Platforms: Playstation 3, XBOX 360, PC
Release Date: 10/30/2012
Genre(s): Racing
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion Games
ESRB: E10+
The Need For Speed franchise has become much of an overkill in this gaming generation. With above-average installments out almost every year, the NFS tag might not be having the same retention as it did, say, 5 years ago. Lack of any real innovation in successive NFS games has had an impact on its brand value, yet Criterion Studies keeps developin’ em, and EA keeps publishin’ em. Last year’s NFS: The Run was dismal and didn’t impress, so we were looking for what sort of follow-up Criterion would come up with this year.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted, is named ‘exactly’ the same as its super-hit 2005 counterpart, and plays similar too. You’re a lowly street racer in the open-world city of Fairhaven, and you’re supposed to beat ten racers to make it to the top. Ten racers, with no names, no faces, no identity whatsoever, you know them just by their car models. The Need For Speed series, although remembered for its racing, is also remembered for its over-the-top stereotypical cheesy narratives. Yes they were what they were but we still enjoyed them, as they bought a sense of purpose while racing other drivers. The narratives made the NFS games memorable. Need For Speed: Most Wanted, for one, doesn’t have any narrative whatsoever to back its “Beat Ten Street Racers to Make it to the Top” storyline. You’re going to have to find your own source of motivation to play through this game.
Fairhaven is an open-world urban city, with swanky sports cars hidden all over, waiting to be found and driven. What’s good about NFS: Most Wanted is that most cars do not have to be ‘Unlocked’, barring a few. Most fast cars are hidden in back-alleys, parking lots, airplane hangars etc., so if you’re cruising around the city and you spot one, its yours for the taking. The game revolves around you earning Speed Points. Speed Points are points you earn from winning races, evading cops, taking down billboards etc. When you reach a certain level of Speed Points, you unlock the next “Most Wanted Race”. There are 10 of these Most Wanted Races and these are something like Boss Fights, where you have to beat the racer first in a race, and then break him down to earn his car. Most Wanted Races are how the game progresses forward.
Each car has five racing events, ranging from Easy to Hard difficulties. Racing events range from simple win the race events to Ambush events, where you’ll have to evade the cops within a stipulated time. Completing these events unlock car upgrades. What NFS: Most Wanted lacks in narrative and innovation, its makes up in an exciting, gripping and fast paced racing action. This is not your typical ‘racing simulator’, but its fun nevertheless. Cop chases are tense and will keep you challenged. From using maneuver tactics to laying spikes to an All-SUV roadblock, the Fairhaven police will make sure they’re using all their means to shut you down. Cops chases are tense, especially if you’ve gathered a lot of Speed Points during your run, because if get busted, you lose all the Speed Points collected during that chase. Regardless the fun, we could do with more variety of police chatter though, its bloody repetitive. Sometimes the police say the same lines twice, signifying cheap voiceover production. It doesn’t hamper the racing experience though.
Regardless of the repetitive police chatter, the production values of the game are generally high. This game is a polished product. The graphics are sharp, the introductory videos to Most Wanted races are really impressive and creative. Fairhaven offers a good variety of landscape to race on. Yet, after completing the first five Most Wanted races, the races become repetitive, and after the seventh race, you’ll automatically memorize the tracks. NFS: Most Wanted doesn’t have any garage system, like the previous games. A new feature, called EasyDrive, lets you upgrade your car, change cars, start a race, on the fly. The upgrades are the same for all cars, namely, Nitrous, Suspension, Tyre upgrades etc.
A typical NFS: Most Wanted race is fun. Oncoming traffic ensures that you’re alert for most of the time. There is no damage system whatsoever, apart from the flat tires you get from spikes laid by the Fairhaven police. No matter how many times you suffer a head-on collision with oncoming traffic or a police vehicle, your car may look shattered but it drives perfectly, as if nothing ever happened. There are Repair Stations present throughout the city, which only give your car a new paint job and reduce the Most Wanted rating. The relevance of Repair Stations is questionable, since there is no ‘Real Damage System’ present. One feature present in 2005 version of Most Wanted but missing from this one, is the option to play as the Police. Its an omission we seize to understand. We would have liked the option to drive a police, lay spikes, use maneuvers etc. and shut down other racers. Neither is there a cockpit view of the car. This is surprising, as NFS has always provided this in the past. Racing through dusty marshes with the cockpit view is always exhilarating, with the effects and all.
Once you start driving the cars of the later stages, like the Bugatti Veyron, the cop-car chases and the races becomes relatively easy, even the Hard ones. You can out-speed your chaser in no time. This takes out the tension you feel when you started the game. The cops do upgrade their cars but they’re still no close to an upgraded Bugatti. However even so, driving at 200 miles per hour is a thrill. The car designs, the tracks, the atmosphere, are all designed with quality. The game’s racing engine is intact and in-control, showing that Criterion did put in an effort to assure top-notch quality of performance and gameplay.
MULTIPLAYER
The Multiplayer mode consists of generic ‘Setlists’ where you can enter competitions with your friends online. Modes available vary from Drifting the longest to having the highest jump. Ofcourse, races and team-races exist. Criterion hasn’t provided the feature to be the police, this is an opportunity missed since being able to chase down your opponents would have been great fun online. Hell, there are no cops even in straight forward online races. Once in a race one could just drift away since the level of tense during online races is simply missing. No sirens, no spikes, no roadblocks, makes races seem all the more bland. One interesting subtle effect we noticed online was the presence of your friends’ pictures on billboards. Billboards feature the picture of that friend who went past it at the highest speed. A minor feature, yet very effective, that’s good thinking.
Summarising, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a polished product. The game offers neat, exhilarating fast paced action and tense moments, police chases are fun and frantic. but a lack of narrative in the Single Player campaign make one lose motivation to progress forward. A sense of purpose is lacking in the game. Making stable bug-free games is often overlooked these days, Criterion have to applauded for handing out a product well made, with no bugs whatsoever, sharp, clean graphics and a solid game design overall. The police chatter could have done with more dialogues though. NFS: Most Wanted is a game with a lot of potential, but just doesn’t make the cut. If you’re a fan of the series, there’s nothing new the game offers. However, if you are looking for a current-gen racing game to play, we do recommend getting NFS: Most Wanted.
WHAT’S ILL
- Fast paced action, especially cop chases which are frantic and exciting.
- Neat graphics, beautiful world of Fairhaven
- No-frills, lets get down to business nature of the game.
- Bug-free
- Driving the Bugatti Veyron at 220 mile per hour is awesome!
WHAT’S NOT
- No narrative whatsoever.
- Game loses its appeal after a few hours in.
- Upgrades to all cars are the same.
- Lack of variety in race modes.
- You can’t play as a cop!
- Police dialogue is repetitive
RATING
- Gameplay Progression: 5/10
- Graphics: 8/10
- Sound: 7/10
- Unique Selling Proposition: 8/10
- illFactor: 6/10
Final Score: 6.5 – ONE NIGHT STANDS
