The driving model of the game is described as "sit somewhere between Shift and Hot Pursuit", not as arcade-styled as Hot Pursuit, but neither as simulator-styled as Shift. The Run employs a large range of real-world vehicles, seemingly taking in the usual mix of muscle cars, street racers and refined exotics, described as "each car presents a different driving challenge for the player". Exclusively digitized for the game is the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Pagani Huayra. The damage system is similar to that seen in Hot Pursuit. The cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades, such as paint colors and body kits. There are cosmetic body kits known as Style Pack kits and Aero Pack kits, which affect aerodynamics as well as performance.
An experience points (XP) system is used for unlocking cars and events in multiplayer and Challenge Series races. The game also feature a Rewind option that allows the player to restart an event to their last checkpoint if they wreck their vehicle or to rewind their vehicle from a collision or missed opportunity. Rewinds are only available in limited quantities as their amount depends on the difficulty level that the player has selected; Easy has 10 Rewinds, Normal has 5 Rewinds, Hard has 3 Rewinds, and Extreme has 1 Rewind, as well as the most difficult AI opponents.
Additionally, Need for Speed Autolog, the Need for Speed franchise's social competition functionality, which was introduced in Hot Pursuit and was previously used in Shift 2: Unleashed, is also back as it continues to track career progression and compare game stats.
Multiplayer
Up to eight players can participate in a single online match. Players are able to party with friends, pick a playlist of their favorite challenges and compete for supremacy across every stage of game. In addition to this, players never have to wait in a lobby again even if they are joining a race in progress. 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. Most of these modes pertain to different car varieties for each race, but the Supercar Challenge is meant entirely for the fastest cars on the fastest tracks. The player can select an event and vote towards the race course where the multiplayer game should be taking place on. Players also take part in a reward system known as "The Bonus Wheel", which randomly selects a reward and required goal criteria for it.
Plot
Jack Rourke, an experienced street racer, finds himself in serious trouble with the Mob due to a massive debt with them. After narrowly escaping being crushed within his car at a scrapyard in Oakland, due to his failure to repay what he owes, 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, who 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, for which she will front the entry fee, and win the race's cash pot of $25 million for her. Rourke agrees to her condition, knowing that 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, learning he must be in the top 150 before reaching the end of the third stages to stay in the race. In addition to dealing with other racers, seeking to win the cash prize, and the local police, who seek to stop and arrest the racers involved, Rourke finds himself attempting to defeat Marcus Blackwell - a family member of the Mob, who wants to ensure his defeat after he escaped his execution. Rourke manages to win all three stages, but is caught out by a police roadblock, forcing him to evade the cops and secure a new vehicle for the next four stages of race from Las Vegas to Chicago, learning he must be in the top 50 to keep in the race.
As Rourke holds out against the increasing efforts of his rivals and police to stop him, he soon finds the Mob entering the race to stop him. Despite reaching Chicago in the top 50, the Mob catch him out with a roadblock, forcing him to lose them initially in a police cruiser. Upon securing a new car for the remainder of the race to New York, 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.
Following the race's conclusion, Rourke meets with Harper in a streetside diner, who reveals his trouble with the Mob has been dealt with. Upon receiving a key to a safety deposit box containing his cut of the prize money, Harper suggests that he take time to relax, but upon seeing him question this, she offers him an opportunity to double his money, stating she got a call to another high-stake race.
