I grew up with the Need for Speed franchise, first experiencing the racing series with the stunning NFS 5: Porsche Unleashed. After that, I didn’t miss any entry in the series. Sadly, as much as I enjoyed titles like Underground 1 and 2, not to mention the stunning Most Wanted, the newer iterations, like the ill-fated Pro Street or the cheesy Undercover, almost made me abandon the franchise completely. Thankfully, Electronic Arts managed to avoid sending the long running series down the drain, and allowed new studios longer development times and more creative freedom, which resulted in the franchise taking some rather interesting turns, like with Shift 1 or 2, made by Slightly Mad Studios, or last year’s Hot Pursuit, made by Criterion Games.