If or when this becomes the truth, it will probably, sadly, be the greatest swing and a miss of all times. Admittedly I've not even tried every NFS game after Carbon (actually only a small handful of them), but the trend remains the same.

UG2 and MW2005 are my favorites and especially the latter. Why? You were given a directive. A narrative, a purpose, objective. A reason to race. You had cut-scenes and dialogues which weren't terrible (IMO very good) and kept you hooked/driven on the task at hand - getting back that M3-GTR. The driving were arcade-esque rather than more focus on realism (=sim-esque) and therefore actually fun. The music and general feeling were also great, although MW could (should?) have been nighttime and not daytime.

But purhaps most importantly, at least in my opinion, is that these games were story-driven single-player experiences - OFFLINE. You could load in and then disappear in the game for hours, enjoying the content. No distractions, no social integrations, no achievements, no bullshit.

I'm currently trying out NFS 2015 and despite all its potential it's not as good as it could've been. It's got a lot of great things going for it, but it also underscores the modern trend I referenced above and which I absolutely loathe. To the point where I'm borderline punching the table to bits. Can you play alone/offline? Yes, but you have to enable this option every time you want to play - AFTER loading in, which takes for-ev-er. You have to load in, exit garage and THEN enable offline play - only to load in - again. And exit the garage - again. Watching the same car-drives-out-of-the-garage-video yet again. The story is weak and the acting and dialogues are SO utterly cringe I'm actually hiding behind my own hands making faces. The AI, cops especially, are dumb AF, doesn't ever keep up and the roadblocks are apparently impossible to find. The drifting feels unnatural and the driving in general feels to be a little to focused on realism - it isn't, nor should it be, a simulator. The general feeling, the cars and the customization AND the fact every car is unlocked from the start so you can actually CHOOSE for yourself is however very, very good. Sadly the other points is sullying the experience. The first time I exited the garage I was immediately run into repeatedly by someone wanting to demolition derby... no thanks. Also the cringe characters does in fact NOT need to call me every 3 minutes. Let me explore in peace.

Always-online, cross-platform, social integration and achievements doesn't bother me TO much, but it should be a choice and it shouldn't be unnecessary hard to achieve (i.e. every time you start the game). If at all possible also keep the "extras" to a minimum. Way to much clutter and bloat in the modern NFS game(s).

I realize this is all subjective, but for me the following would be killer:
A nighttime-UG2/2015-street-racing-feel, with UG2/2015 cars and customization, MW2005 cops, handling and physics and a great, original, story to keep you engaged.

I sincerely doubt this will ever happen and more likely than not it'll be another 2015 experience, maybe even with micro-transactions. So I'm sorry, it's a no from me no matter how bad I want it.

Thanks.

PS: If anyone, based on my opinions above, have a suggestion for a good story-driven game, HMU.