Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Racing games aren't really my thing, unless they fall under the gimmicky umbrella such as Mario Kart or other battle style car games. For this reason I've never liked the Need for Speed games, to me they're just chavvy generic games where wannabe racer boys can customize their car to look as trashy as possible complete with ridiculous spoiler.

I ended up getting Most Wanted and I don't even remember quite why and being frankly blown away. Fine, put aside the street racing "Isn't it cool to be a criminal" childishness and all the customization (Which actually I enjoyed to an extent) and you've got the police evasion addition and I really quite liked it.

Generic racing is a plenty sure, but it looked good for its time and had a killer soundtrack. These types of games usually have nothing but moronic dance "Music" sided with rap but here there was lots of rock/metal including Bullet For My Valentine and Static X.

So racing around this impressive city, with those tracks blasting and the adrenaline of evading the army of police cars behind me while at the same time dodging sets of spikes tossed across my path?! Great stuff.

Truth be told there hasn't been another Need For Speed game I've enjoyed since, not even the reboot of this very title from 2012. But we'll always have this wonderful little gem.

The Good:

Great soundtrack

Looks great

Police evasion is a lot of fun

The Bad:

Still just a Need For Speed game at its core

I feel chavvy just playing it

I'm very sad cause many underestimate Most Wanted, calling it worst NFS game ever. Well, nonsense!!! This it the game Hot Pursuit always should've been. GFX is truly special, much better than Underground series, with sun out and bye bye midnight darkness. The best thing is reflecting effect of the sun on the road and even trees wave slowly on wind. Sound is also on the level, cars sound authentic, the best example is Aston Martin which is sooo good recorded that GT or Forza can be ashamed. Even every tuning stage reproduce new engine sound. Car list is bigger and this time exotics and muscle are also back! And you can tune them up too!!! There is difference between RWD, FWD and AWD cars, as RWD with a lot of torque must be launched gently or they'll spin and AWDs have fastest launch and best handling. YES, there is difference in handling EVEN if you've tuned handling to max. Guys telling you otherwise haven't played game long enough to realize it. AND YES cars handle MUCH better than in U2. Of course it's far from realism, but those who want realism can play GT or Forza. Need for speed gives you MUCH better sense of speed and action. Oh, and unlike Underground series, you don't have to pimp your ride to make progress, pimping has a purpose - to fool the cops so they can't recognize you. Story is also good, although a little but too less Josie Maran FMV. She is absolutely gorgeous and by far THE BEST NFS girl out there. As for the best part of the game - police chases, they are phenomenal. Fast and so much adrenalin packed, you won't believe. Once you hit higher heat levels, tougher and faster cop chases are gonna get - and suddenly it will click - the cars have to respond like they do - fast and smooth, easy to control and regain control if you lost it, yet they have weight and crash like they normally would (you can feel the weight and they slow down drastically) - unlike U2 where crashes where like small plastic cars crashes... Nice story, Cool GFX and Sound, great rides and tuning, phenomenal speed sensation and pursuits, and the best NFS girl ever - Josie Maran. Gameplay - 10+. My opinion and 2 cents...

If there are any racing fans or non-racing fans out there. You will love this game. This game has everything a racing game should have. There is racing, rivals, chicks and of course, the need for speed. You play as a street racer and you win a lot of races until something goes wrong with your car, the rival you were racing has now got your car and what you need to do is to get your car back. You now have to work your way up the blacklist to race the rival again. The game can sometimes be hard to steer around corners but that means there is something wrong with your car. Other than that, this game is a must-have for everyone. This game would be better to play with on a steering wheel.

First, the gameplay and graphics are wonderful. The story was enjoyable and the actors were quite good (except the Mia actress). The game is addicting and has many great cars. I do wish they would add Saleen Mustangs and Roush Mustangs. Also, I would love to be able to choose to be a female driver with a handsome "significant other" rather than Mia, who I am not attracted to since I am not a lesbian. I do find this sexist. One thing I love about the "Fast And Furious" films because they have strong female leads who drive just as well (if not better) than the men. Le'ts see these games do that.

That said, there were a few things so wrong. First, Cross's female partner was all wrong. The actress was OK, but female cops are not allowed to dress like that! The fact that she was in a marked police car with lights and siren tell you she was not undercover; therefore, her attire was inappropriate.

Also, NFS: Underground 2 had so many many many many vinyls and body kit items to choose from; but this one had so much fewer and we could not layer the vinyls. I really loved those old splash-style vinyls and want those back! Finally, I am so tired of the perfection of opponent drivers; they are much too perfect: they seldom crash, they always avoid traffic, and when they rarely do crash they recover immediately. Also, I sometimes see that I very far ahead and then at the last moment another car gets this big boost of speed and zips by as if I am suddenly on a bicycle! Jeff Gordon couldn't even do that and we all know how good a driver he is.

First of all, I know this is about 3 years late and you're probably a successful businessman or IT guy, but I just need to say this and it's better late than never, right? So I realise you may not like this game, but I think you're missing the point. If you haven't won any races after winning it? you must suck. Sorry. I'm not at all a gamer and even I can do it. And the bad physics and weird things like that don't matter, it's supposed to be a fun little game to just play around on. You want realistic? Hell you've got Forza. Any more realistic and you'd actually be in a car.

Anyhoo...the point is NFS is where you get to do crazy stupid things, like go into a turn at 300kph and somehow get around. Or sometimes crash and look like an idiot.

In the end, fair enough if you don't like it.

And btw, it stands up very well over time. Have a good life :D