Need for Speed Unbound has seen great success since its launch in December 2022, with gamers praising its stylized graphics and high-octane street racing action. However, like most major video game releases these days, it has not been without its fair share of bugs and technical issues.
In this comprehensive guide, we will break down the major known bugs in NFS Unbound, explain what causes them, and provide potential workarounds while gamers wait for official patches.
Frequent Crashing and Freezing
One of the most widely reported issues is the game randomly crashing or freezing during gameplay. This seems to mostly impact PC players, with the game suddenly closing to the desktop without warning. However, console users have also reported crashes while loading into races or the open world.
Potential Causes
- Outdated graphics drivers – An incompatible or buggy driver can cause stability issues. Always keep your GeForce, Radeon or other GPU drivers updated.
- CPU/GPU overheating – Check cooling on your hardware. Reduce graphical settings if needed.
- Corrupted game files – Verify integrity of local files through your game store app.
- Software conflicts – Disable background apps and overlays.
Workarounds
- Update Windows and graphics drivers
- Adjust in-game graphical settings lower
- Delete shader cache files
- Run game as Administrator
- Check for corrupt local files through Steam/Origin and redownload
Car Not Accelerating Properly
Many players have reported their car feeling sluggish and slow to accelerate in races, failing to reach top speed. This persists even when using nitrous boosts.
Potential Causes
- Server-side bug causing vehicle behavior issues
- Physics glitch due to frame rate or hardware related problems
Workarounds
- Unfortunately no current fix for this except to wait for an official patch
- Try tweaking graphical settings to hit higher FPS cap
Peripherals Not Being Detected
Some PC players using racing wheels, controllers, or other peripherals have found that NFS Unbound fails to recognize their devices properly. This leaves them unable to control the game.
Potential Causes
- Game not calibrated properly to support all controllers
- Peripheral conflicts with other input software
- USB power management problems
Workarounds
- Unplug all other HID devices besides your controller
- Try different USB ports if using wheel/pedals
- Reinstall peripherals software/drivers
- Launch game first, then plug in device
Main Menu Freezes and Crashing
An issue where the game soft locks or crashes consistently while trying to load the front end menus has impacted some users across all platforms. This prevents them from accessing any game modes.
Potential Causes
- Corrupted data files causing menu assets to fail loading
- Conflict with external apps trying to hook into the game
- Problems with account profile information retrievals
Workarounds
- Delete and reinstall game to refresh files
- Boot into Safe Mode then relaunch
- Create new Windows user profile just for NFS Unbound
Multiplayer Connectivity Problems
One of the most anticipated parts of NFS Unbound was finally having seamless multiplayer free roaming. Unfortunately, many players have struggled with getting connected properly to play with friends.
Potential Causes
- Server outages or downtime
- NAT/firewall configuration issues
- Client-side connection bugs
Workarounds
- Forward appropriate ports on your router
- Try toggling UPnP settings on/off
- Reboot networking devices to refresh IP & DNS
Other Known Minor Bugs
Besides the major game-breaking issues covered above, there are numerous other small bugs that have cropped up, including:
- Frame rate drops when using certain visual customizations
- Police AI behaving erratically and ignoring players
- Ambient environment sounds cutting out suddenly
- Character models clipping through clothing
- Lighting effects looking incorrect on some car materials
The development team at Criterion has acknowledged many of these teething problems and stability issues. We expect to see patches rolling out over the coming weeks and months that provide bug fixes and optimization improvements.
Outlook on Future Support
NFS Unbound uses the same underlying game engine and technology as the previous Hot Pursuit Remastered title. We can look to how post-launch support was handled there as an indicator:
- Multiple patches deployed fixing major issues
- Additional quality-of-life improvements over time
- New content and features added through updates
Provided sales and player engagement continues strongly, EA will likely follow a similar strategy. We can hopefully expect the game‘s stability to reach an acceptable level through patches first before attention shifts to bolstering content.
Conclusion
Need for Speed Unbound clearly has strong foundations in place with its compelling presentation and style backed up by solid driving mechanics. However, numerous technical problems have unfortunately marred the experience for many early adopters.
Let‘s hope the development team can smooth out these wrinkles rapidly. Once the game can run reliably for all players on all platforms, it will open up to be enjoyed as the slick street racer it strives to be.
Have you encountered any bugs in NFS Unbound not highlighted here? Share your experiences in the comments below!
