You can escape these using skill alone, but eventually you'll have to turn to pursuit technology. The more speed points you have, the higher your wanted level, and the more police that will join a pursuit if you get their attention. These points are used to buy new cars and upgrades, so you'll want to back them as soon as possible, but this means frequent trips back and forth to the bank. This is done by completing speed lists, groups of challenges that involve winning races, taking out other racers, hitting jumps and driving at a certain top speed.Įvery time you complete a speed list you'll need to bank your accrued points at a safe house or Police checkpoint, as being taken out, busted by a cop or having a major crash will reset your score.
There are plenty of jumps and hidden shortcuts to find, and you can access every bit of it from the outset, but certain races and events are locked until you increase your driver level. The varied terrain can see you flying through city streets one minute, then forests or deserts the next. Rockport County may not be a patch on Grand Theft Auto's San Andreas, but it has 100 miles of roads to race across. Your Origin friends can drop in and out of games on the fly, so you may find yourself racing against someone you know at any point, and you can challenge anyone to a head to head race at any point -even while you're in the middle of a police pursuit. The major change from previous games is that every other racer is controlled by another player Rivals drops you into the open world of Redview County alongside other gamers, with each racer leaderboard and speed camera comparing your times and top speeds with each other as well as global leaderboards. As the name suggests, Rivals pits players against each other as either street racers or the cops trying to take them down.