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Swarley Reviews:
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
To say that fans were excited when the news came out about Criterion heading up the remake of Need for Speed: Most Wanted would be an understatement. Criterion has had a long line of very successful arcade racers and Most Wanted looked to be no different.
As some of you know, I’m a big sim-racer guy. I love the competition of fine-tuning a vehicle and figuring out every last detail of a circuit. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my arcade racers. Need for Speed: Underground 2 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles are two of my favorite racing games of all time. I picked up Most Wanted on day one because I knew that Criterion was going to produce a fantastic game. And you know what? I was right.
Right from the start you realize that Criterion is trying something a little different with this game. Instead of unlocking cars through progression or a monetary system, they are all hidden through the city of Fairhaven. To unlock these cars, all you have to do is explore the city and find them. They can be hidden just about anywhere and some can be pretty tough to find (but that’s what makes it incredibly fun).
There is a list of races and unlocks for each car that you own. Each race for that car gets tougher as you go down the list (easy, medium and hard difficulty). With each race you also have the ability to unlock new things for you car. If you place in the top two in that race, you’ll receive an unlock. The first race for my Marussia B2 I was able to unlock nitrous burn and off-road tires. There are plenty of things to unlock for your car as you go that will help it out during certain races. Some of my favorites are the lightweight chassis, the reinforced chassis, the nitrous burn and the aero body. Unfortunately, there aren’t any mods that will alter the appearance of your car. That’s something that I’ve loved in other arcade racers (as well as sim). I love being able to customize the look of my ride.
I think the biggest gripe I have about this game is the camera views. There are only two views available: 3rd person, behind the car and front bumper. I’m a guy that loves driving from the cockpit view. I feel like I have more control of the car when I’m in that view. This certainly isn’t something that’s a deal-breaker for me, but I wish they had included some more views.
The Most Wanted races are a blast. There are 10 cars that make up the Most Wanted list, and through playing the game you continue to unlock those races. In these races, no only do you have to beat the opponent, but you have to work your way through the onslaught of Cops that are hot on your tail. They will set roadblocks, spike strips and chase you the entire race. To completely finish a Most Wanted race, after you beat the other car, you have to take it down as well. Once you’ve taken down the car, you will now have access to that car. The interesting thing is if you don’t take that car down right away. You will then have to keep your eyes peeled for that car from then on until you find it in the open world of Fairhaven.
I’ve spent a good 4-5 hours in the online portion of Most Wanted. The online is set up a little differently than the single-player. Instead of exploring the city of Fairhaven for your cars, you unlock them by progressing in the multiplayer. The unlocks still work the same as they do in the single-player. You can set up both private and public matches, or you can join a public match. The lobby creator is the one who sets up the playlists. The playlist will have a handful of different events on it. You can either set up your own or play from Criterion’s playlist. When you set a list up, it can have a bunch of different events in it ranging from point-to-point races, circuit races, longest jump events, drifting events, etc. The only downfall to the online portion, in my opinion, is that the cars you’ve unlocked in the single-player aren’t available to you in the multiplayer right off the bat.
Overall, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a fantastic entry in the long-running franchise. This game will keep you entertained for countless hours. I’ve really enjoyed just driving around the open world and exploring what Fairhaven has to offer. There are so many things outside of the races to keep you playing: finding cars, busting billboards, beating your friends in the speed traps and finding gates to break down. The Most Wanted races are an absolute blast to play, especially later on when the Cops get tougher and tougher. If you like high-speed, balls to the wall fun in a car, then this is certainly a game for you. There are some things that would have made the game a little better in my eyes, like car customization and a better variety of camera views, but that still doesn’t stop me from having a lot of fun.
Console Edge: I’ve been able to play both console versions of Most Wanted. The PS3 version runs flawlessly both online and off. I have not played the Xbox 360 copy online, but there have been a few frame rate hiccups while offline. When I was in a Most Wanted race, there was a few times where the frame rate dropped drastically. Now it didn’t last for more than a second, and certainly didn’t wreck the game, but it was an eye sore. So if you have both consoles like I do, I would urge you to go with the PS3 version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
Swarley’s Score: 8.5 out of 10 - A top notch entry in the Need for Speed franchise.