Need for Speed: The Run is a 2011 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts.

In the game's single-player campaign, players assume the role of street racer Jack Rourke, who is taking part in a large-scale race from San Francisco to New York, seeking to win it against various odds.

[7] There are over 300 kilometres (190 mi) of road, three times more than Hot Pursuit, making it the biggest Need For Speed game on release.

Unlike previous Need for Speed titles, The Run features sections where the player exits their car and is travelling on foot.

[14] The multiplayer matches are split into differing game type playlists, such as Supercar Challenge, NFS Edition Racing, The Underground, Mixed Competition, Exotic Sprint, and Muscle Car Battles.

Jack Rourke (Sean Faris), an experienced street racer, finds himself in serious trouble with the Mob due to a massive debt with them.

Upon securing a new car for the remainder of the race to New York City, Rourke contends with both the police, the Mob, and an armed helicopter along the next stage of the route, but evades both sides and reaches a garage that can supply him a new vehicle, at Harper's request, to compete against the top drivers.

As the police step up their efforts, Rourke evades capture, overcomes his rivals, and defeats Blackwell in New York to win the race.

Matt, a former pro racer, wakes up in his Ford Mustang that has been pushed into the ocean in San Francisco by members of the Mob, and breaks out of his car, only to spot a mysterious woman and drive to the start of The Run on the Golden Gate Bridge in her Lotus Exige.

In Denver, the rented Camaro is replaced with a Nissan GT-R and both Matt and the mystery woman are ambushed by the Mob, escaping on a train and taking an Aston Martin One-77 en route to Chicago.

The game was originally set to be revealed at E3 2011, however, on April 28, 2011, a listing for Need for Speed: The Run appeared on UK retailer site ShopTo.

[7] EA Games Label president, Frank Gibeau stated that Need for Speed: The Run would offer "an edgier experience" than previous entries in the racing series.

[8] The EA Black Box team, especially the artists, coders and designers, for the first time, worked collaboratively in small groups on The Run.

[8] Executive producer Jason DeLong stated that the Frostbite engine provided a more detailed cinematic environment and experience to the game.

Prior to its release, Need for Speed: The Run was marketed and promoted heavily through the use of numerous Internet and TV trailers.

The three "exclusive" Challenge Series on offer were inspired by EA Black Box previous Need for Speed games Underground, Most Wanted and Carbon.

This continent wide search was set to discover two women with boundless energy, an outgoing personality and an edgy style fused with a passion for cars and gaming.

Finalists was selected from each territory with the final two winners being announced in November 2011 in conjunction with the release of Need for Speed: The Run.

[43][44] Need for Speed teamed up with HP and Vagrant Records to let fans decide which of the favorite bands they would like to see in The Run.

[45] The first post-launch downloadable content (DLC) package, titled "Signature Edition Booster Pack", features nine new cars, all modified to insane levels ranging from a "Venom" Nissan 370Z to a "Falken" Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0.

[46] The second post-launch DLC package, titled "Italian Pack", features seven new cars (Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione, Lamborghini Diablo SV, Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera, Pagani Zonda R, Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale, Maserati MC12) and ten new challenge events added into Challenge Series.

"[56] A couple more positive reviews include GameTrailers, which gave it an 8.4 out of 10, writing "Need for Speed: The Run falters with its high-profile but underdeveloped plot as well as some awkward design choices.

"[59] IGN gave it a 6.5 "Okay" rating, stating "All this awesome racing action gets somewhat lost amid the nonexistent story, the dumb/scripted AI, the lack of options, and the overall shortness of the game.

1UP gave it a C+, stating "The Run takes an awkwardly serious approach to its story (...) to deliver a cross-country campaign that's sometimes exhilarating, but often frustrating and surprisingly banal.

"[60] Eurogamer gave it 5 out of 10, saying "The worst of the game's technical sins is performance, with appallingly low frame rates in our patched PS3 retail version when you brake suddenly or drift through many a corner.

"[58] VideoGamer gave it 6 out of 10, saying "The Run certainly isn't terrible, and a big improvement on Black Box's previous effort, Undercover, but it needed more moments like the avalanche and less monotonous freeways.

With the campaign over in an afternoon and the rest of the package failing to offer anything to keep you playing, The Run is some decent throwaway fun that will be forgotten as soon as you move on to something else.

"[62] GamePro gave it 6 out of 10, writing "The journey across America is beautifully rendered, capturing the varied landscapes spectacularly as you travel over the Sierra, across the Great Plains, and head towards the East Coast.

They criticized the many technical and graphical glitches, saying "sometimes the lighting effects mix textures into strange oily swirls, while at other times it feels like you're driving one big polygon."

However, in the post script, they did concede that, while flawed, the game does have a clever concept and occasionally delivers those rare feelings of escapism that many arcade-style racers strive for: "The Run may not have much else going for it, but in its unusual approach to the genre it at least tries to do something new.