"This game is condition great!"

Well, well, well. Here we are at the newest edition to a series that has been going on forever. And I must say, this series hasn't gotten old yet. I own the original Underground game, and have played and beaten Underground 2. I have also played Hot Pursuit, but only in a store. But the point is, each of those games had a great idea going for them. Pursuit with police chases, and Underground with extreme customization. What do you get when you put them together? My new favorite racing game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Graphics--8/10

Graphics in this game are very well done. The cars look like the real version of themselves. The most amazing thing I have found with this game is things such as lighting. Going from a dark tunnel, to the outside where there is tones of light, can be quite blinding. Seriously, the sun is that bright, is glares your screen and you can't see for like a second. But that is good, and is probably the only realistic thing in this game. What brought this category down was the environment. Signs are the only part of the environment that look good. They have street names, speed limits, and warnings on them, just like on real roads. Buildings though, could use some paint. They are very bland, and just don't look very real. At the end of the PS2's lifespan, I expect better, but it's all good.

Sound--10/10

Vroooom. That's the thing you'll hear the most. And it sounds good too. Each car sounds like their real life counterpart, and they all sound different, but extremely good. The music is good. There are some good rap and rock artists on here, out of which I only know one of them. But just because a artist is unknown, doesn't make them bad. The police sound great. From the sound of sirens, to their conversations over the scanner, it all sounds good, and it sounds like what real cops say. And it better sound good, because you'll be hearing from the cops a lot.

Story--5/10

The story in this game is nothing much. Basically, your a high up street racer. You get in a race with a guy named Razor. He says he'll take your car, and your girl. You rev your engine. Of course he's busted your ride, wouldn't you know it? So he does take your ride. You want to get revenge, so you must work your way up the blacklist, a group of the 15 most wanted racers in Rockport, where the game takes place, with Razor at number one. You race some races, you run from some cops, you beat a blacklist racer. You do this until you get to Razor. Not much of a story, but it keeps the game moving along.

Gameplay--7/10

Ah, the heart of gaming, the gameplay. As stated before, this game is about racing, car customization, and running from the Po-Po. Mix it all together and what to you have? Something that could have been better. The first change this game makes from the Underground series, is that it's all in daylight. No more nighttime racing. Which isn't a bad thing, but I wish there were day and night races. The races are very worked out. Each one seems different, even when two races go through the same areas. There are many race modes, like circuit, drag, and sprint. The areas you race in are great. There is the countryside, the beach, and the city. It all comes together nice. You can freeroam the areas, and you can get chased by the cops through the areas. The cops are not stupid like they are in Midnight Club. They know what you are doing, and will set up various strategies. They may try to ram you into walls. They will box you in. They will set up roadblocks with sawhorses and spike strips. They will even deploy helicopters. And these things can get hard to avoid when your being chased by 30 cops, and having SUV's ramming you head on. You can't get away? Then your busted. They will charge you fees, and maybe even impound your car. But never fear, there are many cars to choose from to get away from those nasty Po-Po. You have a selection of close to 40 cars, ranging from Cobalts, to Mustangs, to Mecedez-Benz, to Lambourghinis. And each of these cars can be tricked out in numerous ways. You can choose body kits, rims, spoilers, hoods, paint jobs, vinyl, and a bunch of other things. It's not as in-depth as Midnightclub, or Underground, but it gets the job done, sice this game is all about racing. The performance section is where things get shaky. When all the cars in the game are fully tuned, they are pretty much the same as each other. Now I can understand a Corvette and a Viper being close, but an Eclipse and a Gallardo? That's just unheard of. This game is though, as far from realism as anything can get. While the race tracks are great, the actual race can be good, or extremely bad. The game has horrible physics. I'm used to playing Gran Turismo, where the cars handle and perform like they should. Most Wanted is no where near that. Civilian cars are like brick walls. You hit one of their cars, and it will be stuck to you, and inmovable. Or you may just spin out. Apparently our cars don't have tires, because I swear it feels like my car is sliding on ice. But when your car does handle right, it all feels good. Another big bug on me for realism is damage. Now in a drag race, your car can be totaled. But anywhere else, your car becomes invincible. You could be going 200 mph, slam head on into a heavy police SUV, going nearly 150 mph, and all you will do is bounce off, and come out with maybe a cracked windshield, or some paint scratches. Now if this was real life, which this isn't, that crash would have destroyed your car beyond hope. Other crashes or incidents may come out where your car will either suffer in no way, or suffer too much. Spike strips that hit one tire, destroy every one of your tires. And boom, your busted. It would be very hard to get through this game though if your car exploded during every police chase. So I guess un-realism has it's bright sides. All in all, great gameplay.

Replayability--6/10

Yes, even great games have their downfalls. Most Wanted's downfall comes in replayability. Once you beat the game, you can continue racing, but there is no more story. Blacklist people won't challenge you. You can still outrun cops, and buy and enhance cars, but this may get old. For me, it doesn't, but I'm not everyone. There are plenty of challenges to do, which may last a short while, or a day depending on your skill level. You can always play through the game again, but it will be the same exact thing, nothing new. Same story, same races, same milestones. I love this game, so that won't stop me, but once again, different stories may apply to you. The big reason I took off a lot for replayability is the lack of online. Why does the Xbox version, the PC version, and the PSP version all get online play, and the PS2 gets absolutely nothing. Quite a shame.

Buy or Rent--Rent

I suggest you rent this game if you have never played any Need for Speed game before. If you have played and enjoyed both Underground and Pursuit, you still may want to rent it, because there are many things in this game that will set people off. I bought it though, and haven't regretted it for the past month, so maybe you should buy it too.

Overall--9/10

Great graphics, great sounds, and somewhat great gameplay. All it needs is some more realism, a better story, some different story lines, online, and of course spitshine. No car, or game, is complete without spitshine. Have fun burning rubber and running from the Po-Po.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/06