Having served as a writer on Need for Speed: Heat, I returned to Criterion as narrative lead for the first year of preproduction on NFS Unbound.
Unbound is everything a fan of the franchise could want and an example of how to renew a series without losing any of the essence of what a good Need for Speed is.
The Enemy, 5-star review
Nearly two years (and one pandemic) later, Unbound was released to excellent reviews. The successful formula of Heat, coupled with an innovative art style, certainly attracted attention.
Unbound feels precisely what the doctor ordered for the Need for Speed franchise. Heat left me hoping for more, and now that Unbound is built based on the success of its predecessor, it all feels like a complete game.
Softpedia, 9/10
Huge credit goes to the Criterion narrative team that built on those preproduction foundations and earned some storming Metacritic scores. I’m just glad some of my early work can still be seen under the hood of what Hardcore Gamer named the Best Racing Game of the Year.
There was a DICE Awards nomination for Racing Game of the Year too.
The story paints something that feels all too real-world with things like police corruption and right-wing smoke screening... From the way the police talk on their radio to conversations you have with other racers, you feel this world.
Fansided, 8.5/10
David Varela 