Most Need For Speed fans will know what I'm talking about when I refer to the most wanted game of 2005. The Need For Speed franchise has been reborn with the release of Need For Speed Most Wanted (NFSMW) on the 15th of November this year in the U.S. Fans could not stop talking about all the fantastic features of this game and the Internet was swarmed with headlines about this great title. But what is the buzz all about? What makes this title so exceptional? Take a quick tour with me and you will find out.
The main attraction of Need For Speed Most Wanted, is the return of the high speed, police chases that was introduced in the very first instalment of the series and perfected in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. But the police chases is far more complicated that fans had become accustomed to in previous versions of the game. The cops are much more aggressive, more skilled and better equipped. Don't think you can tune your ride to be the fastest and beat the police with speed, they have some serious stuff under the hood and skilled drivers behind the wheel.
Damage models also make a return. You can completely destroy a cop's car while your own car can only be damaged visually by means of broken windows and damaged paint. Almost everything in the free roaming world can be destroyed and used to your advantage during a cop chase. Drive through a gas station, or remove the pillars of a shop's roof and see what happens to the cops. The traffic models have also been improved and they are still as annoying as in all the other Need For Speed titles, but the game will not be so much fun without this annoyance factor. The surrounding world detail has also received huge attention. HDRR (High Dynamic Range Rendering) pushes the graphics to new heights and that is one of the main reasons why the game plays off during the day and not at night like in the Underground series.
The speed-breaker is a nice innovation of EA to help players control their cars during the high-speed chases. The speed-breaker is much like the bullet-time feature of games like Max Payne and Total Overdose. One thing that may disappoint fans is the fact that the customisation of the cars is much more limited than in the Underground series. You can only modify your spoiler, hood, roof scoops and window tinting. You can purchase complete body kits that will adjust your muffler tips, headlights, etc. automatically to fit in with the specific kit you chose. You can still paint your car, add vinyls, put decals on your ride and paint your rims (but not your brake callipers). Painting your car and changing its visual appearance is vital to your success in the game. This will help you evade the cops by bringing your heat level down after each visual upgrade, or change you make to your ride.
All your performance upgrades are still available in the game and you unlock more powerful upgrades as you progress through the game. The only limitation with performance upgrades is that you no longer can choose the brands of your parts, they are pre-selected with each upgrade. EA also dropped the fairly complicated tuning of Underground 2 and brought back the simple slider tuning that was introduced in earlier titles. You only move the relevant slider to the left or right to modify your car's handling, steering speed, height, acceleration, down-force, top speed, braking, turbo and nitrous booster. This should be welcomed by gamers because they are no longer frustrated by hours complicated tuning to get the most out of their rides. The emphasis of this game is becoming the most notorious street racer and that is why EA shifted from the tuner theme to the cop-chase theme.
There are over 30 cars to choose from, including tuners, street-cars, muscle cars, sport models and exotics. Each and every car can be tuned and upgraded for maximum performance. You will find that cash is a limited resource and you need to upgrade and buy strategically. You also get the chance to win your rival's car by winning his pink slip after each challenge. But before you can challenge a blacklist member you first need to achieve a number of race wins and milestones to build respect among the racers and prove you are worthy of racing against them.
The music continues the Underground attitude, but the high-speed cop-chases introduce a brand new innovation: interactive music. The interactive music gives the game a cinematic feel. The closer the cops get, the more dramatic the music becomes. When you evade the cops the music reaches a climax but returns to a dramatic tone as soon as a cop spots you again. The changes in music are very accurate and EA has done a great job in creating the right atmosphere during these lightning-speed chases.
There are so many other great features in this game, but mentioning them all in one article is just not practical. Need For Speed Most Wanted is a blend of all the great features of previous titles and more. Great graphics, a great storyline with great actors like Josie Maran, great music and great cars. All these factors make the game the Most Wanted game of the year.
