Need for Speed Unbound Vol 2 Update Disappoints

gamerant.com:

Though it looks pretty beefy at a glance, the new Need for Speed Unbound content update has failed to impress its community. Following a reasonably successful launch where many reviewers agreed that Electronic Arts and Criterion are onto something, Unbound has gone four months without any subsequent content updates, only for the first one to fall flat immediately.

Need for Speed Unbound reviews plainly discussed the game's many shortcomings, but they also highlighted the fact that Criterion has managed to provide a rock-solid gameplay basis for future development. While the game's aesthetic has certainly had its fair share of naysayers, it also helped Unbound stand out in a sea of hyperrealistic racing games such as Forza Horizon 5 and Gran Turismo 7​​​​​​.

Longtime Criterion Developers Leave Studio Following Need for Speed Unbound Launch

As it was far from a perfect game, Need for Speed Unbound fans have been eagerly awaiting its first major content update. To that end, Criterion announced the March 21 launch of the Vol 2 patch, featuring three new vehicles, dozens of new Challenges, extra events, functionality, and a slew of cosmetics to unlock. The problem, however, is that much of the content touted for Vol 2 had been present in the game all along, like the Nissan Fairlady in its new custom body kit, which is going to stay locked as an EA Play Exclusive. The customized Lotus Emira, on the other hand, was a part of the game's pre-release hype as Eleonore's vehicle of choice, only for her to end up using a Porshe in the launch version instead.

Players are also not thrilled with the «Keys to the Map DLC» feature, which doesn't actually expand upon NFS Unbound's Lakeshore City map at all. Instead, it pinpoints all 260