Honestly, whenever someone mentions Need for Speed Payback, the room usually splits right down the middle. You have the crowd that absolutely loved the Fast & Furious vibes and the desert drifting. Then, you have the group that still hasn't forgiven Ghost Games for the "Speedcards" progression system. It’s a weird legacy. Released in 2017, Payback was supposed to be the big comeback after the 2015 reboot felt a bit too "always online" and cramped in the rainy streets of Ventura Bay. Instead, it became one of the most debated entries in the entire franchise.
Fortune Valley is huge. That’s the first thing you notice. Unlike the previous game, you aren't stuck in perpetual nighttime. You’ve got a massive desert, mountain switchbacks, and a glittering city inspired by Las Vegas. It felt ambitious. But ambition often comes with trade-offs.
The Three-Character Gamble
Need for Speed Payback tried something different with its narrative. You weren't just one nameless driver. You were Tyler, Mac, and Jess.
Each character handled a different "discipline." Tyler Morgan was your standard street racer and drag specialist. Mac (the Brit) handled the off-road and drifting stuff. Jess was the "runner," tasked with high-stakes deliveries and outrunning the cops. This was clearly an attempt to mimic the character-swapping mechanic from GTA V, and while it added variety, it also meant you spent a lot of time with characters that some players found, well, a little grating. The dialogue is peak 2010s "action movie" cheese. Some people find it charming in a nostalgic way; others want to hit the mute button during the cutscenes.
✨ Don't miss: Red Dead Redemption 2’s Gunsmith - Old Friend’s Request: Why This Mission Still Sticks With Players
The story follows a betrayal by a group called "The House," a cartel that controls the city's casinos and—for some reason—all the street racing. It’s a classic revenge plot. You’re building a crew, winning "Leagues," and working your way toward the Outlaw’s Rush. It’s loud. It’s explosive. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a game trying to capture the energy of a summer blockbuster.
Let’s Talk About the Elephant in the Room: Speedcards
We have to talk about the progression. This is where most of the negative reviews originated. In most racing games, if you want a better exhaust, you buy a better exhaust. In Need for Speed Payback, Ghost Games introduced Speedcards.
Instead of traditional parts, you won cards after races. These cards had levels and brands (like NexTech, Carbon, or Chidori). If you matched three or six of the same brand, you got a bonus. But the stats were randomized. If you wanted a specific part to max out your Nissan Skyline, you often had to "roll" for it at the Tune-Up shop or hope it dropped after a race. It felt like a loot box system without necessarily being a paid loot box, though the "Shipments" did offer a way to get extra currency and vanity items.
Later patches fixed a lot of the grind. They increased the rate at which you earned "Part Tokens" and made the shops refresh faster. If you play it today, it’s much more manageable than it was at launch. But the "slot machine" feel of upgrading your car remains a core part of the experience. It’s a polarizing design choice that fundamentally changed how people engaged with their garage.
Tuning and Customization
Despite the card system, the visual customization is actually top-tier. Ghost Games inherited the deep "Wrap Editor" from the 2015 game, and it’s still fantastic. You can spend hours making a perfect replica of a real-life drift car or something totally original. The "Stance" tuning—letting you adjust ride height and camber—is a dream for car culture enthusiasts.
- Derelicts: This was a highlight. You find old rusted frames hidden in the desert (think Forza Horizon Barn Finds) and build them up into "Super Builds."
- Live Tuning: You can adjust your car's handling on the fly. Want more drift angle? Pull over, move a slider, and keep going.
- Neon and Smoke: The vanity items like underglow and colored tire smoke are locked behind shipments, which still feels a bit restrictive, but they look great.
The Map: Fortune Valley’s Identity Crisis
The world is gorgeous but sometimes feels a bit empty. It’s a massive playground. You’ve got the Silver Canyon, Liberty Desert, and Mount Providence. The transition from the dusty plains to the neon lights of Silver Rock City is visually impressive.
The driving physics are "Brake-to-Drift." This is the hallmark of the Ghost Games era. You tap the brake, turn the wheel, and the car enters a controlled slide. It’s not a simulator. If you go into Payback expecting Assetto Corsa or even Gran Turismo, you’re going to be frustrated. It’s an arcade racer through and through. The off-roading with Mac is surprisingly fun, though. Tearing through the dirt in a lifted Bel Air feels different enough from the street racing to keep the 20-hour campaign from feeling too repetitive.
The police, however, were a major point of contention. In previous games, cops were a constant threat in open-world free roam. In Payback, at launch, the cops were mostly confined to "Bait Crates" or specific missions. They didn't just chase you for speeding in the open world. Fans hated this. They wanted the thrill of a random pursuit. Ghost Games eventually added "Abandoned Cars" that would trigger a chase, but the police AI feels very scripted. They have "kill switches" and heavy-duty Rhinos, but the chases often feel like you’re just hitting checkpoints rather than outsmarting a dynamic AI.
Is Need for Speed Payback Worth Playing in 2026?
Actually, yeah.
If you can get past the card system, there’s a really solid arcade racer here. It’s frequently on sale for a few dollars. Compared to the more recent NFS Unbound, Payback feels a bit more traditional in its art style—no cel-shaded effects here. It’s just high-octane, slightly gritty realism.
The soundtrack is a time capsule of 2017. You’ve got Queens of the Stone Age mixed with Action Bronson and Royal Blood. It fits the vibe. The game also runs well on modern hardware. If you’re playing on a PC or a newer console, the load times are snappy, and the frame rate is stable, which makes the grind feel a lot less tedious.
Practical Steps for New Players
If you’re picking this up for the first time, don’t play it like a normal RPG. You have to lean into the mechanics the game gives you or you'll get stuck.
- Don’t waste money early. You get cars for free by progressing. Save your bank for the mid-game when parts start getting expensive.
- Focus on the Brand Bonuses. A level 12 card with a matching brand bonus is often better than a level 13 card that breaks your set. Look for "Outlaw" or "NexTech" for speed and acceleration.
- Find the Derelicts immediately. The Chevrolet Bel Air and the Ford Mustang derelicts are some of the best cars in the game once fully upgraded. They can be turned into any class (Race, Drift, Drag, etc.), so choose wisely.
- Trade in your junk. If you have Speedcards you aren't using, trade them in for "Part Tokens." This allows you to roll for specific parts at the shop, which is the only way to truly "min-max" your car.
- Ignore the "Shipment" pressure. You earn base shipments just by playing and leveling up your rank. You do not need to spend real money to beat this game or have a cool car.
Need for Speed Payback isn't the best in the series—that title usually goes to Most Wanted (2005) or Hot Pursuit. But it isn't the disaster people made it out to be at launch either. It's a flawed, loud, ambitious experiment that captures a very specific moment in racing game history. If you want to jump into a desert at 200 mph and don't mind a little bit of "card-collecting" on the side, it's a wild ride.
Check your platform's store for the "Deluxe Edition" during sales. It usually includes a multiplier for your Rep and Bank, which basically eliminates the remaining grind issues and lets you focus on the customization and the racing.