Need for Speed Most Wanted

"Power sliding, car smashing, city racing mayhem!"

Being an addict of cars and racing, I always liked the Need for Speed games. But, previously, I have been disappointed with the "Underground" games since they had no "get away from the cops" feature in their races. Now, with Most Wanted (and now Carbon, not so great),Need for Speed has redeemed itself.

Graphics = 8
The racing cars in this game are perfect in every aspect, from the tint of the body color, to the smooth lines of the body kits. Noticed how I said "racing cars", not "cars" because the civilian and cop cars are blocky and flat in color. Although, you really don't spend much time closely examining these cars, so it's not an eyesore. Another plus is the cities and countryside terrain, which are well rendered (not compared to next-gen graphics, though). Unfortunately, EA still hasn't added body damage in Need for Speed (except for paint scratching).

Sound = 8
I turned off the soundtrack because it was louder than the rest of the sounds in the game, so I can't really say what the music was like. But, the car sounds (e.g. acceleration, nitrous) are really well done. Each car in the game has a different engine tone , such as the growl of the Mercedes-Benz compared to the scream of the Lamborghini Gallardo. The ambient noise of car crashes also adds to the effect of being IN the race.

Story= 6
Hey, it's a racing game, who cares about the story? (even if you REALLY did care about the main plot, there are some character twists to follow, which are pretty cool)

Controls = 10
Great. Absolutely Perfect. The controls are well thought out, comfortable and somewhat close to real life (e.g. to shift up and down manually, you push the right analog stick forwards or backwards....how cool is that?).

Game Play = 10
From the flat-out Drag Races, to the speed-frenzied Speedtraps, this game has it all. In career mode, you have to climb the 15-ranked "Blacklist". To do this, you have to complete a series of races and milestones, such as ramming 5 police vehicles, and increase your "Bounty" (aka how much money you owe or are worth to the coppers!). Once you have done this, you can challenge the awaiting Blacklist holder and smash them out of the way and move on to the next rank. This part of the game will keep you occupied for 20+ hours (it's taken me about 25 to reach #5 on the Blacklist). And, if that weren't enough, there's a Quick Race option (race random PC racers), Challenge Series option (basically a series of racing events) and multiplayer option, both online and offline. In other words, Most Wanted is a library of street racing.

Extra Features = 8
Unlike some other racing games out their, the amount of car customization is ENORMOUS in Most Wanted. There are literally hundreds of thousands of different car compositions available. Also, if your short on cash in Career mode but still want to have that BMW, just simply go to the My Cars section and make your car for free! I found this feature in particular a great final touch to the feel of the game.

Rent or Buy = If you like racing games, BUY BUY BUY!!

Review Score = 9

Final word:
This game is a must for racing fans, and even for the standard Xboxer. A worthy addition to the prestigious Need for Speed series!!!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06