Need for Speed Payback

The street races around Fortune Valley are much easier to enjoy while you’re moving than the game’s revenge story, so I’d head for the events and let the cutscenes wait until you’re off the treadmill. The driving keeps you busy. The plot takes its time.

Gameplay

I think Need for Speed Payback works best when it gives you a road, a finish line, and a reason to keep accelerating, and it has plenty of that. The races have enough traffic and sharp turns to keep you paying attention without asking you to study a map or remember a pile of rules. It’s a nice change from games where the workout turns into reading with your legs.

Fortune Valley is built around your crew taking revenge on The House, and the story gets between races more than I’d like. There are scenes and bits of setup that make the city feel like more than a menu, but I’m not sure the plot is interesting enough to earn all that stopping and starting. I’d skip through what I could when I wanted the workout to stay moving.

The different kinds of events help keep the driving from feeling like the same race repeated forever. Drift events ask you to slide around corners, off road races trade clean pavement for rougher routes, and drag races have you paying attention to shifts and timing. That variety is really cool, although I’d be happier if every event let me drive the same way and call it a day.

Progression is where I start to get impatient. Upgrading cars uses Speed Cards, which can make improving a car feel less direct than simply earning money and buying the part you want. You can get pulled into comparing upgrades and checking what fits, and that’s exactly the sort of activity that turns a moving workout into standing beside the treadmill with a controller in your hand.

The game also asks you to use cars built for different event types, so I’d expect to spend some time switching cars and sorting out upgrades between races. Maybe that’s a fun garage project when you’re sitting down, but while you’re exercising I’d rather get back to the road. Still, there are enough races that I don’t think the menus swallow the whole game.

Category Score: 2 out of 3

Treadmill and Bike Compatibility

On a treadmill, I’d stick to the regular races at first and use automatic transmission, because keeping your feet moving while steering through traffic is already a fair amount of work. A controller is a natural fit for this kind of driving, and you don’t need to learn a complicated button setup just to get going. I’d lower the difficulty if the traffic and tight turns started making me grip the controller like it was going to help.

The tricky part is that Payback wants quick steering corrections, especially when you’re trying to pass cars or recover from a bad turn, and the treadmill adds a little bounce to every thumb movement. I think I’d find that manageable on a brisk walk, but running hard would make the precise driving feel more like trying to thread a needle in a moving elevator. Not ideal.

Drifting and drag races would be my first events to skip while running. Drifting needs you to time a turn and manage the slide, while drag races lean on fast shifts, so both seem more suited to a workout where your hands can stay steady. On a bike, I’d expect the steering inputs to feel easier to control, though I’d still take a break between events if I needed to change cars or sort through upgrades.

The single player races are a better fit than anything that makes you care about keeping up with other people, and you can pause when you need to catch your breath or deal with the menus. That makes a lot of sense for this setup. I’d play a few races at a time rather than trying to turn the whole revenge story into one long session, because the story stops are part of the deal.

Category Score: 2 out of 3

Computer Requirements

The minimum asks for an older dedicated graphics card, so you don’t need a new high end gaming machine, but I wouldn’t assume integrated graphics will be enough. I’d check the graphics card first, then make sure the computer can handle the 30 GB install and online connection requirement.

Category Score: 3 out of 3

Conclusion and Score

Need for Speed Payback makes sense for you if you want regular racing with enough variety to break up a workout, and you’re willing to skip some story and garage time. I’d pass if you want a game that stays hands off and relaxed while you run.

Overall Score: 2.33 out of 3