Just don't forget to wear your seatbelts.
The Underground titles, despite the exaggerated portrayal of street racing and other subversive elements, just seem to be illogical without the cop presence. In Most Wanted, though, the police are everywhere. The strongest asset of this game is obviously the thrilling pursuits that not only take account of your skills in speed and maneuverability, but also your capability to take your ride out of police sight. This is a Need for Speed game that surprisingly requires stealth.
You start off controlling a faceless driver who just arrived in Rockport, a city adjacent to Bayview (of Underground 2 fame). Initially driving a tuned-up BMW M3 GTR, you drift around, winning races, gaining reputation and in time getting the attention of the Blacklist, the fifteen highest-ranking street racers in the city. Razor, an unlikable punk ranked at the bottom of the list, challenges you, but in the middle of the race your car breaks down, losing the race and forfeiting your ride. As Razor and his gang speed away, the police, led by Sergeant Cross, arrive in the scene to arrest you for illegal street racing. Doing your time, you’ll soon find out that Razor sabotaged your ride, and now uses it to get to the Blacklist tops. Unexpectedly, a mysterious woman named Mia bails you out, giving you the chance to take it out again on the Blacklist and helping you exact your revenge on Razor. Here is where the real gameplay begins.
Working your way up in the Blacklist involves the overall plot of the game. It is a tedious task, as each Blacklist member has a set of quotas you must fulfill before you can be able to challenge him/her. These conditions come in the form of winning races, acquiring bounties, and other less mundane tasks like surpassing speed traps or gaining enough damage costs. Here and there cut scenes abound as you progress in the charts: mostly Mia giving you tips and such, or Razor threatening you time and again. A little campy and childish, but is a welcome break from all the action.
Races make most of the requirements, and a variety of race types from previous Need for Speed titles return. You can join races (or other events) through the highly useful game menu, or you can roam around the city streets, looking for signs, GTA-style. The racing, nonetheless, is quite unexceptional in its own, and the race A.I. has no discernible improvements from preceding titles. The difficulty of events is also a little unbalanced: in earlier races, you can drive your car in a cruising manner and still easily win the race, while in later rounds you take all the shortcuts and the competition could still overtake you in the final lap. Much more enjoyable are the pursuit missions, where most of the bounty and some of the conditions can be fulfilled in a single chase. Indeed, the sight of 20 or so police cars chasing after you and working out strategies to make you stop is more tense and gripping than most of the races, especially when you get to fulfill the quotas and covertly hide from the smokies at the same time.
But the police are no pushovers, either. Earlier chases may seem easy to get away from, but the higher your heat level is the more forceful are their methods in bringing you down. These range from standard squad cars and roadblocks to heavy-duty “Rhino” SUVs, spikes, choppers, and Corvette-driving feds. Very high heat levels may even earn you a chase with Sergeant Cross himself, the best driver in the force, and his highly customized Corvette C6. In spite of the sometimes-overwhelming number of chasers, you are not without help: the city has various structures called “pursuit breakers” you can smash to stop nearby chasers, and strategically placed hideouts where you can sneak in your ride for quick cool-offs. Another important feature is the Speedbreaker, which you can use to slow time a la Matrix, giving you the edge to maneuver effortlessly on those sharp curves or tight situations.
But to win races and elude cops imposingly, of course, you need an impressive ride. Game starts with only three relatively slow cars, but as you progress up the Blacklist, faster, better-performing cars are unlocked. Also, when you beat a Blacklist member, you get a chance to acquire his ride. Most Wanted offers more than 30 richly diverse vehicles: from Asian tuners to European sports cars to American muscle cars. Tuning up and customizing your car is also very detailed, although not as exhaustive as in Underground 2, and not just for cosmetic or performance reasons: it helps keep the heat level of your car down. It is highly recommended that you own more than a couple of cars so you can cycle between them when one car gets hot enough in a cop’s eye.
Aside from Career mode, you could race against computer A.I. in the Custom race mode, or look for other virtual racers online. Then there’s the Challenge mode, a series of, well, challenges that require you to finish missions using a specific car. Much like the tasks given by the Blacklist in Career mode, only more diversified, this feature is a little tiring and unremarkable at best. Graphics-wise, Most Wanted is noteworthy, particularly car gloss and in-game environment, although you need a very high-end PC to experience Most Wanted’s full graphic potential. Game lighting and gamma are stunning: for example, when you exit a long dark tunnel the whole screen would be blinded by light for a brief period, much like in real life. Although small details like buildings and tree leaves look uninspiringly flat, and car damage only cosmetic, convincing speed blurs, beautiful weather effects and game physics add up to make the game all the more realistic.
But the real contributor to the game’s realism is sound. EA reportedly recorded the engine sounds of every single car in the game, giving each car an aural signature, and upgraded vehicles even hum different. Also, for added realism and strategy, each car has a police band so you can hear when the police spot you, plan strategies, or call for backup. The cops speak on codes, and as a tip it is better to recognize what they’re talking about. In fact, you might rely on this element many times during a chase, as it could save you from getting busted one or twice. The game also includes an electrifying soundtrack consisting primarily of energized hip-hop and urban rhythms. Just imagine dashing at 200 mph to the beat of Jamiroquai, the Prodigy and Styles of Beyond.
Most Wanted is quite impressive, with its engaging storyline and decent gameplay. It has good graphics and even better sound effects. It is by far the most enjoyable NFS game I’ve encountered, thanks largely to the almost-endless and extremely tense pursuits the police constantly throw at me. Not without its bad bumps, particularly the races themselves, but overall, it certainly lives up to its name. I highly recommend you to have a pursuit for it as well; just don’t forget to wear your seatbelts.