Customer Reviews

Need for Speed: Most Wanted Black Edition

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many reviews focus on the copy protection, if you have concerns about that be sure to read them. I want to focus more on what this game brings to the table for newcomers and from the point of view of someone that has played a previous version of NFS and wants to know if this game has enough new features to merit a purchase.

If you have never played any version of Need for Speed and you are looking for a racing game for the PC then you have come to the right place. This is a very good racing game that allows you to customize your vehicle to help break up the monotony of only completing one race right after the other. This is definitely the best racing game to buy if you want to get a good start in the NFS series. If you are still unsure and want to break into the series on a cheaper title then NFS Underground 2 will give you a good look on the cheap.

If you are a veteran and are wondering what the new features are I'll try to outline them here. Need For Speed Underground 2 is the only other NFS title I have played. All of the comparisons I am making are based on the differences between NFSU2 and this title.

1) Graphics. The graphics have improved considerably over NFSU2. The car models look much better and the game ran much more smoothly for me despite the better quality in graphics. In NFSU2 I would get moments where the game would stutter, I have had no such experience in Most Wanted.

I have heard some people have problems with ATI cards; mainly that ATI is a bit behind with optimizing their drivers for this game. I believe these problems are mainly resolved as I have no problems with my Radeon 9800. You will however need a higher end graphics card to run the game. You do not have to have the latest and greatest card because the game does a decent job of offering options where you can play with lower detail.

2) Races. I will say that it seems like the races were more varied in NFSU2 than they are in Most Wanted. In NFSU2 you had several different race types that added to the variety of the game namely drag, drift, street, and a few different forms of circuit (URL and circuit) and sprint (races to photo ops and sprint). In Most Wanted all the races are variations of either circuit or sprint. There is a new circuit racing mode called knock out where the person that comes in last on each lap is dropped from the race.

Police chases have been added for variety and as a replacement to the drift and street modes of NFS2U. This is welcome. I often wondered where all the police were while you were racing on the street in NFSU2.

In this version you compete against people on the black list (a list of the most infamous racers around). You have to qualify to compete against the blacklist racers by winning races and building a wanted level with the police. After you beat someone on the blacklist you are given the opportunity to pick 2 of 5 rewards. The rewards are cash, performance parts, visual parts, and one of the rewards is the title (pink slip) to the car you just beat. You do not know what the reward will be before you pick it. If you get lucky you'll walk away with your opponents vehicle.

Another welcome change over NFSU2 is the ability to instantly jump to race locations. In the old version you had to spend hours (cummatively) driving from one race location to the next. Gone are the days of driving from the Airport to the top of that mountain (Beacon Hill?) to complete one race just to find out that the next grouping of races that appears are at the bottom of the map.

One last improvement that I'll mention is that it seems as though focus has shifted away from visual customization. In NFSU2 you had certain goals where you had to build a car that had a certain level of visual appeal. Often all that meant was that you had to make your car tacky and disgusting by taking it much further than you would have just so you can get that 9 star rating. More did not equal better in my book. I would have been happier if they let me keep the car the way I wanted instead of forcing me to add roof scoops just so I could progress in the game.

The con:
I wanted to mention why I docked the game by one star. The game uses what is refered to as "rubberband" AI. That pretty much means that the AI will make sure all the races are close. Imagine you and an opponent are connected by a rubberband. If the opponent gets too far behind the rubberband is pulled tightly and the opponent will be sprung forward as a result. In other words the farther away the computer is the faster they will drive, irreguardless of what the top speeds of the cars you and the computer are driving are supposed to be.

This can become very frustrating. For example, once I pinned an opponent between an 18 wheeler and the road. It resulted in a quick 8 second lead. Making no mistakes on my part, the computer was able to pass me like I was standing still about 10 or 15 seconds after I had built that 8 second lead... as if I was stopped at a standstill. There really is no excuse for this kind of AI, and it was not present in NFSU2. If you outsmarted/drove the competition you outsmarted/drove the competition. Not so in Most Wanted. Every race will come down to the wire no matter how far you get in front of the opponent. I'll be looking for a patch that fixes or balances this issue.

Ive read all the reviews and wonder where the info is coming from. Fact: There is free roaming in this game just like in Need for Speed Underground, though the roaming isnt required to get to races. Its still nice to drive around though. Fact: this "rubberband" AI catchup thing, can be TURNED OFF! Its in the options. The game pretty much is a mirror of Underground, maybe with better graphics, certainly more interactive traffic. The AI cops are smart, and use shortcuts to catch up. They even attempt to slow you down using objects or other cars. Biggest change, is the loss of Drag and drift races, thank god. You have sprints, circuits, tollbooth(time trial) and knock out... last place car gets knocked off per lap. Outside career you have quick race and custom, where you pick location, traffic etc. There is also challenge mode. This is many small races with a reward at the end. The blacklist are a bunch of high profile racers you take down in order. To reach them you must win races and defy authorities. From what Ive seen you can do races over and over earning $$. Tuning, custom designs and such are all still in the game. Changing your cars paint, look etc is important, not for fame, but to avoid the cops. Cops, that come out of nowhere in the middle of races. You are also allowed to listen to the police frequency, which at times is quite funny. All in all, this game is better than Underground and if you are new to the series, this is the one to pick up.

Just a heads up to anyone planning to pick up this game. Due to the copy protection, this game won't run on some computers.

If you have any type of CD/DVD burning software installed that's more advanced than the basic stuff that comes with the computer / drive, the game wants you to uninstall it.

If you have any type of virutal CD software installed, yup, you guessed it... The game wants you to uninstall it.

As far as I'm concerned, when a game company expects their customers to remove software from their computer just to play a game, I'll look elsewhere. I use my computer for games and work, therefore burning software and vitrual CD software is a lot more important than a game that's broken out of the box.

I'd like to mention that for me, this game was a love & hate relationship. Because of this, I'm going to break things down into the good, the bad and the other, and let you make up your own mind.

Side note 1: Currently, I am 80% complete, #1 on the blacklist and have beat the storyline.

Side note 2: This review contains no spoiler details (i.e. what exactly happens or the ending itself), but does dance around it in the "The Ending" section. IMO, it's not something you'd need to avoid if you've never played, but if you're VERY specific in this department, you may want to skip it.

The other: Prior to playing NFS:MW I played both NFS:Underground 2 and Midnight Club (Not dub, the one that was on shelves side by side with Underground 2). My biggest beef with Underground was the lack of tracks to race on, how linear each track was and the way you had 5 races from different angles on the tracks. What I liked about Midnight club was the NON-Linearness. You had check points (much like a GTA race) but how you arrived at each check point was YOUR choice. With this came an array of short cuts, including going through buildings, parks, over and under passes and so on. Midnight club also let you free roam (as MW now does). What I'm basically getting at, is NFS:MW is a combination of NFS & Midnight club aspects, ultimately making it a winner, with the clear advantage of name brand cars.

The Good:
1) Free roam - drive around like a maniac and TEST your ride! Additionally, you can check out whats where, find the short cuts, play around... It's good stuff.

2) Hot cars & Upgrades - Who wouldn't want a Lamborghini? Well, now you can have TWO. Not only that, you can slap nice visuals (as you've come to expect) onto the vehicle, as well as ground effects (body kits) and all that other jazz you'd expect.

3) Multiple Vehicles - Don't look past this, as in my opinion it's KEY! One beef I had with Underground 2 was that cash was meaningless. WOOHOO HIGH COMMISSION OPPORTUNITY BABY! So you won the race in Underground 2 and got 5G instead of 2G, great job! Now what? Doing the races on the lowest setting always allowed for the best upgrades and so on... So there wasn't much incentive to improve your flow. Quite the opposite in MW though. Here you have multiple vehicles in your garage, and in fact, need them because an over used car will attract a higher level of police attention. Additionally, when your caught, you will incur an impound strike and after 3 of those, you lose the car! So clearly, more money HELPS!

4) Mind Blowing Speed - Shocker? The only way I can explain the speed is like this: Imagine your driving so fast you can barely see the road ahead of you... then you shift up a gear. :)

5) Handling - Great handling accompanies that mind blowing speed. Just when you feel you're about to fly off the road... You don't! Well you might, but once you get a feel for the car, you're swaying back in forth in traffic, flying along the highways and ducking down side streets. The handling is what makes this game truly fun to play, as just when you thought you couldn't go any faster... You do!

6) N2O - Great improvement! Still using the squeeze method of Nitrous (opposed to Midnight clubs 1-3 shot charge), your nitrous regenerates during high speed driving. Thus enabling you to make ample use of a very nice tool.

7) Environment - Still not quite Midnight club quality, they've added in persuit breakers (i.e. hit the posts of a donut shop to send a 2 story donut rolling into the street and down on chasing cops or unsuspecting racers), as well as Midnight clubish short cuts. The short cuts generally are minor (though much better than Underground2), such as cutting straight thru a winding road, but do get as nice as traveling thru a bus station or football statium. All in all, the environment is good stuff and a most definate improvement over previous versions.

8) Police Persuits - This is where the line between good and bad starts to blur. For this section, I'll focus on the earlier chases. Early on, persuits are a LOT of fun and come in two flavors. The first of the two is high-way driving, which due to it's predictable path, will help hold and increase the force the police deloy against you. Street driving on the other hand, is more designed to LOSE the cops, with persuit breakers, underground tunnels and plenty of side streets to duck down. Definately a nice change of pace from standard races.

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The bad:

All in all this game has little to cry about, it's just about EVERYTHING you'd want out of a game... just about.

Being a Vice City veteran of 10 minute long runs with a 6 star warning level, I was eager to take on the police with nothing but brutal force and speed as my weapons. Early on, the police had not a chance. Commonly, they were ditched in less than 2 minutes if it was my desired outcome. More so, the chases were a bit more manageable, in that there was room for flaw, such as crashing to a dead stop, or more importantly, being able to take their vehicle OUT. To date I've immobilized over 300 vehicles, and growing. But it shouldn't it be higher? I think so too.

So whats the deal with the high end persuits? Allow me to bullet..

1) Suicide SUVs - This is probably my biggest problem with NFS. When the heat gets pumping, you'll find packs of 2-3 SUVs barrelling down the highway and streets with ONE goal... To crash HEAD ON with you. While I realize this isn't a simulation, nor by any means a true depiction of a real live persuit, having 2-3 cops playing a game of chicken with you.. just doesn't seem right.

2) Being Busted - There are 2 meters with regard to persuits, one for evading (which then leads to a cool down timer) and one that lands you in jail. To be "busted" you don't need to be at a complete stop, you just need to be surrounded by police. Infact, your busted meter can reach HALF way simply from a cop being along side of you during a persuit. 90% of the time the way I got busted was from hitting a pole or a cop and coming to a complete stop. At which point, every unit following you, surrounds you in one swift fluid motion and are capable of working in unicen to keep you held there. Unfortunately, hearing and experiencing this are two very different animals. While at first this may sound like mere bickering, you might also consider that I've been "busted" while driving away at 30MPH+, simply because the timer filled up before I had even come to a stop. My main beef with this is not the penalties of being busted, but rather the inability to regularly have a heart pumping, white knuckle, no time for blinking police persuit!

3) The Ending: Part 1 - While beating Razor makes you #1 on the black list, there's still a hump in the road to get over before you officially "win." While I'm not going to go in too much detail about that "hump" I will say this... A) It took one guy 2 days to pass, B) It damn near ruined this game for me I was so pissed.

4) The Ending: Part 2 - Some games like to wrap everything up for you, you find out you were really an Area51 alien test tube baby, designed for world domination and the complete destruction of all undesireable smelling cheeses with a knack for sewing sweaters blind folded... This isn't one of those games. But thats all I'll say about that.
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Over all: All things considered NFS:MW is a definate success and will keep you entertained till the end. It is most certainly the best of the NFS series, and well worth the money they charge. I hope that my negative points haven't discouraged you from trying an otherwise excellent game, I did however, feel obligated to mention them, as I believe that when spending money, you should have a good idea of the product your receiving.

Happy Racing! :)

I have to admit I have been disappointed with some of the past NFS games in the underground series specifically. I did not like how as you progressed in the game, they just added more laps to the same tracks. Most wanted is different: Although it all takes place in the same City, almost every race is different, and nothign really feels the same. When you go on milestone missions to increase your bounty, there are an inifinite number of possibilities to go through, so it continues to stay fun. The graphics in this game are really good. I am running it on a 2.6GHz P4, Ati 9800XT, and 512mb of ram, and it runs great. I rarely ever get a slow down at 1280x1024 and all advanced graphics options on high. The cars look beautiful and I am really impressed.

I was also surprised with how good the story in this game, the past couple NFS's have beeen a little flakey on the story, but this one is pretty good (I won't reveal anything about it though).

The online play is alright. I had some initial connection problems which I think was due to the fact that I did not register my game. To play online I beleive you have to do this. As soon as I did, it started working alright.

Overall it is a very fun game and I really enjoy it. I like how they combined the parts custimization of NFS Underground with the classic "Run from the cops" of Hot Pursuit.

It is definitely worth the money.

Intro:
I have played all of the games in the Need For Speed franchise and other than my personal favorite (Porsche Unleashed) Most Wanted is the overall best.


Story:
The game starts out with a pretty engaging intro followed by some horrible acting in the story scenes. The story itself though is fairly good, although somewhat cheesy, and makes you want to see the career mode through to competition. Another good thing about the story is that is makes the career a somewhat uniform length as both novice and expert racing gamers need to progress through the easily accomplishable tasks.


Game Play:
The driving experience (i.e. physics modle, steering responsiveness, etc.) was decent but fine. The steering was very forgiving and spins/skids were really strange in behavior. The responsiveness is much better than in Underground 2 and there is less need for hand break which is a good thing. The hand break puts the car into one of the poorly modeled spins, which can't be corrected by counter steering and applying throttle.
The race mode is O.K. but the AI is pretty weak in the early levels. The different kinds of racing add interest and can be very fun. The racing would by painfully easy if the courses didn't keep changing. Well, they aren't really courses but more routes through the free roam world (I'll get to that later). To make sure you're ready for any sharp turns you need to remain alert while racing and I think that add a ton to the game.
The free roam world is one of the major pluses to this game. It is fun for races because you don't have to load menus if you drive around to find a race. Also it is cool because it adds believability to the story but the number one awesome part of free roam mode is the cop chases.
The Police chases in Need for Speed Most Wanted are incredible. A huge gain over NFS Hot Pursuit is that Hot Pursuit had one-dimensional chases that were pretty tame. Most Wanted has a full go anywhere world that for a first-of-it-kind is unbelievable. If a cop sees you on the streets they will instantly give chase. If you haven't been in a chase before the cop cars will start out as the standard black and white. As you cause the police more problems your cars heat will rise until you have roadblocks all over the place, police helicopters hovering over you, and police undercover Corvettes hunting you. The free roam world makes the pursuits 100 times better. Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit are like an 8-inch black and white TV and the OMNI Max dome. I would buy this game just for the chases.

Cars:
The cars selection was good and I like the choices that were given. The visual options were impressive in terms of upgrades but performance ones were lacking. When buying cars they show top speed, acceleration and handling on little bars. Now I think that is LAMO, I mean I don't care about bars, SHOW ME HORSEPOWER, 0-60, Quarter mile times... something. It seems that EA is giving info to the very novice gamer, couldn't they do both? Anyway, it seems a pretty minor problem in a great game.

Graphics:
The graphics for this game are exceptional. The cars especially, they have great textures and light mapping.

Conclusion:
This is a great game to buy.

Story: A-
Realism: B
Races: B+
Handling: A-
World: A+
Chases: A+
Cars: A
Car Opts: B-
Graphics: A
Sound: A

Overall: A

Need for Speed (NFS) Most Wanted is the hottest driving game yet. It compiles the best from NFS Underground 2 and NFS Hot Pursuit. The graphics, music and simulation are amazing. You can get around the police by dropping loads of lumber and cars from the 18-wheelers. You can blow up gas stations, drop water towers, and crumple the police communication towers. You can drop the screen from the drive-in cinema, and play a round of golf while evading the police. Want to rest? Why not park in the bus terminal or at college and watch the fun begin with the police cars! Beware of the Rhinos! They'll stop you in your tracks. Better have enough juice to evade the pursuit vettes! Unfortunately the drawback to this game is that you definitely need a kickin' computer to play. If you are a NFS fan, I highly recommend NFS Most Wanted. Can't wait to see what EA dreams up for their next installment.

I've been a fan of NFS ever since NFS 2 and despite some miserable failures (namely NFSHP2)all the games have been a lot of fun. But I'm afraid the game is starting to lose it's magic touch. First of all, having a complete city is great and I'm sure it takes a lot of work but it also makes the game environment a bit monotonous. Sure, you have the residential sector, and the industrial sector and downtown but, at the end of the day all you have is the city and it's surroundings. I remember that one of the things I enjoyed the most from my favorite installment (High stakes)was that you could be racing through snowy mountains, deserts, racetracks, highways.....

I also dislike the fact that you have to drive to every race. Sometimes it will take you a lot of time to get from one point to the other and, that is if you don't get busted by the police where you'll have to go into chase mode and probably end up going even further than what you expected. Sure, it can be fun at times but sometimes I just want to race and not have to spend 10 minutes driving there.

The music selection isn't as sharp as NFSU1 but somewhat better than NFSU2. Also, we finally get some real super cars. To be perfectly honest I'd rather drive a stock Lamborghini Murcielago than a "pimped" Honda Civic although, no Ferraris? Sacrilege!

Finally the bugs. I'm sure that there will be a patch but so far the game is plagued with bugs. Setting up my MS Sidewinder FFW was a nightmare and whenever I crash the wheel keeps on vibrating. I know this has a lot to do with Microsoft's lack of support but this is the firs game that has given me any problems. The shadows don't work and you can't see any cars from the rear view mirror.

So, in conclusion. Is it worth playing? Sure. Fun? Sure. Could EA have done better? No question about it.

The game can be quite enjoyable to play, but extremely aggravating when 20 second lead times are erased because you're not allowed to win by that big of a margin. If you outsmart or out drive the computers cars you will see them granted acceleration speeds that can only be measured in Mach, and the cornering ability of a cheetah.

The recovery times of the AI's cars when tricked or pushed into obstacles seems like a huge hand follows them and quickly corrects any mishaps. When you find yourself losing because you nick some corner within 100 feet of the finish, but had been in the lead until then, you want to chuck the cd's out the window. I used to be a fan of NFS series, but this installment has me doubting I'll every purchase it again.

I have to say, of all the games I've played, this one really keeps you guessing. I've played simulators ranging from GTR2 to Live for Speed, and most of the NFS titles up through NFS: Undercover. NFS Most Wanted is -the- best game in the series by far. In challenge mode, The AI is intense, and with each increasing heat level things get progressively harder and harder. It can be frustrating at times but the payoff is good when you finally get past it. You actually feel like you've accomplished something!

NFS Carbon was a close shot but I think this game handles the graphics end of things better and I prefer the daylight play over nighttime play. It's also quite funny to listen to the Cops as you're bouncing through traffic and what the developers put in play.

The career mode is also equally entertaining, with new sub-plots being thrown in regularly. It isn't terribly difficult to get money for upgrades but don't expect to build out one car and keep it throughout the game or you'll be sadly dissapointed. Do your essentials to the car you're using and wait until the boss races. If you manage to score the other guy's car after a boss battle you save yourself a ton of trouble in preparing a vehicle and can keep saving up for that -favorite- car you wanted plus the mods to make it worth it. I've found you can build out various cars to the top spec in "my garage" outside of the career mode to see which car is the best of the bunch you can get. This often will be a car that's won from a boss.

I'm very happy to have come across the seller who had it! Finally, even if you don't get the Black Edition (which only gives you a few extra skins you can put on the cars, and maybe access to a few models that only come later in the game) it's still worth the price of admission. Awesome game, hands down!