Hated:

Perhaps what I hated most about Most Wanted is the fact that it just does not feel like Need For Speed anymore. Most Wanted resembles Burnout more then Need For Speed. I felt like they just took Need For Speed and just turned it into a Burnout Paradise sequel with cops. Just about every feature found in the old Most Wanted has been stripped from the game entirely. Fan favorite features that are gone include visual customization; which has been limited to car color. Gone are the custom body kits, rims, window tints, and vinyls. There is just no way to make your car your own. This was a huge let down considering how much I enjoyed this in the original.

Another feature that is gone is pursuit breakers during pursuits. This removes any kind of strategic planning during cop chases since now cop cars can be disabled with one good hit in true Burnout fashion. In the original it took some doing to disable a cop car by ramming it and not by just hitting once or twice.

If you have played Burnout you would know the game has more to do more with take downs then actual racing. This mentality carries over to Most Wanted. I just never thought that Need For Speed and Burnout were a good combination. After a few hours I became frustrated with the forced slow motion cut scenes when I crashed. This was cool with Burnout, but in a Need For Speed game it's just annoying. Having this feature became even more annoying when the cops give chase. It's ridiculously easy for the cops to take you out with their cruisers and SUVs. Not only that but since just about every object in the world you hit triggered a crash cut scene I felt myself taking less risks just not to deal with the annoyance. I found myself getting busted in more cheep ways than I could count because of this feature.

Loved:

Ok enough bashing the game. There are some things that I did like in Most Wanted. One of Most Wanted’s best features was the world it was set in. The city of Fairhaven is richly detailed and hosts great variety. From highways and city blocks to train yards and abandon airfields; the city is filled with plenty of jumps and ways to get ahead of your opponents. The game also featured a great sense of speed. This should be familiar to anyone who has played Burnout before.

The upgrade system was a unique new feature, which lets you change performance parts on the fly to deal with any situation. Upgrade such as impact protection to blast through roadblocks, Nitrous, or re-inflating tires to be able run over spike strips. Using these upgrades are made easy with easy drive which is a drop down menu that lets you pick from your list of upgrades without taking you out of game play. If you own a Kinect you can just speck into the mic to automatically make your upgrades.

One thing that the game really does well is it keeps track of your race times, speed through speed cameras, and anything you do in the world and compares them with your friends to keep up competition.

Closing Comments:

Need For Speed Most Wanted is not a completely bad game. I was just disappointed that the Need For Speed series has gotten away from its roots. There is a good chance if you are an old school fan of Need For Speed you will be very disappointed with this game. It's just not the same game anymore. However if you were a fan of Burnout Paradise chances are you will like this game.

Need For Speed Most Wanted was developed by Criterion Games and published by EA for the PS3, PS Vita, XBox 360, and PC on October 30^th 2012. A copy was of the game was purchased by myself for review purposes.