New Need for Speed Payback Gameplay Shows First Look at Intense Police Chases

After the reveal trailer last week teasing what to expect from pursuits in Need for Speed Payback, BlackPanthaa has got gameplay footage of how they play out, and you can check it out for yourself down below. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK93tbUhonY&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

This gameplay demo, provided by the good folks over at Ghost, showcases a Runner Class 2018 BMW M5 performing one of the latest additions to Payback - Bait Crates. Theseallow players to trigger specific timed pursuits in the open world, triggering one will immediately put players into a pursuit requiring them to either escape in the allotted time limit, or to complete a time trial with a swarm of police chasing after you. Completing these events win net you big rewards, but failing to complete the objective or being busted during it will earn you nothing.

As the gameplay demo showcases, Cop AI has been majorly overhauled compared to Need for Speed (2015), with them working more as a team to try box the player in, and adapting their behaviour based on your play style and how fast you're going as they're aggressively aiming to take you down. 

The gameplay also provides us a look again at the cinematic takedown cameras Ghost have implemented into Payback, the first and only other time we've seen these since the Highway Heist reveal demo at E3 back in June. Ghost have specifically stated that these cinematic takedowns are only for taking down cops during pursuits and any enemies that come after you in a story mission, not AI racers during events or out in the free roam. While the camera does seem to have been tweaked since we first saw it in action, it still activates after each takedown you perform, and in open world pursuits, this will definitely become repetitive after the first few times. Here's hoping Ghost can tweak it before launch to on trigger when specific, action-packed takedowns occur.

We did a breakdown on a ton of new information and screenshots that came out last week, including all five tiers of cops, the 2018 BMW M5 reveal, a new pursuit weapon known as the Killswitch, Autolog and the introduction of Side Betting on events, so be sure to check all that out here.