Need for Speed: Most Wanted Review

I guess there is one thing that annoyed me. There's a number of racing events with scripted AI that demonstrated strict and predetermined movement for civilian vehicles - trucks, cars, vans, etc. So, each time you play the game, they will appear in the same lane right in front of you, which looks kinda lame and may reduce the challenge a bit.

One of the best innovations is the possibility of locating destructible structures while the cops are on your tail. Just keep your eyes peeled (either on the radar or on the road itself) until you come across something potentially dangerous, like a huge storage silo or even the screen of a drive-in theatre. Colliding with these structures will often make them crash right onto police vehicles or will effectively block their way. Should the police be right on you, don't waste your time trying to shake them off, just ram into the nearest 18-wheeler transporting cars or logs and presto... the pathetic cop car is out of action. Cool no doubt, but above all extremely fun!

Now that I think of it, vehicle handling was almost too simple in NFS: Hot Pursuit. This clearly progressed throughout the series (i.e. NFSU and NFSU2). It's safe to say that NFS: Most Wanted is perfectly balanced between real-life steering and physics and arcade-style handling.

In short, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is very addictive and it has the potential to lure any gamer, regardless of what genre he prefers playing. However, I did run into several drawbacks. The aforementioned AI flaws and a small variety of tunes. Otherwise, I cannot deny I had a lot of fun with this game and the fact that I ended up playing it for days (and long sleepless nights). I'd happily play through it again, after I've completed the Career mode.

Sadly, we didn't get a change to test the Online mode, but a few LAN races were a sufficient demonstration for the game's multiplayer potential.

If EA continues to make sequels like this, then there's much hope for the future. I think they need to stick to the recipe that made this title as good as it is. In spite of some of the negative things we've been saying about the giant publisher's questionable strategies, we have to give them credit where credit is due. Namely, they sure know how to combine elements to make a top-quality arcade racer. NFS: Most Wanted didn't exactly elevate the series, but it successfully mixed all the ingredients that made the previous games addictive to play.