Customer Reviews

Need for Speed Most Wanted

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So here's my take after having played the game for two weeks.

Visually this game is stunning. Add to that a nearly endless selection of customization options for your rides and were talking some serious eye candy and I didn't even need a high end graphics card to run it smoothly with all the video options maxed out. My only complaint about the graphics is the lack of wide screen resolution settings. As a result, the screen is stretched on my wide screen monitor.

The racing, in all modes, is fun, though lacking in realism. It seems to me EA wanted to make another Need For Speed game and add a pinch of GTA into the mix in that you get points for causing as much damage to city property and police vehicles as possible. In drag race mode, if you hit an object at a high enough speed and your car will be "totaled" and you automatically lose. It would have been nice for this feature to be extended consistently throughout the game rather than turning roadside objects into targets for your car to flatten.

The difficulty between different race modes is very unbalanced. For example, competing in a circuit race against other drivers is very easy throughout the game whereas running a timed interval race gets tougher the higher up the blacklist you progress. This is both good and bad. While it's nice to have the easy races to generate income, having to attempt some of the harder race modes twenty times just to progress your career is tedious.

All the negatives of game play are overwhelmingly outweighed by the positives. The courses are fun and there are some pretty creative shortcuts; some that help, some that don't. The police chases are loads of fun and listening to the in game police scanner adds a lot of atmosphere. Another great feature about the game is the ability to turn "Catch Up" on or off. One of the most annoying things in a lot of racing games is the computer drivers will "cheat" if you get ahead of them and you can't pull away from them. My guess is developers do this to keep things competitive, though I see it as more of a lack of good AI, but in NFS Most Wanted you can turn this off. Great bonus.

Finally, a word about the music and FMV. A very negative word. In a nutshell, it takes away so much polish this game has to offer. Having to sit through the opening FMV sequences in the beginning of the game (I couldn't find a way to skip them) is torturous. What's worse is the music selection in the game. It's horrendous, unless you're into rap, hiphop, and bad metal (in which case I still don't think fans of those genres would consider it good music). That you can't play your own MP3 list through the game is an unforgivable oversight by EA. I don't know what they were thinking, but in this era of gaming that is completely unacceptable.

To sum it up:

Pros: Great graphics, fantastic (and nearly endless) vehicle customization options, large selection of vehicles, police chases are loads of fun.

Cons: The music is horrendous, can't play your own music through the game (the game loses one star for this alone), lack of realism in races, lack of wide screen resolution settings.

If you like cars...if you like racing...then you will love this game...and byfar this is the best racing game...and the music is simply wonderful,perfectly suits for the racing mood.you can feel asif you are being chased by the cops,or as if you are taking part in an hollywood movie car chase.the feeling is just wonderful.you have choices,variety of levels...nitro...slow-motion...and the graphics,game play will leave you awestruck.what more can you ask for?

Lots of fun, great cars to race. If you like running from the cops, crashing into roadblocks, and being a menace to society, this is your game. Its challenging (I dive a variety of car games) and maddening sometimes too. I think I'm a pretty good PC driver (47 years old) and it pushes me to really drive my daring best. No violence, sex (other than a belly shirt wearing girl) to speak of, so its ok for kids. Get it!

This game was great. It was fairly long so it didn't bore me easily. The best part about it was the drag racing which never got boring.

There have been so many different racing games that have either been successful at burning full rubber, or there are ones that haven't turned the right corner. For Electronic Arts, they have definitely delivered with the need for speed. Since the Need For Speed franchise came out back in the mid 90's, it has continued to deliver new gamers of all kinds. The feel of the the constant changes in the series have deliver very well, and still do. Need For Speed: Most Wanted really did deliver very well for the consoles like the Nintendo Gamecube, and especially the recent Xbox 360. Now, the PC has a little speed of its own.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted delivers as fast & furious like its console counterparts. The gameplay is just as fun as well. The object of the game is that you are caught in the web of the most wanted list, and you have to work your way up to the top of the blacklist by challenging through several extreme races like the speedtrap, where your speed is clocked in to the fastest with each leg of the race, and races like the pervious editions such as drag, circuits, and lap knockouts. There is also the challenge of battling with the cops, and trying to master your bounty points.

The game includes some outrageous cars for you to unlock and manuver such as the supercharged Dodge Viper, the Ford GT, and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS sports coupe. The graphics and the gameplay are just deliver in perfectional fashion, and stand out very well. The music also is shown well with each track and feel for the game. There are a couple of disadvantages to the game however. One of them is that you have to have the Windows XP operating system to play this game. Another disadvantage, is that if you've mastered the video game console editions, there is no need to buy the PC edition.

All in all, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a great buy for any gamer who loves the thrill of the fast & the furious. This is a really great racing title for the PC, and definitely doesn't dissapoint at all. I really love this game a whole lot.

Graphics: A-

Sound: B+

Control: A-

Fun & Enjoyment: A-

Overall: B 1/2+

As I've mentioned in other reviews, I've yet to come across a Need For Speed game that is even remotely close to this one. Even after however many years it's been since it was released, and however many games have also come out since the release, I still find myself coming back to this game for the awesome chases.

Sure, this game is very "arcadey" and the physics are a bit quirky at times, but that's the point. It's not meant to be a simulator like the Shift series (the only other great series from the NFS line-up). You're supposed to crash through the roadblock then keep on going. You're supposed to have cars that go 0-200 MPH in a few seconds. It's just fun. None of this drifting crap or "realistic" steering; just pure arcade fun. I think what really adds to this game's charm is the large, open map. You can drive most anywhere. Races are constricted, which I like, but pursuits tend to be fully open with plenty of places to run and hide.

Fantastic game that I come back to play every once in a while, The cop chases are fun and the overall game itself is great, I love the real life action scenes. Worth every penny. 5/5

I have had this game for about 16 months and I still enjoy playing it. The story, once finished, gets old like most games but the driving (and outrunning the cops and competition) is still a blast. There are numerous challenges besides the story line that will challenge your skills at any level of play.

The one down side is the online game play. If your connection is even a little slow you will be slaughtered online but otherwise this is a great game to play and is worth owning in my humble opinion.

I was playing NFS Carbon on my friends WII and I realised that I had been missing out on racing games, so I went ahead and bought this and carbon along with my logitech momo racing wheel. Great game, good video, pretty decent graphics.Its a lot of fun, with different types of races and scenarios available. The only thing, I didnt like is that it does not support widescreen monitors so I had to find a user-developed patch to accomodate my widescreen monitor. There is a bug where the mouse pointer disappears; however, everything can be accomplished using a keyboard. I am going to beat this game before I start Carbon.

I love this game. Cops are smart enough to bother you for a while, which is what make this kind of game interesting!