Recent reviews by Mikado the Glaceon

Ehhhhh... It's pretty "meh" at best. At worst, unacceptable.
-Basic b!tch controls and gameplay? Check.
-AI that doesn't even try? Check.
-Mobile game style graphics? Check.
-Occasional bugged landing physics? Check.
-Unnaturally wide grip steering? Check.
-No additional ways of getting Boost? Check.
-Only a single camera view to work with? Check.
-Inability to drift at all? Check.
-Made by the developers of the highly infamous FlatOut 3? Check, check, check-itty check!

Absolutely boring, content isn't really that much. Credit is where it's due for the amount of customization options, but you'd have to trudge through the simple AF gameplay and easy-a$$ racing and it just gets really boring after a while, even on Elite difficulty. I got this at a $10 sale, it's not worth $50 at all. Save your $50 for something better like the Hot Wheels Unleashed games, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, Hotshot Racing, Wreckfest, or even Gas Guzzlers Extreme. Maybe much better racing games by GameMill. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor for your $50.

Also the Project-X Pack is only sold with the game and not individually as an add-on DLC pack? A business decision like that only adds more fuel to the fire. If they release it as an individual pack, it should be like, $5 max. And even then, the pack contents itself aren't notable to comment on. To top it off, the Boost Meter is copied straight from DiRT Showdown... This is another example of Team6's incompetence on making racing games. You know, this game in particular makes me question why they haven't kicked the bucket yet. Another example of Team6 failing to redeem themselves once again.

I'll probably complete this game 100% much later if I feel the need to do so. But until then, I'm just gonna leave this one alone for a while...

It doesn't matter that the gameplay is great, it doesn't excuse it from being an overly predatory monetized pile of ♥♥♥♥. This needs to be said, and developers need to pay attention to this.

Asphalt Legends Unite, nicknamed as "Asphalt Whatever the Hell it Wants to Be and Just Won't Go Away" is an arcade racer that originated from phone gaming. It features real life vehicles from actual manufacturers, and you just race your way to victory on relatively short courses in order to unlock stuff! The game is chock-full of monetization just like other free-2-play mobile games where microtransactions are the dominant form of progression and the amount of intelligence needed to play the game is, in all honesty, almost nonexistent.

This game requires so little thought into playing and I really don't think it would've been acceptable to have a car unlocking system as horrid as this just so that Gameloft can milk the wallets dry of players!

I 100% do not trust free-2-play games, and even pure mobile games to be totally honest. While some people may argue that they do have a place in the market, they are the real reason many egregious business practices/models exist that have even leaked their way into console gaming due to them. I'm not a fan of mobile gaming, more power to others who are I suppose, but I just cannot put up with... whatever the hell this game's monetization is!

After a few hours of giving this game a chance, my single star Dodge Challenger's performance for Tier C was really showing in the later events of even the FIRST CHAPTER! I was ONE BLUEPRINT away from getting it to a two star, and the moment I found out that I exhausted all my possible resources just to get it higher, I decided to turn the game off immediately! That was it! That was more than enough for me to stop playing the game and uninstall it for good! I'm not paying up ANYTHING just to upgrade a car, and Gameloft should be ashamed of themselves for putting their money grubbing hands firmly gripping a game like this that had high potential!

Just to add insult to injury to this ♥♥♥♥ sundae, the first Hot Wheels Unleashed game did this much better by having absolutely NO microtransactions in it at all! How does that game do this better!?

Pay-2-Win types of games aren't even games at that point because there's absolutely no sense of achievement in them! There can only be two options at your disposal! You either:

A. Grind for hundreds of hours of your life to make so little progress that it's not even worth it in the end, or
B. Pay up hundreds and thousands of bucks to get what you want and have an easier time!

What's the point!? I fail to see the good in either option!

Apologies for the sour reaction for a game like this that very likely has its fans, but I'm not one of them, will never be one of them, nor will I give this game a single compliment aside from the gameplay! It's just as horrible as all other monetization heavy mobile games out there! It's PREDATORY at WORST. The content has items that are paywalled and require in-game currency to purchase, and the freedom in this game is much more strict than even Need for Speed Unbound!

A game from THE SAME DAMN YEAR THIS WAS RELEASED had more freedom than this! This strikes me as nothing more than just a quick cash grab that preys on young innocent kids who try to get their hands on their parent's wallets, credit cards, bank accounts, or what have you just so that they can dump tons of money for content that is not even physical!

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but time and time again, the industry constantly gets away with this even over a decade and a half later and we shouldn't rest until something is done about it, that is IF something will be done about it in the first place!

Lego 2K Drive and Disney Speedstorm can also both rot in hell for this kind of business practice, as those games are very similar! Asphalt Legends Unite is going into what I call, "The Arcade Racing Game Bargain Bin"! Do not get this game, seriously. Your wallet will cry so much with this one, and you'll be sacrificing your dinners for it.

These reviews for the three mentioned games are identical because as mentioned, they're pretty similar despite the fact that two of them are arcade racers, and one of them is a kart racer. They may not be exactly the same in terms of branding, but they're very similar regardless of the differences. ♥♥♥♥ you, Gameloft. You guys can F right the hell off for riddling this game with microtransactions to hell and back!

Lego 2K Drive Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/1451810/
Disney Speedstorm Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/1537830/

"Need for Speed Unbound is one of the worst games in the entirety of the Need for Speed series."

That is a statement you tend to hear quite a bit through online publications and other reviews on here. Or at least, that was the statement I heard in general as I was getting into it back when I first played it on my PS5. There are quite a few things that make people regard Unbound to be one of the weaker games in the franchise. I mean, if you just look at it... I think it's self-explanatory as to why it is often considered to be one of the worst.

But it's more so a case for me where if you dive beyond the incredibly juvenile and odd presentation, there's actually a game in here that is not only really good, but is also perhaps arguably one of the best gameplay focused games in the series.

Despite Heat coming out with Unbound's development starting right away, I see Unbound as the start of a new era for Need for Speed. Mainly because it's the first NFS game of the 2020s, the first NFS game for Generation 9 consoles, and the first NFS game since 2013's Rivals to be developed by Criterion Games. I just feel compelled to review this game. Thematically, Unbound has this cartoon/anime styled hip hop style of visuals more than realistic looking visuals. I mean, this ain't the only NFS game to have such visuals, Need for Speed: Nitro on the Wii was technically the first.

But Unbound takes it a few steps further than Nitro. Nearly all the NFS titles got the realistic elements while Unbound has half cartoon, half realistic elements. Your mileage may vary depending on how you feel about it, and I'd be an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if I said that I had problems with the realistic looking elements of past NFS games and had no qualms about Unbound's anime presentation.

Fortunately, I'm not that kind of person... More or less... Because the story, tone, visuals, soundtrack, and progression are easily the worst parts of Unbound. They're so unnecessary with poor execution that's just... Offputting. The story here is that you're a down-to-earth mechanic who's working for a failing shop, trying to get your car back from a friend who ditched her father. Your objective is to complete all Qualifiers and complete "The Grand" to get your ride back while simultaneously throughout the game, tuning up your own. Pretty sure you can guess the rest if you played this a lot.

As for the graphics, the game is highly detailed for a 2020s game, so I have no qualms about that there, they're highly detailed despite the theme of the game being pretty weaksauce. But compared to everything else, the graphical presentation and visuals are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things: aspects that can make a game good, or fantastic even.

Especially for arcade racing, the game needs to be fun first and foremost, and for me personally, the engine they used for Unbound is one of the best ones ever built, making this one of the most technically satisfying games in the whole series. It feels pristine and very good to drive, it has this nice comfort zone of just speeding through the streets of Lakeshore. I know I could potentially reinstate that in many different ways, but that's the God honest truth for you.

Plus, you have an additional Nitrous mechanic called 'Burst Nitrous' where it fills up just like your regular Nitrous, but it will go away if you don't use it in time or keep doing risks enough to where you could keep building it up. And once you use it, your vehicle gains maximum grip, a nice kick in speed, and is pushed forward in the direction the nose of your car is facing in, which can help in exiting corners or building up speed on straights.

But I do have some issues with the engine itself, such as the deal where if you make contact with anything, the Burst Nitrous effects won't kick in and you won't be able to drift until 3-4 seconds pass. Something I find to be a very big annoyance factor while playing. The drifting itself is pretty iffy to work with, and it's one of the weaker handling models in the game, especially the handling tuning parts. This ain't a simulation racer, EA. Shut up. The grip handling is much better than Heat, though.

If you held a gun at my head or chest and asked me what the worst aspect of the game is in terms of replayability, I'd have to settle with the difficulty, which if you're like me as a (somewhat) skilled racer, the difficulty with some of these NFS titles can be pretty easy when you get the hang of it, even when you're just starting out. The only game that I had no issue with difficulty-wise was Hot Pursuit 2010 because you only go faster and cops tend to keep chasing you no matter how fast you go.

Unbound's problem in this department is that it's difficult when you're starting out, even on the easiest difficulty. It's entirely possible to beat the story without tuning up your vehicle to the Tier caps, but there are so many factors that limit your finishing position: the rubberbanding of the AI, randomly generated traffic, Cop stupidity that costs you the win, and worst of all, limited restarts. So for this game, I'd recommend that newer players start out on the easiest difficulty so that you have more room for error.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the aspects of the game that have to bow to whether or not Unbound is fun. Simply put, Need for Speed Unbound is plain, uncomplicated, wacky fun. The game engine is one of the best they ever made despite the drifting being as finicky as it is as well as the cartoony visuals, the soundtrack, and story progression being huge turn offs for most people. So I just can't help but find this game addicting, so here's my advice to you:

-If you avoided Unbound because of the setbacks mentioned above, I'd say you should give it a chance.
-If you tried this game before but didn't like it, I'd say you should give it another chance.

This is a game that didn't really warrant it's mixed reception for individuals at the time of release, nor it's designation as one of the worst NFS games ever - not when Most Wanted 2012 and Undercover exist.

Would I say that Unbound is one of the higher ranking games in the series overall? That depends, as there are other games in this series that have all the pros and none of the cons, so I'd say that Unbound is in the middle mid tier or low high tier. I definitely wouldn't place this game at the top because there's still things that bug me inside of it. Usually, this is the game that is ranked very low, or even dead last by craptastic journalists or narrow-minded twerps who really don't know anything about the series and just want negativity for attention...

...Oh yeah, with some mutuals of mine PUTTING ME DOWN FOR LIKING IT.

And that's definitely a fate that is so undeserved, because Need for Speed Unbound is a great game. You guys are just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to it, for no reason at all.

Well, looks like my feedback on both the Volume 6 and 7 Dynamic Catch-Up Packs didn't fall on deaf ears. Here are my reviews for both of them if you're curious on what I thought about them before (will update with a link to this review on both of them shortly):
Vol. 6 Dynamic Catch-Up Pack: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/2856160/
Vol. 7 Dynamic Catch-Up Pack: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/2856180/

This upgrade is very much worth it than just purchasing all other DLC individually. You get all the Catch-Up Packs, including ones that had limited time Premiums. This is perhaps THE best piece of DLC for Unbound you can get if you missed out on any of the items locked behind Premium in prior Volumes. It also includes all Customs Packs, Vehicle Sets, has the Keys to the Map, and the Premium for the upcoming Volume 9, which has yet to be released.

Although, I wouldn't really call it 'Ultimate' because the only things that are not included is the Palace Edition Upgrade and the Rivals Customs you can only get from the League in Volumes 7 and 8. Why isn't the latter part of this pack, even though those are more like limited time customs up for grabs before the Volume ends (RIP to Racer X's custom Pagani Huayra BC in Volume 8 being obtainable)? Hopefully those become available later on down the line because playing as AI rival vehicles is really cool.

For the price, this is definitely a steal. WAY more affordable than buying all DLCs for over $120. For $15 of this upgrade after buying the game a long while before this came out, that's quite the deal! But if you plan to buy the game with the Ultimate Collection, please wait for a sale on the full package. Again, the only things you won't have is the Palace Edition and the Rivals Customs, so you'll have to get the former individually.

Still, this is perhaps the best DLC the devs have put out for this game. Definitely get this for the price it's listed (way better if you get it on sale with EA Play). Even if you don't think it's worth it, it's still a lot better than just purchasing the other DLC individually. This pack really is that good even if you think otherwise, so please don't put the devs down for releasing this great bundle. I finally have the Darius Custom, and I love it!

If you are reading this review, please make other reviews of the other packs and direct newer people to this one. They'll save a lot of money in the long run with just a purchase of this. They'll have to buy the Palace Edition Upgrade and subscribe to EA Play for the 100% full content, sadly.

I bought the Deluxe Edition, just for an extra truck and a few additional liveries...

Now I don't know a lot about monster trucks other than them driving over and smashing cars, objects, and pulling stunts, but for a monster truck game, this honestly isn't that special. I know it's not the same developers of the Unleashed games, I know for a fact that this was the studio behind the publishing for Nickelodeon Kart Racers games. I guess if whether you're a Hot Wheels Monster Trucks fan, Monster Jam fan, or just a monster truck fan in general, you could get at least some mileage from this. But as a game that tries to do both, well, there's potential, it's just not fully brought out.

The Career mode of this game is relatively short, and I had to restart events quite a bit, a few of them can be a bit irritating, but at least once you complete an objective, it's completed for good even if you don't get the other objectives. So that way, you can focus on one objective at a time per attempt, so credit is where it's due. I did find a few physics issues such as wheels clipping through the ground, and even the tiniest objects you can smash through can affect the direction of your truck which makes no sense logically. The physics aren't quite in the best shape for a monster truck game.

I got all achievements within like 5 hours on my Career playthrough too, so this can be a quick and simple 100% achievement list if you're one of those kinds of guys. It can be a little annoying to get all objectives done in each event, and even boring because you just play in the same arenas for each zone, with the only differences being the stuff you can smash and the layout of the ramps. It's like there's so little variety here. But at least the game is easy and simple to play, with a Trick List if you're not sure how to do specific tricks. Trust me, feeling bored is worse than feeling annoyed.

Would I recommend this game at full price, even with the Introductory Offer currently? Ehhhhh, no, not really. The amount of content you get in the game is so small, that a game like this isn't really worth the money. I don't care that it's new, I don't think $40 is worth it. $55 for the Deluxe edition? Hell no, the game's content isn't enough for it to justify the price tag. If it was like, $10 or $15, then it'll be way more worth it.

Just get Monster Jam: Showdown by Milestone. Or if you're just looking for a better Hot Wheels game, get either of the Hot Wheels Unleashed games.

One of the few times I'll actually say no to anything for this game, DLC-wise...

Both of these cars are from the first game, but their performance leaves much to be desired. They perform pretty identically to each other, which is why I don't go into extreme detail here. Track Manga was one of the best vehicles before, and Mad Manga was good at best. Now, these two are among some of the weakest performing Balanced cars in the game, like what in the heck happened to them? They both get a Level 2 Boost at Ultimate tier - Track Manga gets Charged, Mad Manga gets Free. And as stated above, they perform the same, with I think Track Manga being only SLIGHTLY better, but that's really all. Good handling, as expected of Balanced cars, but everything else is just... yikes.

It's there if you want it for any reason, but I personally advise against it.

(I had the Legendary Edition of the game by the time it came out, which explains why I got it for free)

So in this pack, you get four Rocket class vehicles, and I love me some Rocket vehicles! Real cars with motorsport style racing liveries. These four are great additions. IN this pack, you get the 2016 Ford GT Race, the Audi R8 LMS, the Corvette C8.R, and the Nissan GT-R Liberty Walk Silhouette Works 35GT-RR. For Rockets, they all perform well. As for my thoughts on their performance...

1. The 2016 Ford GT Race is easily the best car in this pack. While the drifting is a little on the stiff side, it can be completely ignored. It's tight drift turning is really good too, has Level 4 Charged Boost at Ultimate level, and has good boosting power. It's definitely not THE best Rocket in the game, but it is a good option.
2. At least the Audi R8 LMS is better than the Spyder in the base game. It's the most well-rounded of all four vehicles, but is considered to be the weakest of the four here. It's a shame too, because Audi is one of my favorite manufacturers in the world. Rub salt in my wounds, why don't you...
3. The Corvette C8.R is also better than it's base game counterpart (which is a Swift), so there's that. Level 4 Charged Boost by default is a big plus, the handling when drifting is great, the boosting power is good, and... it's a Corvette. What more could you say about this car?
4. The Nissan GT-R Liberty Walk Silhouette Works 35GT-RR. The only flaw I have with it, cosmetic-wise, is it's lengthy AF name. This can be considered to be the second best because it's pretty much the most standard a Rocket would be. The speed does hold it back a little, as it feels middling at best. Boost power isn't massive, but nothing horrible either.

A decent pack for what it is. The Ford is awesome, the Nissan is very nice, the Corvette is decent, and the Audi is okay.

(I had the Legendary Edition of the game when it first came out, which explains why I got it for free)

Even though all the vehicles in this pack don't have that great of performance, I'll still recommend it just to be nice for the fans and for the novelty of AcceleRacers. In this pack, you get RD-09, the Racing Drones leader car that Gelorum drives. Next, the SpecTyte, a Teku vehicle that was once driven by Nolo Pasaro. Third, Carbide, a Silencerz vehicle that is based on an indy. And finally, Mitchel "Monkey" McLurg's Rollin' Thunder from team Metal Maniacs.

While that's good and all, there's a few caveats to this pack, going from car to car:
1. RD-09's performance leaves a lot to be desired, even for a Balanced vehicle. Has a Level 3 Free Boost at Ultimate tier, so put on that Phase Inverter for Charged Boost if you wanna drive this. Honestly, just stick to RD-02 in the base game, it does lots of things better than RD-09. Gelorum is not pleased.
2. SpecTyte as a Balanced vehicle, but it only has 2 handling points? What? This car does have a fanbase behind it, but to make it perform this poorly with abysmal handling (the handling threshold for Balanced cars is 6 points) is a spit to the face for any SpecTyte fan. Should've been an Off-Road vehicle, honestly. That, or just give it the 6 point handling.
3. Carbide, as lots of people claim, is said to underperform. I myself can kinda see it, but even if it does underperform, it's still better than the other cars in this pack. As a Rocket, it's just fine, not the best out there. It's my fourth favorite vehicle in Hot Wheels, but to see it in this game was enough for me to be happy.
4. Rollin' Thunder is just a fine addition for Off-Road vehicles, nothing too special about it. Basically the Baja Jump Truck in the base game, but only very slightly better.

Overall, this is an alright pack that you can get by with, the Carbide is easily the best one of the four, but that's really it. SpecTyte doesn't get the love it deserves, but at least it's in the game now.

(I had the Legendary Edition of the game when it first came out, which explains why I got this for free)

The Twin Mill Unleashed is basically the Mobil Twin Mill from the first game. But, it is better than what people think. For a Balanced vehicle, it does better than both of the base game Twin Mills it's based on. While it's not as good as it's brother, it still holds up so well, as it's the definition of what the very first Twin Mill should've been. Even if you don't like the Twin Mill because of it's overpopular and iconic status (not to the extent of the Bone Shaker), you'll like this one's performance.

Just be sure to slap on the Phase Inverter Skill for Charged Boost at Ultimate tier.

UPDATE! The Premium stuff you're looking for is in this DLC pack, buy this instead: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/3156380/

Original Post:
Before you buy this, please check out my review of the Dynamic Catch-Up Pack from Volume 6 before you read this one: https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpeedBumpVDrop/recommended/2856160/

Criterion... listen to me (or rather, us, your fans). For just a moment... you willingly decided to separate the Premium items from the Free items just to induce FOMO into us. This pack only includes all the free items, so for those who were expecting to get Melissa's custom Mitsubishi Eclipse in this pack, well... you didn't buy the Premium before Volume 7 ended so you're S.O.L. You can't get it because if you didn't purchase the Premium while Volume 7 was active, then you lose out on the extra 30 tiers that are tied to the Premium.

Honestly, they completely ignored us when we gave feedback for the Volume 6 Dynamic pack, so we should smarten up and tell them that these Dynamic Catch-Up Packs aren't working. They're paywalling stuff that was FREE in the Speed Pass, and locking away the Premium by not releasing a Premium Upgrade pack or whatever it'd be called. How anyone can say that they like this pack is delusional, you're missing the point of why we don't think this change to the Catch-Up Packs works.

I may have gotten all 75 tiers well before the Volume concluded, but I wanna speak for the fans on this matter: Criterion, for the love of this franchise, revert this change back to what it was, this is not working out. I don't know what kind of thought process was going through your guys' heads, but I'm sorry, this kind of practice just doesn't work. Like, at all! Don't ignore this review either, PLEASE revert this change! I can't imagine how people would feel if this kind of practice is carried over to the Volume 8 pack, because let's be real here...

...the Hot Pursuit experience in this game is F'ed. And if you guys do end up sticking with this decision despite our response, I will not be so forgiving in my review of the possible Vol. 8 Dynamic Catch-Up Pack!