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Need for Speed Most Wanted: One of the Best Racers
Mike Rohde, Executive Editor
March 24, 2010
Racing games on the consoles generally don't get much attention, unless the game happens to be Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo. That's kinda too bad, because there are some truly great racers out there that deserve to be played. While Forza is a great simulator, and the latest iteration drastically increased playability--especially with a steering wheel--it is still a straight-forward racing game. Sometimes though--when you're feeling dangerous--you want to take to the streets, peel some rubber, and engage in high-speed street racing; and at the end of the day, if you drop a giant donut on top of a police car, then all the better.
Playing EA's Need for Speed Most Wanted is kind of like slipping on an old pair of tennis shoes. You know it's old, you know it's kind of stinky, but it also happens to be one of your favorites, and you wouldn't want to live to see the day you don't own it anymore. The game was released in 2005 and has a Metacritic score of 83, which ain't too shabby. Since then, the franchise has grown to include several titles, some of which received similar praise, and some did not. For many, the first in the series is still considered the best, and is still played to this day.
The graphics have held up over the past five years, the gameplay is fluid, the controls-as long as you're using a controller and not a steering wheel-are pretty responsive, and the game has a feel to it that keeps you coming back for more. Most Wanted is the type of game that will sit on a player's shelf, and about once every few months, it will be inserted into the 360 for a few spins around the block. It is times like that when a player simply wants to sit back and have some fun: for this is a fun game that has stood the test of time.
For those of you who don't know, Need for Speed Most Wanted is about street racing. You have to build up your street cred to take down the city's best racers. You build up your cred by winning races, blasting past speed traps, evading the police chases, beating time trials and so on and so forth. The game is fast paced, action packed and contains plenty of details. You can upgrade and customize cars. You buy and sell cars. And you can buy nitrous. Upgrading your nitrous tanks is probably one of the first things you'll want to do. Hitting the gas and pressing the nitrous button sends you flying past opponents and police, or you can knock them out. It doesn't matter how many trees or obstacles you hit cause your car can't take damage. It's arcade action at it's finest. Sure, it can get a little cheesy, but that adds to the fun. You see, the racers you are trying to knock out aren't faceless AI. They have personalities and each one has a mini-cutscene. They get tougher and meaner the further you progress. Plus, if you're lucky, after you beat them you get an opportunity to take their pink slip. That way, you can use their car against the next racer. And so on. Till you reach the top.
You can buy Need for Speed Most Wanted on Amazon or eBay for roughly under $20. It's also available on Goozex for 300 points. That's saying something right there, that a five-year old game isn't sitting in the 100-point bargain bin just like PGR 3 and 4.
