
We gave it a Polygon Recommends badge for solid driving gameplay and realistic performance that lets the player spend a lot of time getting to know their favorite car, rather than just collecting a fleet of one-use unlocks that always finish first. It caught eyes by putting anime-style characters (and vehicle flair) on the series’ usual photorealistic fleet, but on the whole, Criterion’s first NFS game in a decade was a solid recovery for a series that seemed to have lost its way in the interim. Need for Speed Unbound launched in early December, after the glut of holiday-shopping-season AAA releases.

EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers get a chance to play 2022’s most overlooked racing game, Need for Speed Unbound, with the update coming to both services this week.
