Need for Speed™ Rivals

Post Shutdown Review, 10/24/2025
I have been playing Need for Speed Rivals on and off since 2013, starting on the Xbox 360 and later moving to PC. I have completed and replayed it more times than I can count, and every time I return, it still amazes me how special this game is.
For a game from 2013, Rivals still looks stunning. The graphics were far ahead of their time, with beautiful lighting, reflections, and weather effects that made Redview County feel alive. Driving through rainstorms, sunsets, and long stretches of highway still feels cinematic even today. The art direction and sense of speed have aged incredibly well.
The gameplay was equally ambitious. Rivals perfectly captured that mix of chaos, tension, and adrenaline that defines Need for Speed. The rivalry between cops and racers never got old, and every pursuit felt personal. One of the best features was the Pursuit Tech system, which made every encounter unpredictable. Launching EMPs, shockwaves, and spike strips turned every chase into a high-tech duel. It was creative, satisfying, and added a layer of strategy that made each side feel powerful.
It is unfortunate that the game was locked to 30 FPS because it clearly deserved better. The Frostbite engine at the time simply could not handle higher frame rates without breaking the physics and AI. Many players tried to push it beyond that limit, but the game just was not built for it. It is a shame, because if Rivals could run at 60 FPS or more, it would still rival many modern racers in smoothness and feel. Even so, the experience remains incredible despite that limitation.
Although Rivals was never a fan favorite, it has always felt like a diamond in the rough. It took risks with its always-online world and bold ideas that were ahead of its time. When everything worked, it delivered pure, chaotic fun that few games have ever matched.
Now that the servers are gone, Redview County feels empty, but the game’s spirit still holds up. Even without the online chaos, it remains one of the most unique and enjoyable racers ever made.
Thank you, Rivals, for being ambitious, beautiful, and unforgettable.
10/10 — A diamond in the rough that still shines bright, even at 30 frames per second.

The game is really nice and fun to play.
If you want to play it at 60 fps do this:
Go to game --> Properties --> General --> And in the "Launch Options" type this:
-GameTime.MaxSimFps 60 -GameTime.ForceSimRate 60.0
Close the window and now the game runs at 60 FPS.
I recommend playing, the chases are good.
(At first I was skeptic, but the game is really nice, glad I didn’t refund it before giving it the chance that it deserves - also a steal for 7€ at discount; just make sure to change the settings to suit your PC and the FPS to 60)

No, it's NOT underrated!
Rating: 7.5/10
Good:
- Phenomenal faceless-story presentation, amazing style overall
- 2 Campaigns - Play as Cop & Racer
- Fantastic credit song - "Love Songs Drug Songs"
Bad:
- Game is technically very rough. 30 FPS lock. Shimmering visuals. Few minor bugs
- No DLC access anymore because servers are down!! MF EA
- Open world game but not immersive. Constant switch between menus & loading forced due to 1 roguelike element - Speed Points. Gained by playing, required to buy cars/upgrade
- Can't even pause this single-player game!
- Only 2 banger radio song "Lootin in London", "Pompeii" but barely audible. Sound mixing issue. Also cops involved most of the time so radio turns off. We need bangers for thrill!
- AI balancing felt off.. game on hardcore side but experience is inconsistent with AI enemies.. luck matters
- Didn't really enjoy Tech Gadgets like stun, EMP, etc as a Racer
- To progress story, you have to finish few choosen objectives like raming vehicles, stunning enemies, etc. I did not really like doing that
FPS/Graphics fix:
- Use Lossless Scaling Frame Gen x3 to get 90 FPS. Other method breaks game engine
- Set game's Launch option as follows in steam: -Render.ResolutionScale 2.0 -noborder
- Apply LSFG after toggling Borderless fullscreen with Alt+Enter
Note: Render Scale 2.0 apparently affects GUI elements in game-world, hence hides Turn-markings in road. Makes it a lot harder to race while monitoring direction in mini-map like I did!
Game has a style I really love, but wish it was better.

Bring to Steam Most Wanted 2005 also bring back Shift, Shift 2 and Undercover

RIP to Rivals online... unless the community restores its own servers someday.

Anyway great game, got all of the achievements back on Xbox. It's the old Hot Pursuit style of NFS but with a open world and gameplay more built around it vs HP2010, it's fun, also more chaotic but fun anyway. It still works fully offline so go get it whenever EA gives it a discount, who knows how long it has left before delisting.

A game ahead of its time and a truly unique standalone title. Honestly, NFS: Rivals is very underrated in the NFS franchise.
First NFS game made on the Frostbite Engine (FE 3). Two campaigns: Play as a cop or a racer. Playable endlessly after finishing those campaigns to unlock various stuff. The cop has three variants of each car and higher speeds than racer cars. The racer has upgrades and customisations. Both have their own standard pursuit tech. The cop has to do assignments. The racer has to do Speedlists and needs to earn SP. Various events are available on the map to complete. Highly impressive vehicle AI.
Sadly, multiplayer was shut down in 2025 because of the low number of players. Even lower than NFS: MW.
NFS: Rivals features unique scenarios, good environmental dynamics (including day and night, rain, desert, and snow), physics, and immaculate sound & music. It also runs very smoothly on Linux (I tried using Arch Linux, Steam Proton Experimental and it worked flawlessly with zero errors. I completed the cop campaign in 21 hours.)
I faced minor bugs in missions. Just keep going or restarting will fix them. You need these command-line arguments for a better experience:
1. -Render.ResolutionScale A.B (A= 0,1,2; B= 0-9; max A.B= 2.0; on low hardware, use a value lower than 1.0)
2. -GameTime.MaxSimFps 60 -GameTime.ForceSimRate 60 (on low hardware, set 54/48/30/24/18 instead of 60)
3. For accessing mods: WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winmm=n,b" %command% -dataPath "ModData/Default"
Parameter will be look like this: WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winmm=n,b" gamemoderun %command% -dataPath "ModData/Default" -GameTime.MaxSimFps 60 -GameTime.ForceSimRate 60 -Render.ResolutionScale 1.5
(Use gamemoderun only on Linux. Use FMM as well.)
Based on your hardware, configure these arguments. This game is so great that even with low graphics settings it still looks realistic.
Use these mods to get other in-game stuff:
1. Skip intro
2. OverWatch Content
3. NFS:R+ (Recommended for use after finishing the game, or if you want to use more realistic graphics or fix minor bugs.)
All good. I highly recommend this game.

If, like me, you’re still in love with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and enjoy its cops-and-outlaw features, but you’ve also noticed some of its shortcomings — such as the lack of car customization and the absence of an open world — then you’ll be happy to know that Need for Speed: Rivals basically adds exactly those things to Hot Pursuit. It feels like Hot Pursuit plus an open-world map and car customization like NFS Heat.

And to top it off, if you just copy and paste this single line into the game’s Launch Options in Steam (under “Properties”), you can unlock 60 FPS and enjoy the game:

-GameTime.MaxSimFps 60 -GameTime.ForceSimRate 60