For nearly 30 years Need for Speed has tried to strive for one thing: being the fastest car on the road, metaphorically speaking. Every sequel refined that fantasy of shaving tenths off a split-second, or of ducking behind traffic to shake a cop. Somewhere along the way, however, the series lost sight of something just as adrenaline-soaked as shaving milliseconds—sharing those milliseconds with a partner in crime (or justice).
Remove the social chaos and you remove half the drama. Need for Speed: Rivals proved it in 2013, then the feature vanished.
AllDrive: A Short-Lived Masterstroke
Rivals’ AllDrive dropped you, some strangers, and your friends (if you invited them or partied up) into the same open world, no lobbies, no loading. One minute you were idling at a safehouse; the next, a buddy barrel-rolled past, tailed by two cops and a helicopter. You could be the racer being pursued, or you could be the cop who would help take them down. The game had two different campaigns for each faction, each with their own progression.
This progression was still yours alone, as the Speedlists and Assignments saved to your profile, but every mile of asphalt was shared space. Unlike most open-world racing games that hide multiplayer behind menus, Rivals dared to make it the default, with opting-out being hidden through menus. The result of this was an organic experience, leading to actual stories you retold the next morning instead of scripted cut-scenes you skipped (the actual in-game plot was terrible).
Badge Brothers: Why Co-Op Policing Works
Sliding into a cruiser next to a friend turned the typical cat-and-mouse into a buddy-cop movie. A single patrol car is intimidating; a coordinated duo is terrifying. I remember how my friend and I coordinated it – one player would aim their EMP and the other would activate their ESF, and as the EMP scored a hit, an ESF-enhanced vehicle strike would put the racer out of commission.
We called it the one-two-punch, and both of us being in Lamborghini Aventadors was just the icing on the cake. Our Discord call became a police-radio impression contest. We’d call in helicopters and coordinate roadblocks, and every “bust complete” splash screen felt like a shared trophy. We’d rush to every Hot Pursuit and Interceptor event as a duo to reap the rewards together.
More important, co-op policing solved Rivals’ biggest solo flaw: the AI cops were too predictable. We’d add our own brand of chaos, with mistakes being core to the policing experience. It wasn’t always chaos, too. We’d drive together, following the speed limit, roleplaying being on patrol on Redview County’s diverse roads. Suddenly it all felt alive, hazardous, and hysterical.
Racer Alliance: Teamwork at 200 mph
If playing cop was bonding through authority, playing racer was bonding through rebellion. While playing as a racer was all about competition and being first, that didn’t mean there couldn’t be any teamwork.
Picture two Ford GTs, head-to-head, rushing down the snowy mountains along Grand Peak Drive while a third friend in a McLaren 12C drops shockwaves and EMPs anyone with sirens, in a chaotic bid to make sure the competition between the GTs didn’t have any “external” factors.
While it may be considered cheesing the game, I’ve also had a friend be my guardian angel during Interceptor events, helping make sure my health stays up by bearing the blunt of the pursuers’ aggression and serving as a neat little externality for the cops.
Why Co-Op Fits the DNA of Need for Speed
Risk versus reward already underpins the series, and Rivals actually started this trend. Add two or three friends sharing that risk and the emotional stakes triple. Customization obsession? Imagine tag-team vinyl themes, police interceptors in matching livery, or crews unlocking parts only available through coordinated objectives.
The replay value also skyrockets. The same pursuit feels fresh with a different role: enforcer, decoy, getaway driver. EA can also think long-term, with shared clan/team progression on passes.
Best of all, accessibility. Friends can tutor newcomers through early missions instead of forcing them to grind alone. I remember the mentor-trainee relationship I had with friends whenever I’d convince them to get the game on sale, where I’d introduce mechanics to them and we’d drive together just for the sake of it. A widened funnel equals a healthier online population, which is exactly what the franchise needs after several lukewarm launches.
Lessons from Rivals’ Misfires
Of course Rivals wasn’t perfect. Peer-to-peer netcode stuttered under high pings, relegating me and my friends to private lobbies. Progression between cop and racer campaigns was entirely separate, discouraging players from swapping sides. The game had a companion app that’s now lost forever, locking some cars and features behin But those are technical bruises, not design failures. Modern dedicated servers, cross-play, and larger session caps would erase most of them overnight.
For design decisions, balancing was iffy. I can admit that the game was very cop-sided in terms of balance, which is a common complaint. The objectives and progression itself was also checklist-heavy, where you’d unlock story beats after a few hundred yards of drifting instead of any meaningful progression points.
Closing Thoughts
Need for Speed’s core fantasy has never been solitary. The movies (and Need for Speed: Payback!) are heist flicks, the marketing trailers are always convoy shots, and every real-world car club thrives on group runs.
It’s now up to Criterion and EA to go back to making Need for Speed a deeper shared experience. Some of the best stories you’ll ever tell about Need for Speed won’t be about the time you finished first – they’ll be about the time you and your friends stopped a major race, or the time you got away as sirens faded in the distance.
Stay tuned to racinggames.gg: the best website for Need for Speed coverage.