Need for Speed: Rivals crashes through the wall between solo and multiplayer (review)

If I were Need For Speed: Rivals right now, I’d be having a serious attack of stage fright.

The arcade racer has frequently served as a benchmark for a new console generation’s launch. Granted, we often forget these launch arcade racers less than a year into the new cycle (hell, we tend to forget most products earlier than that) — but their usually easy-to-understand control schemes, tied to seeing cars flying through highly detailed areas at ridiculously unrealistic speeds, has helped us set our expectations during the debut of past gaming generations.