Need for Speed: The Run. Interview with Doug McConkey, Electronic Arts

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- For the first time in the series, we will race through real world locations in your new game. What can you tell us about modeling these environments and your data sources?

- Well, it was actually a combination of some satellite imaginary, real life photographs and you have also got people’s personal experience of being in all these locations. Actually, they know, what the feel of the places is like. You know, this is rather difficult to implement, but we have come up with some amazing results here in Need for Speed: The Run. Roughly, the length of available tracks reaches nearly five hundred kilometers. You can race on roads that are three times longer than what it was in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010).

- What racing modes will be available?

- There are many things to do in the game, but we do not call them modes. The gameplay is filled with much variety like Time Trials, Elimination Races and so on. One time you are trying to beat the clock driving through a tricky road in the forest, and another time you are racing against four opponents in a canyon with the police trying to shut the event down.

The police will be after you from the very beginning of Need for Speed: The Run. They find out about the whole illegal race and want to do everything to stop the racers. The next minute you are trying to get rid of criminals chasing you in a section of an industrial district. It can be a very different game in various places. Every time it looks different, it plays different and it feels different as well.

- How do the in-game environments support this variety in Need for Speed: The Run?

- A lot! There is more variety and diversity in one game. America is so big, and it is a continent merely, more than a country, but very much like Russia. Everything looks so different, when traveling from one place to another. We made sure that all those areas vary. You will see city environments like San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York. All urban fields have got their individual style.

All the surroundings in between including towns and mountains are incredibly rich and diverse as well. It is amazing that there is similarity at present with what you could see, if you drive through America. On top of that, we have added a lot of action to Need for Speed: The Run that will accompany you in your journey. Here you will find even more variety than was ever presented in a Racing game before.

- What kinds of special events and obstacles will racers have to deal with?

- You have got many. At «IgroMir 2011» in October, 2011 we showed a section in Colorado called Independence Path and featuring an avalanche taking place. A player not only has to beat his opponents through the section, but also to avoid a natural disaster coming down on him, while he is coming through. Avalanches look like controlled explosions within rocky mountains.

They were not meant to be on the racing track, but it shows the risk of getting killed in Need for Speed: The Run, while trying to escape such dangers. It is just one example of how Frostbite 2 graphics engine allows us to do things never seen before in a Need for Speed game.

Read on further about car choices and Action episodes of Need for Speed: The Run.

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09.11.2011 | Features | → Alex "Jace" Ivanchenko

Need for Speed: The Run

Need for Speed: The Run:

A new episode in the famous Need for Speed (1994-2011) game series. On one side of this country lie the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and cable cars – on the opposite coast there are massive skyscrapers, the Statue of Liberty and the endless glow of Times Square. What separates these two great cities in Need for Speed: The Run game is nearly 3,000 miles of roadway through dense urban centers, over epic mountains, across arid deserts and in constricted canyons.

With no speed limits, rules or allies available, only Jack’s determination and driving skills will keep him going in this heart-stopping race to get his life back. Thrills and excitement hide around every corner of this breakneck race across the country, but so do the police – and the men who want him dead. Evading these ruthless forces in one town won’t be enough. You must have the Need for Speed.

Key Game Features:

Battle hundreds of the world’s most notorious drivers on the country’s most treacherous roads;

Level up and earn access to exclusive vehicles, upgrades and abilities by mastering the playlists;

Evade a relentless police force that is ready and willing to use any means necessary to take you down;

Connect to Autolog and compare your best times against your friends in a race to New York where every second counts;

Be the first to cross the finish line as you speed across the country from San Francisco to New York in an illicit, high-stakes race;

Snake through dense urban settings, plunge down icy mountain passes and carefully traverse narrow canyons at breakneck speeds;

Race as Jack, a marked man who must make it to New York City ahead of the competition, the police and the men who want him dead;

Powered by the new Frostbite 2 engine, created by the award-winning DICE studio, delivers an amazing level of visual detail, immersive environments and emotional impact;

Grip the wheel, put the pedal to the floor and use your slick driving skills and sheer determination to keep Jack alive inside and outside of the car in Need for Speed: The Run;

Engage in high-octane multiplayer racing and join races already in progress with matchmaking technology, create a party with friends and pick a playlist of your favorite challenges and vie for racing supremacy across every stage of The Run.