All Articles: Need For Speed Rivals

EA is giving Xbox Live Gold subscribers free access to all EA Access titles until June 22

Earlier this year, Microsoft and EA opened up the EA Access “Vault” to all Xbox Live Gold subscribers for a week of binge gaming. With this year’s E3 Expo set to kick off any minute now, they’re doing it again.

If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, you’ll have free to all 21 games in the EA Access “Vault” from now until Wednesday, June 22. That includes EA Sports titles such as EA Sports UFC, FIFA 16, FIFA 15, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 16, Madden NFL 25, Madden NFL 14, NBA Live 16, NBA Live 15, NHL 16, NHL 15, and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, as well as Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Titanfall, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Need For Speed Rivals, and Peggle 2. A pair of Xbox 360 games, Dead Space and Plants vs Zombies, will also be available through the “Vault” thanks to the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility options.

Xbox One interested in subscribing to the EA Access service can do so for $4.99 per month, or $29.99 for a full year. A paid subscription to EA Access also includes “Play First” rental access to several of EA’s biggest upcoming games (including Battlefield 1, FIFA 17, Madden NFL 17, and Mass Effect: Andromeda) before they’re released to the public.

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Xbox Live Gold members will receive free access to EA Access this week

electronicartslogoElectronic Arts is opening the doors to their EA Access all-you-can-play subscription service on the Xbox One this week with a free trial for all Xbox Live Gold members.

Beginning today, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to download and play all 14 games currently available through the EA Access “Vault.” The offer expires January 24 and features a mix of new and old titles including Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, TitanFall, Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Need For Speed Rivals, Peggle 2, EA Sports UFC, FIFA 15, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, and NBA Live 15. To access the EA Access free trial, you’ll need to download the EA Access Hub app from the Dashboard.

If you’d rather skip all this free trial stuff and go straight to a subscription, EA offers access to EA Access for $4.99 per month, or $29.99 for a full year.

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Rumor: Latest Need For Speed canceled after layoffs at Ghost Games UK

needforspeedguiltyIn another blow to the video game industry, Ghost Games’ UK offices have been hit by layoffs. According to Polygon, these layoffs are rumored to have even halted development on the latest (and currently unannounced) Need For Speed title.

EA offered compensation to those let go, or told them they could “work on Visceral’s rumored police-themed Battlefield title, code-named Havana,” which is due out later this year. On that note, why is this the first we’re hearing of a “police-themed Battlefield title” developed by Visceral?

This news doesn’t bode well for the studio or the franchise, which was placed fully in the studio’s hands last year, according to Marcus Nilsson, the executive producer on Need For Speed Rivals. However, the article was updated with the following: “An EA spokesperson told Polygon that the company has ‘entered a consultation period for some positions in our Ghost Games U.K. studio.'”

Best of luck to those who lost their jobs. We here at Warp Zoned hope they are able to find new employment quickly.

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XBL Store Today: Need For Speed: Rivals, Adventure Time 2

needforspeedrivals-boxThere’s no new additions to the Xbox Live Arcade today. Nor is there any new Xbox One games. But two new games have been added to the Xbox 360 Games On Demand storefront. And they are…

Need For Speed: Rivals ($59.99)
Welcome to Redview County, where a street-racing rivalry between cops and racers never stops as both sides compete in an all-out war featuring the fastest cars, mods and technology in a gritty open road environment. Play as either a cop or racer, where each side of the law has its own set of high stakes challenges, rewards and consequences. Risk everything in the ultimate high stakes rivalry.

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! ($39.99)
Princess Bubblegum summons Finn and Jake to investigate a rash of thefts and kidnappings that have plagued the Candy Kingdom. She thinks the cause lies within her Secret Royal Dungeon, where only the nastiest monsters and criminals are locked up. If they’ve found a way to escape, the Land of Ooo will be in danger! Show creator Pendleton Ward teams up again with developer WayForward in an all-new action game! Select from fan favorite characters from the show, including Finn, Jake, and many more, and team up with your friends in four-player co-operative multiplayer as the Adventure Time world comes to life through beautiful pixel animations, and voiceover from the original cast.

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PS Store Today: NBA Live 14, Soul Calibur II HD, Need For Speed: Rivals, More

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The first PlayStation Store update in the post-PS4 era brings with it the digital release of NBA Live 14. EA’s first next gen basketball sim boasts a new “revolutionary physics-based dribbling system” known as BounceTek as “fresh content and challenges” delivered daily.

Over on the PS3 side of the store, gamers will be able to download another major EA release, Need For Speed: Rivals. The racer will be joined by Farming Simulator, a… er… farming simulator, and Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW, the latest adventure starring Finn and Jake.

The newly rechristened PS3 Digital Games storefront will feature the return of Namco Bandai’s Soul Calibur universe with Soul Calibur II HD Online. This re-release includes every Soul Calibur II character as well Heichachi (of Tekken fame) and Spawn (of Spawn fame).

More information about all of these games (and many more) can be found after the break. And as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

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TitanFall wins “Best of Show” at E3 2013 Game Critics Awards

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Respawn’s TitanFall is a big winner in this year’s E3 2013 Game Critics Awards. The mech shooter, which will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in Spring 2014, won all six awards it was nominated for, including the coveted “Best of Show” award.

TitanFall was the only game to win in multiple categories this year, but Watch Dogs (“Best Action/Adventure Game”), Tearaway (“Best Handheld/Mobile Game”), The Elder Scrolls Online (“Best Role Playing Game”), and a few others split the nine remaining awards. And a virtual high five to the developers at Supergiant Games for Transistor, which was selected as the “Best Downloadable Game.” We liked it quite a bit at PAX East 2013 too.

You can find the complete list of selections from this year’s Game Critics Awards after the break. (more…)

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Need For Speed Rivals races into stores this November; on PS4, Xbox One later this year

needforspeedrivals-boxCriterion Games is taking the year off, but Electronic Arts will have a new Need For Speed game this Fall when Need For Speed Rivals launches for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 19. A PS4 and Xbox One version will also be released before the end of the year.

Rivals is in development at Ghost Games, an internal EA studio in Gothenburg, Sweden that spun off from DICE earlier this year. Using the Frostbite 3 engine, Rivals “captures the adrenaline and intensity of the street’s ultimate rivalry between cops and racers in a stunning open road environment.”

In Need for Speed Rivals, gamers play as either a cop or racer, where each side of the law has its own set of high stakes challenges, rewards and consequences. As a racer, the goal is to become infamous for taking risks behind the wheel and capturing your most intense escapes on video for the world to see. The more cops players evade, the more Speed Points they collect, enabling them to unlock new cars and items. Keep raising the stakes race after race to become an ever-more valuable target to the cops – but risk losing it all if busted. As a cop, players work together as part of a team in pursuit of racers, earning prominence and rising in the ranks of the Police Force with every bust. Achieving higher ranks unlocks new police-only cars and more powerful pursuit tech.

Need For Speed fans will be pleased to know that Ferrari returns to the franchise for the first time since 2006’s Need For Speed Carbon. A hybrid single-player/multiplayer online mode known as AllDrive, which allows players to “seamlessly transition from playing alone to playing with friends.”

EA has also announced that if you pre-order Need For Speed Rivals, you’ll receive the “Ultimate Cop Pack” for free. The pack includes the Nissan GT-R Black Edition police car, “advanced pursuit technology,” and “a custom livery.”

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