Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Game Info

A remake of the 2005 game of the same name, Need For Speed: Most Wanted: A Criterion Game (yes, with all the colons) is the latest release in the sprawly morass of releases with the Need For Speed label attached to it.  A not-so faithful remake, what it lacks from the original it tries to make up for in style and gloss.  So really, it’s a car porn game.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

NFSMWACG offers you no backstory, no narrative, no exposition.  You’re The Stig in black, dumped into an DB9 and told to drive following an unskippable cinematic.  “Steal this Porsche,” coos a vaguely British woman.  “Use your Autolog,” she’ll tell you.  Yeah lady, I got that.  I’ve played Need For Speed before.  Eventually she’ll explain to you the necessity of gaining points, so you can challenge the top ten Most Wanted Stigs in Fairhaven in their supercars.  When the number 3 Stig is driving a Veyron, you know the first two are going to be pretty impressive.  But the character is in the cars this time around, and not the weird douchebaggy idiots driving them.  You’re not the guy from Fast and Furious with your gel-spiked hair and soul patch, and you’re not getting missions from a softcore porn actress.  There’s none of the overwrought, hammy acting, which is a huge departure from the source material NFSMWACG is based on.

Beyond that, you’re on your own.  Once you figure out that different cars have different races available to them, you’ll get to start unlocking upgrades for your flock of vehicles.  Gone is the menu-driven system of upgrading in a body shop – here, if you get first or second in a race, you get stuff for that car.  It keeps everything moving at such a fast pace that there’s almost an artificial sense of urgency.  “Keep on,” I can imagine the British lady saying to me.  It’s all very fast, so if you’ve got a need for speed (see what I did there?), you’ll dig it.  But there are various races and events, such as ambush – where the cops get the drop on you and you’ve got to escape – to keep your score climbing, so you can get to the Most Wanted races.  Depending on your skill, each of these can take a few tries, since you have to get first place… and there are lots of cops who would rather you didn’t.  Beyond that, the city is a lonely, empty place.  No people, just cars.

Good thing there’s multiplayer to help you with that.  Although the cops are removed, multiplayer matches drop you into Fairhaven with a handful of other people to muck around with.  While you can smash in to each other and gain some points like that, completing challenges and races net tons of points, which you can take back to the single-player game and buzz through the Most Wanted list with.  Other people on your friends list show up on your Most Wanted list while you’re online too, and though you can’t race them, you can compare stats.  Swapping out cars is still as easy as a button press, and you can snag other ones in the multiplayer stuff too, although it’s a little different.  Instead of getting kit for your cars from winning races, you get things for completing various challenges, like driving a certain number of miles or getting above a certain speed past a speeding camera.  Voicechat comes through well too, so feel free to talk smack without any horrific stuttering.  Aside from a couple connection issues which got hammered out quickly, online is great fun and definitely worth the price of admission.

So in a car porn game, the graphics are everything.  Making sure each of these expensive beasts is lovingly realized in the game must’ve been a big task, especially since they’re all actual licensed cars.  I can only imagine the meetings between developers and car companies.  I see shady backroom dealings, “make the tires bigger… BIGGER!  Yes, the Ford GT does have 26″s and a monsterous sound system!”  But whoever drew up these things should get a pat on the back.  As the stars of the game, the cars look as good as they should.  They’re automotive Nate Drakes, handsome and instantly recognizable.  The first time I drove past a Dodge Viper, I swooned.  Although it handles like a boat and turns like a dumptruck, it’s a gorgeous sight to behold (and stupid fast in straightaways).  NPC cars don’t get as much treatment, and there are an awful lot of moving trucks driving around Fairhaven.  But as you blur by these lumbering diesel trogs, you’ll hardly have time to notice.  Moving this fast makes everything so busy, and you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled.  The road, the minimap, the next checkpoint all need watching as you streak along doing 140MPH.  Helpfully, objects in the world are highlighted, and the cars you can snag all have giant hovering logos over them.  So while it’s a very busy interface, it’s pretty straightforward.  Plus, when you get a Countach and drive through a repair place that randomly paints it yellow, you can pretend you’re Frank Reynolds.  There are the normal graphical hiccups that we’ve (sadly) grown accustomed to in open-world games, and if it wasn’t so BUSY all the time, everything would be much easier to identify.

The sound and music are great, though.  Thrumming engines, squealing tires, all the usual stuff – it’s in here, don’t worry.  The cops can get a little annoying with their constant chatter in pursuits, but don’t ignore them.  They’ll give clues as to what’s coming up, or what areas they’re in when looking for a certain Stig.  Crashes sound especially crunchy, and add a cringing weight to whenever you t-bone a cop.  Additionally, the music is some serious fast-driving stuff.  It’s uptempo, throbbing bass and some really impressive remixes of classic rock songs.  It’s a weird combination, but works very well.  There are lots of wubs and beats and skrees in there.  The music selection really adds to the fast pace of the game, lending an almost manic feel to it.  If Skrillex and Dizzie Rascal aren’t your thing, though, you can always import your own music and listen to whatever you feel like.

So how does it feel to be The Stig?  It’s pretty fun, actually.  Running races against people, escaping the cops, and lots of stuff to find (without it getting overwhelming) are all in store for you in Fairhaven.  It’s the pedal on the right, go ahead and really lean in to it.