EA is taking a more story driven approach with Need for Speed: The Run, and now they’ve added talent from one of the best stories running on TV today. Christina Hendricks – known for her role as the stunning Joan Holloway on AMC’s Mad Men – was announced as a lead character in the game along with Sean Faris, who plays the story’s protagonist, Jack.
You might recall that NFS: The Run follows Jack as he competes in cross-country, San Fransisco to New York City race for $25 million in order to pay off some dangerous creditors – all while being wanted by the police. Hendricks’ part comes in as Sam Harper, a street race manager who lays down $250K on Jack as his buy-in to the race. As Jack races across the country, Harper will be his “eyes and ears” guiding him along the way.
According to executive producer Jason DeLong, ““It’s a different direction. For the first time in the franchise, you actually see and control the driver. Obviously, the first priority is to have an amazing driving experience, but one of the things our fans have told us is that motivation is also really important. We wanted to work with Hollywood talent and tell a great story that serves as the punctuation mark to get the player engaged in the progression of the action.”
Need For Speed: The Run comes out on November 15 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii. A demo for the game was released yesterday and a EA has also released a new trailer entitled “Run for Your Life” embedded below.