Game Review: Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012)

Game: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Criterion Games
Release Date: 2nd November 2012

It's always a bold move to reboot a much loved title, and even more of a bold move to do so when the new version is actively worse. In 2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted built upon the police chase mechanic in the Need for Speed franchise, providing a game where players could carefully climb the Most Wanted rap sheet; tracking their infractions, the wanted status of their cars and having genuinely fun and challenging police chases as part of a street racing video game. 2012's game of the same name sees players climb the Most Wanted list for almost doing nothing, has no penalty for being arrested and little sense of progression or car ownership throughout the game.

Let's start with the basics; around Fairview, the game's city are hidden 123 "jack points" where players can get into a car and drive away, with 6 races available per car to gain upgrades and SP. The more SP a player has, the higher they climb on the Most Wanted list. Getting into pursuits also gains SP, as does doing just about anything in game, so climbing the list is almost a given as long as you're playing the game. Doing well in races is the only way to upgrade cars and once you've got enough SP, you're allowed to challenge the racer in the next position up on the list. Beat them in a race, and you've only to take down their car in order to own it and take their spot on the list.

This cycle continues until you beat the game; race and upgrade a bit, get in a few police chases and climb the most wanted list; there's no real story and the multiplayer focus is evident. Fairview is an open world much like Paradise City in Burnout (another Criterion game), though there's very little of note to explore, and many races are made harder by sudden 90 degree turns or ill thought out routes. There's a nice time progression system and the actual driving element of the game feels pretty good.

Garages are dotted around the map at which cars can be fixed and resprayed instantly, mainly helping out in police chases. There aren't any hiding spots like the ones featured in Most Wanted '05, so players are left to run down their wanted level in more of a GTA V fashion, unless they can find a garage to respray their car. Pursuits in general are pretty easy to escape from, with huge gaps being left in roadblocks for the most part. I missed the crashbreaker feature from Most Wanted '05 when there weren't gaps though since trying to find one at full speed isn't ideal.

Getting busted has little to no consequence in a pursuit, aside from losing the SP you'd have gained for escaping. In Most Wanted '05 you'd get a marker on your car, and 3 meant it'd be taken from you for good. Cars in the earlier game also retained a heat level unless repainted for a more realistic police force that wouldn't instantly forget your transgressions provided the pursuit was over. Takedowns seem to play a far larger part in the game also, likely thanks to Criterion; in pursuits and racing in general the slow-mo takedowns from Burnout give the game somewhat of a different feel to a classic Need for Speed game.

Before each race there's a cinematic which is usually completely unrelated to anything currently taking place. Perhaps they were intended as tests for the graphics engine or some sort of cinematic statement but I found myself skipping most of them. It's also worth noting that some races and car jack points are locked unless some of the 5 DLC packs for the game have been purchased. This appears to be the start of Need for Speed Payback style monetization, with a "Time Saver" pack released alongside the game to helpfully mark all of the jack points and unlock all multiplayer cars.

Graphically the game looks great; on par with, if not better than 2011's Need for Speed: The Run. It's just a shame that the progression is much less enjoyable. At many points in races the AI would rubberband in my favour at the finish line, essentially handing me undeserved victories. I'm aware that this game had a multiplayer focus and capabilities but putting little to no effort into single player mode isn't the way to improve multiplayer modes.

Overall while I did find myself driving a bigger range of cars overall in the game, being handed them for free with no sense of investment in them meant that I generally didn't care about upgrades or races outside of gaining SP, which was criminally easy to do anyway. Managing to make my way for #11 on the most wanted list to #7 in just under 3 hours of gameplay says to me that single player mode was an afterthought for the beginning of online focused, DLC heavy multiplayer Need For Speed experiences, and those just aren't my thing.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D