Best Need for Speed game ever.
I had thought about picking up Project Gotham Racing 3, but I was burned by that game in the past. Instead I picked up Need for Speed: Most Wanted. I played Burnout Revenge on the Xbox, and that to-date was the only arcade racer I truly enjoyed. My expectations were totally blown away. I thoroughly enjoyed NFSMW.
GAMEPLAY
First of all, I have to say that right from the beginning, the presentation of this game really impressed me. From the opening movie and cut scenes, to the slick menu system, it was all very well done. The controls were sharp too, and very responsive.
One feature I enjoyed was being able to slow down time. This allows you to dodge incoming traffic, or make sharp 90 degree turns at high speed. My only complaints about the game play was that the difficultly starts out a little too easy (you can easily beat the first blacklist driver without any upgrades to your car.) There’s also just a basic tutorial, so you’re kind of thrown in the deep end. It’s not too hard to figure out what you need to do, though.
GRAPHICS
I was also impressed by the graphics. Going into the game, I was worried it wouldn’t look any better than the Xbox version, and instead would just have faster loading times. This is not the case. The texture resolution is so much better, that just amazed me. Add to that the awesome real-time reflections, high polygon count, stunning lighting effects, and you’ve got a multi-platform game that looks next-generation.
The cut-scenes are reminiscent of the Sega CD days when FMV was king. It uses live actors in CG environments to advance the story. It looks great, and adds a lot of depth to the story. The only problem is there aren’t a whole lot of these scenes once you get past the intro. Some of the acting is great, and some of it is painful. Each car also as fully modeled interiors, but there’s no in-car camera.
SOUND
The sound is very well done, too. The engines sound great, and have a nice thump in the bass. There’s also a nice whoosh of air as your speed gets into the 150+ mph range. The music fits perfectly into the theme of the game. I just wish that there was a louder sound effect when you crash your car. The music tends to repeat a lot when you go into the same menus, and there seems to only be about 5 songs.
VALUE
For an arcade racing game, there’s a lot to do and unlock in this game. There’re tons of after-market parts, vinyls, and performance upgrades. You have a chance to win a unique car via a pink slip when you race the “black list” racers. There’s also offline and online play, and even a mode where you can take any car you’ve unlocked, and trick it out with parts as no cost to use in multiplayer races. NFSMW also contains a wide variety of races including point-to-point, circuits, drag races, police cases, and a cool race where you need to get clocked by the police going as fast as you can over the speed limit.
I wish there was a little more to do besides racing, and all the custom parts you can add make me wish you could make your own custom vinyls. Good next-gen visuals, great sound, and it’s just plain fun. All of these element combine to create a fantastic arcade racing game; that gives new life into the NFS series as well as the genre.