Need for Speed: The Run

Image via CrunchBase

The Need For Speed series has varied over the years, between exciting arcade action (Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit), a closer approach to simulation (Need For Speed: Shift) or an underground racing romp (Need For Speed: Underground and its sequels).  But Electronic Arts will once again be shifting (mind the pun) gears in a new direction later this year when it releases Need For Speed: The Run, the latest from long-time series developer Black Box.  Rather than go with just your typical street racing event, it instead turns to a nationwide tournament, one with dire consequences if you just so happen to place anything other than first.

The game focuses on a guy named Jack.  He’s a down-and-out guy who’s fallen in with the wrong crowds, with both crooks and the cops tailing after him.  He vows to get himself out of trouble, but the only thing he has to his credit is his driving skills, which are more than enough to escape his pursuers – until the next time, at least.  Then, Jack heard about a nationwide tournament called The Run, a “Cannonball Run”-esque contest of sorts (without Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, obviously), where racers go from San Francisco to New York in one straight shot, going as fast as possible.  The first one across the finish line scores a $25 million payday, which would be more than enough to give Jack a new start.