesion even down to it's upgrade system, which is even more grating considering the game's messaging about being against the random chances of winning on the streets, that alone shows the peak of EA's corporatism at the forefront, of which the gaming community already had a bone to pick with With that in mind, there's quite a few things that this game does well enough on it's own terms, and even despite not having finished it, I'm confident to take a proper stab at it in the eventual future.

i played this game a lot on my old ps4 (its fried now) and i actually enjoyed it. It was fun and exiting when you completed it but the only thing that was making me angry were the invisible walls.

I played this game RIGOROUSLY. came home from school every day before I went to work and loved every minute of it. The storyline was kind of cringy, the cara kind of felt like plastic but the car sounds and vast map was absolutely AMAZING. We got Derelicts, Roaming racers and COPS AGAIN! some of these things were executed poorly but we DID get them again and the sense of speed also returned. This game was the first NFS games I'd played in YEARS since Pro street and it actually felt like a NFS game again! It was also the first game I actually saw people not straight up shitting on from the get go and they only improved upon it until the end when they released NFS Heat a few years later. We got online content, random cars in online mode, DLC and even a cross country rally mode. It really doesnt deserve the hate for the "gambling style loot boxes" as you didn't HAVE to spend money on ANY of them to beat the game or be competitive in online. You just had to GRIND. Which is the point of a video game....to keep you engaged and playing. It had its faults but it is an example if one of the better games we've received in years.......

ive been asking since day one. the madlad finally did it. yesssssssssssssssssssssirrrrrr

Ultraviolet, your deep dive into Need For Speed Payback is a game-changer! 🚗💥 Your unbiased take on its design choices and microtransactions is refreshing. It's wild how Payback sparked controversy in 2017, and now, revisiting it in 2024 gives us a new perspective. Your open-minded approach is what we need in the gaming community. Kudos for bringing back the nostalgia and questioning if Payback was really THAT bad! 🔥

I've always said that if NFS Payback had a traditional upgrade system and removed the lootboxes, it would have been looked back upon as a good nfs (albeit an overshadowed one due to the Most Wanted '05 circlejerk that the nfs community perpetuated) along the lines of Prostreet, Hot Pursuit 2010 and The Run

I find it really funny that this game copied the cards system from The Crew which actually got them from Need For Speed World.

i honesty want the next game to be this style of story and batshit insane missions with the heat gameplay day night loop

the thing i like the most about payback was the map. fortune valley is just almost perfect, has a lot of variety and its pretty damn big, not to mention its beautiful ngl id say payback has my favourite map out of the nfs ghost games (unbound included although thats criterion)

Nice to look at this game again. Since its older its not importants what flaws it has, to me its important if mods can remove these flaws. As far as I can see there are mods ( and a big UNITE mod) to make the aweful upgrading system better.

9:28 and right here. Right here is why I’m glad I don’t give EA money. Not only did they make the upgrade system gambling, not ONLY can that gambling use real world money (which is inarguably the worst thing) but EACH CAR IS LOCKED OUT OF UPGRADES YOU ALREADY HAVE?! Just plain disgusting predatory behavior.

4:50 Temu Las Vegas 🤣🤣

Only things that pissed me of were Tuning,drifting and the last Rush -where you escape your competition outside the city like nothing - competition should be more agressive

NeedForSpeed Payback Online was an unbalanced mess

Things that make Payback bad: -The upgrade system (stupid but honestly not that bad, especially after they added catch-up packs) and associated microttransactions (totally ignorable) -no free roam police (this is the biggest fail IMO) -cars being locked to their class (frustrating but not game-breaking) -the fact that there's no way to make the characters shut up during normal free roam (so irritating!) Apart from these, it was always great fun, the handling was vastly improved over 2015, and it only got better over time; they added multiplayer free roam, bait crates for a slightly more open ended police experience, they had solid DLC and free weekly "abandoned car" events. Derelicts and the whole runner storyline were my favourite elements, and I think the map deserves way more praise than it gets, it was about as good as deserts get.

The issue with NFS Payback was it came out seven days before Battlefront 2. Add in the most downvoted post in Reddit and the pay to win star cards before the change and add on the gambling aspect with the cards and microtransactions and yeah the game got a lot of hate and heat. Fun game now but back on release it was tone death and it wouldn't have gotten the hate if EA didn't try to royally screw up BF2 and make the pride and accomplishment post on reddit

I enjoyed this game a lot, the upgrade system was weird but I like how it fit into the whole "gambler" thing

Ironically the car Upgrade system ruined the game.

Personally this was the racing game I grew up with. I was never really good at it so I played it for years without ever finishing it and it really made me attatched to the characters in the game. Not only that, but the soundtrack has also definetly shaped my taste in music and this is probably one of the games that got me into cars and wanting to know more about them. It's not perfect, and definetly could have been so much better. But hell, to me the memories i made with the game is more than good enough.

NFS Payback one of my favorite games back in middle school, I never really understood the hate for it at all. My only real gripe was how passive the cops were.

Has there ever been a Need for Speed game that has had cops in the overworld and a dynamic day and night cycle? I can't think of any and I wonder if there's some sort of engine limitation that requires them to pick one or the other but never have both.

Payback is a title I jab at here and there because of its ridiculous flaws, but when I replayed it the other day, I did find some small qualities to enjoy about it. Finding derelict parts to explore the map and make superbuilds, having 5 different classes of cars each serving their own purpose, free roam racers, replayable missions, side bets, a day and night cycle, functional photo mode, speedlists, etc. The game could’ve been a lot better if executed properly, but it’s very far from the worst racing game I’ve ever played.

PB was the NfS i had the most fun Online.. those speed list were so good idk. Like iv played it religiously its weird

Honestly Payback wasnt horrible. It was okay, and i had alot of fun online on it since the map is pretty good tbf. Story was okay, however the microtransactions were really bad, and dont even get me started on the atrocious upgrading system. (And no, we dont mention Jake Paul)

I hated that getting upgrades was a literal gamble as well as the different dealerships.

I wish i could bring this game back to life Just for the multiplayer so i can race other people and I LOVE THE SPEEDLIST

I've replayed payback a few months ago and it's honestly just some dumb fun, doesn't take too long to complete which is nice and I'll definitely replay it again

No cap. The only reason why the game was bad was because of the upgrade system.Other than payback had great graphics and physics to build upon

I can't really agree the City oozing Las Vegas atmosphere. The Casino roundabout in NFS Underground 2 is a small section yet so vibrant that probably almost everyone who played it can remember it vividly. Now tell me what spots in Paybacks city can you remember as well as that?

Egregious upgrade system aside, an alright time and probably the best overall soundtrack of the Ghost era

This was the first racing game that got me into competitive PVP with the ranked speedlists. 13:40 Me who's real name is also Julian: "God damn it XD"

My biggest issue with the game was the lack of "feel" for speed. In NFS heat when you hit the nitro, or were going really fast you felt it. Here that just felt absent for me.

To be honest i don't think the game was bad at all. The cards were experimental, not bad. (I literally played this game today just because i like it)

I was surprised when I first played this game how I didn't hate it, or myself for playing it, when I had heard how bad it was, I played it after I played heat and was surprised at how many things I enjoyed more on payback than on heat

I actually like Payback a lot. Yes , it has its issues like the stupid card performance upgrades , inability to make all cars for all classes and very ugly exhaust customisation (which is carried over to Heat as well) to name a few. But overall I actually found the Jess storyline quite interesting and also all the callbacks they do to previous NFS games like Most Wanted 05, Carbon , Prostreet. Not the best in the series , but not the worst imo. But I know I'm in a heavy minority. And I can understand why people dislike Payback.

I might be thrown a controller at for this statement, but I honestly prefer Payback to Heat.

I picked up Payback from a bargain bin and so I got way more out of it than I payed for, but I would have been PISSED, if I would have bought it at release; changing exhaust tips should be one of the first customization available, not one of the last, especially IIRC one can't upgrade the exhaust system in the performance upgrade menu

I remember my routine in payback when I finished the game. I would grind around 1 million dollars and head over to a dealer to buy whatever shitbox I wanted. Then I’d take it to the upgrades and spend the remaining cash on expensive roulettes. Could never even max out the cars like that but they would get pretty close.

It was a great game, it’s just the upgrade system was horrible if they redid it and rereleased it I would play it again.

i honestly really liked the atmosphere in this game especially at night

i just played nfs payback for the first time and I really liked it except that cars are locked to a specific race type and the upgrade system but otherwise really solid but the map in my opinion is the best out of the newer nfs games just because of dirt roads and offroadability and because of it there were many shortcuts

It had some potential, liked the map, the atmosphere, the car selection was pretty good for an NFS game, it had some good tunes (not the best soundtrack but definitely better than what came after) and I'm a sucker for these hilariously bad NFS stories (though the ending was underwhelming). The upgrade system was bad, the police should have had more presence and they should have worked a bit more on the driving but overall I enjoyed it. Then again I also liked Undercover for the same reasons, and that's also hated by many so I'm in the minority here.

I still get occasional convulsions from the damage done to my brain by NFS 2015 and Payback cutscenes/writing. Oh crap here comes anothererasffggg

My issue with this game was that the open world did nothing to the game. It’s barren, barely any NPC cars, I don’t remember if there were roaming racers or not, and there were no cops. Also don’t forget about the upgrade system. Besides these I thought the game was really solid.