Need for Speed: Most Wanted
- January 25, 2006 13:50 PM PST
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Most Wanted is iterative rather than revolutionary. Of course, if it isn't broken, why fix it?
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The Wrecking Crew
Your goal is no longer fame through sponsorship and magazine covers, but infamy via high-speed pursuits and destructive distractions. You'll climb a blacklist of the scene's most notorious burners, posting enough wins and high enough bounties to challenge each in succession. Getting away from the cops isn't always easy, but you can slow time with an awesome new "speedbreaker" function, or distract them by causing minor disasters, like taking out the support beam of a roadhouse, or blowing up a gas station. Once you've slipped away, blue circles on the map indicate hiding spots where you can let the situation cool down.
While the racing is pretty standard fare for the series-circuits, sprints, time trials, etc.-the police presence freshens the experience, and the wealth of environments and shortcuts doesn't hurt. Most Wanted is a bit too easy for a bit too long, but as the heat around you grows, the cops get more and more aggressive about taking you down, and your rivals start offering weighty competition. You won't make it to the end slamming guardrails left and right.
Speed Trap
Need for Speed has its game down to a science at this point. The graphics include a mild form of damage modeling, the audio is above average, and the car handling is a perfect mix of realism and arcade twitch. The best elements of Underground 2 are back, with mild adjustments ranging from the interface to pimping options to crash physics, but even given the law enforcement tensions, Most Wanted is iterative rather than revolutionary. Of course, if it isn't broken, why fix it?
KEY MOMENT: Turning the tables with poetic injustice by using the "pit maneuver" on a cop
