Need for Speed The Run lures players into an underground world of illicit, high-stakes racing. The heat is on - and it isn't just the fuzz who are after you. Entering the race is just the beginning as you blow across borders, weave through dense urban traffic, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds. Powered by DICE's state-of-the-art Frostbite 2 engine, Need for Speed The Run takes the action racing genre to new heights with stunning visuals and car physics that hug the road even at top speeds all built around a gripping storyline. The cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story will have you at the edge of your seat… all the way from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State building.

Jack Rourke, an experienced street racer, is 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 City, 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 he will be allowed to keep 10% of the prize money for himself, and receives a tablet device from the race's mysterious organizer detailing the race's route.

4 hours later, Rourke selects a car from his 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 stage 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 the 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 catches 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 City, 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. Afterward, Rourke meets with Harper in a streetside diner, who reveals his trouble with the Mob has been dealt with. Harper gives Rourke a key to a safety deposit box containing his cut of the prize money and suggests that he takes 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.