Need for Speed: Most Wanted is great fun for the first few hours, or for someone who has a lot of time and patience.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted comes from a long-line of standard street racing games by EA (increasingly regarded as a developer and producer that churns out a lot of average and substandard games). This time, EA hopes to revitalize the series by dumping a load of cops into the game. The police chases are great fun to anyone just playing, but get old fast, just as the repeating races and challenges quickly become.
The plot of NfS: MW is that you are a newcomer to the city of Rockport, but soon lose your car to the #15 Blacklister, who uses it to gain the #1 spot. You must then start from scratch to regain your rep and climb the Blacklist. To face a Blacklister, you must complete a series of challenges to prove yourself: win so-and-so number of races, complete so-and-so number of milestones, get a bounty of so-and-so. It works for the first five Blacklisters, just because it is sooo easy. Soon enough, however, the races get wickedly difficult, and you are forced to repeat each race several times to win. For someone time challenged, like me, this was incredibly frustrating. Plus, there are only a few types of races; drag, circuit, sprint, etc. Some become impossible as you get to the end (such as tollbooth, which is a time attack type game). Others just get boring.
The graphics of the game are good; racing games usually have very good graphics, just because they hardware doesn't need to be used for much more than that. The sound is acceptable - standard engine revs, but the police calls are incredibly realistic. But, there is a problem with the police chatter - if you're caught during a race, their talk doesn't say anything about "street race" or any of the other racers; their chatter focuses only on you.
So, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is an excellent game for anyone who is dedicated to playing it, just because it is rewarding in the end (gamerscore points on the Xbox 360). It is NOT a good game for a weekend rent. After devoting at least 12 hours into the game, I'm still on Blacklister 5, and the completion percentage is still less than 50%.