San Francisco

Lore & Background

In Need for Speed: The Run, San Francisco is the starting point of the illegal cross-country race. Jack Rourke, an experienced street racer in serious trouble with the Mob due to a massive debt, travels to San Francisco after escaping execution at a scrapyard in Oakland. There, he meets his friend Sam Harper, a fixer who offers to help him deal with the Mob on one condition: Rourke must enter the illegal race from San Francisco to New York City and win the $25 million cash pot. Rourke agrees, knowing that the prize money will clear his debt and help him escape the Mob. He receives a tablet device from the race's mysterious organizer detailing the route, selects a car from his personal garage, and begins the race by completing three stages within San Francisco, learning he must be in the top 150 to stay in the race.

In Their Own Story

After narrowly escaping being crushed within his car at a scrapyard in Oakland due to his failure to repay what he owes, Jack Rourke evades his captors by stealing one of their cars. Heading to San Francisco, he makes contact with his friend Sam Harper, a fixer who arranges his entries into street races. Harper offers to help him deal with the mob on one condition: Rourke must enter an illegal, large-scale street race from San Francisco to New York City, for which she will front the entry fee, and win the race's cash pot of $25 million for her. Rourke agrees, knowing he will be allowed to keep 10% of the prize money for himself, and receives a tablet device from the race's mysterious organizer that details the race's route. 4 hours later, Rourke selects a car from his personal garage and begins the race by completing three stages covering the route from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Reader's Guide

San Francisco serves as the starting city for The Run's single-player campaign. The player, as Jack Rourke, begins the race here after meeting with Sam Harper. The first three stages of the race cover the route from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Players must finish in the top 150 after these stages to stay in the race. The game features over 300 kilometers (190 mi) of road across real-world locations, including San Francisco. Unlike previous entries, The Run features sections where the player exits their car and is on foot, with gameplay restricted to quick time events. The driving model is described as sitting 'somewhere between Shift and Hot Pursuit.' The game employs a Rewind option that allows the player to restart an event to their last checkpoint, with the number of Rewinds depending on difficulty: Easy has 10, Normal has 5, Hard has 3, and Extreme has 1.

Did You Know?

• The Run features over 300 kilometers (190 mi) of road, roughly 1.5 times more than Hot Pursuit, which had about 200 km.
• The game includes sections where the player exits their car and is on foot, with gameplay restricted to quick time events.
• Need for Speed: The Run does not have a Rewind mechanic; only a Restart option is available.
• The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Pagani Huayra were digitized for the game, but also appear in multiple other titles, so they are not exclusive to Need for Speed: The Run.
• The game's online servers were shut down in August 2021, and it became unavailable for purchase in any online stores in May 2021.

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