Say what you will about the Need for Speed series, but it is certainly gaming royalty. One of the longest-running franchises in gaming, especially in the racing genre, Need for Speed has seen a lot of peaks and troughs over the last three decades. Of course, it's not what it used to be, is it? The series hasn't been tasting the success it once did, and it definitely no longer occupies the top spot in the genre it did during its glory days.

The series had always been the go-to arcade racer for any gamer, and in the late '90s and the early 2000s, there was simply nothing else like NFS. It reigned supreme in pop culture and became a household name — it was one of my first racing games, right next to Test Drive 5 and Monster Truck Madness.

Over the past decade and a half, however, things have never looked too hot for the Electronic Arts franchise. One would be hard-pressed to name any game in the franchise since 2010 that got anything more than middling reviews, and rightly so. The best NFS game in the past decade and a half, however, is only one, and that is Need for Speed Rivals — and I've found my hill to die on.

NFS Rivals was a truly perfect NFS game, from start to finish

12 years later, it's still the stellar experience I remember

If this is a surprising statement, I'd urge you to think again. For starters, Rivals had a brilliantly-crafted, varied map that offered up every landscape you could want — long, winding roads through icy mountains, narrow forest trails, desert highways, with cityscapes and vineyards thrown in for good measure. Compare that to any NFS game that came out after it, and it still has the best map in the franchise.

Now, the car selection may have been limited, owing to a small list of playable vehicles, but to me, an endless list of cars isn't what makes any racing game great. Heck, my first NFS game was NFS II SE, meaning I started off with a game that only had 15 cars to choose from. Still, Rivals did have plenty of cars to pick from for both racers and cops, and all of them were great, oozing personality.

What makes Rivals one of my favorite racing games of all time, and top 3 of all-time in the franchise for me, is its combat. No, it was never an honest-to-goodness car combat game like Carmageddon or Twisted Metal, but it really doubled down on the Hot Pursuit formula, perfecting it with faction-specific loadouts and race/pursuit tech that was a joy to unlock and deploy.

NFS Rivals didn't need a story to be a stellar experience

Story was kept minimal in Rivals, and that's where Need for Speed excels

NFS Rivals' title would've been wasted had it not been for cops being an integral part of the experience. You could either play as a cop or a racer, with the simple premise being that both factions were out to get each other. It doesn't need more explaining, or a single main character to be made central to the plot — we know cops hate racers and want to take them down, and we know it goes both ways. Simple enough, let's hit the road.

Rivals never bothered with a heavy narrative that impeded the core gameplay, and that, again, is quintessential NFS. Sure, 2005's Most Wanted and 2004's Underground 2 are two of the greatest games in the franchise, and they had a story front and center, but ever since then, the franchise has failed way more than it has succeeded when it has tried to tie its gameplay to a story. The lesser said, the better, and yet, Rivals excelled where Most Wanted 2012 faltered — it still had a semblance of story; just enough to get the ball rolling, with the occasional cutscene, but the extent of it was always faceless voices. Truth be told, I played a ripped version for my first go with Rivals, and I didn't even know the game had these cutscenes until I got a copy for my PlayStation 4. That never took away from the experience even a bit.

The cops-and-racers dynamic in Rivals was incredibly done

The last NFS game that let us walk the thin blue line

The cop chases in the game were gritty, intense, and made you work hard to escape the law. After all, that was what it was all about — claiming the police in Redview County were your sworn enemies, and no matter what, you'd never let them take you down. That's what made every chase on the highway, every pursuit through the forest, and every battle in the icy mountains worth the effort.

Even the core gameplay loop, where you could always switch between careers as a racer and a cop, and steadily progress through better cars and tougher races, was well-implemented. As a racer, the risk-reward system was immensely enjoyable. You'd be running out of all your tech, but still opt for the hideout that would take you a few more minutes to get to because it would net you more XP.

This risk-reward system is one that hasn't gotten old, and it's one that the entire NFS franchise has done remarkably well in both past and future games. Nobody else comes close, in my opinion. As a cop, there was never a dull moment as you worked hard to shut down every racer in a sprint or circuit, knowing the best places to go in for the kill, or deploying your pursuit tech at the most opportune time. Unlocking newer and stronger pursuit tech to use during longer races, and getting more ammo for the same felt rewarding, way before you even started a pursuit.

Combat is what made NFS Rivals unforgettable

This sort of car combat needs to make a retun to the franchise

It's quite simple, really. When it comes to car combat, Rivals was the last great NFS game. I absolutely adore Heat and Unbound, both of which I consider fantastic 8/10 entries in the franchise, albeit with their own set of flaws. 2017's Payback tried implementing takedowns a-la Burnout Paradise or Asphalt, but, well, the less we talk about NFS Payback, the better.

Electrostatic fields, EMP bursts, turbo, spike strips, shock rams, and stun mines made up the bulk of Rivals' combat. As racers, you could bring the pain to fellow racers, or keep them reserved for the cops looking to keep you from the finish line. Whatever the loadout, every single race in NFS Rivals left your heart thumping, making you feel like you'd just come out of a warzone.

Visually, Need for Speed Rivals still holds up

I couldn't name a better-looking NFS title even if I tried

Not many games from 2013 have aged gracefully, but NFS Rivals is one of the rare few that still looks incredible. The weather effects, the lighting, and the sheer sense of speed, all came together to deliver a game that looked and felt fast. Playing the game's final race, 'Grand Tour', every New Year's Eve, is a tradition at this point, and when I take my bright-orange Aventador to the starting line, the dew dripping down its windshield, it hits brilliantly, every single time.

The visual details still stand out — and thankfully, the texture pop-in that used to bug me is now fixed, which was one of my problems with the game. The mist clinging to the forest trails at dawn, the glistening water puddles after a thunderstorm, the way the snow kicks up as you drift across icy mountain roads — it all sells the fantasy of being in a high-stakes car chase better than most racing games today. Perhaps that's why I love Driveclub the way I do — it comes closest to Rivals stylistically. Now, 12 years later, Rivals still doesn't look dated. It doesn't even 'hold up' visually — it punches above its weight and still looks amazing. Bear in mind, this was a cross-gen title between the seventh and eighth generations, and its looking amazing in 2025 is no small feat.

NFS Rivals is going offline soon, and that's a damn shame

Oh man, October 2025 is going to hurt. EA has officially announced that NFS Rivals will be going offline, and I honestly think it's one of the biggest losses the franchise has suffered in years.

I wish the multiplayer servers' player cap was more than six, because the multiplayer experience is still seamless, thanks to EasyDrive. It's wild to me that Most Wanted 2012 still has working servers and seems to be going strong, but Rivals, the better game, is getting the axe. Rivals is about to lose a huge part of its soul, so play it while you still can, and make sure you appreciate the heck out of it.