Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4998 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2005-11-25
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Xbox

Amazon.co.uk Preview
If there’s one thing to be said of the Need for Speed series, it’s that it never stays the same for long. After only one sequel EA have decided to give the underground night racing theme a rest and let you drive in the sunlight for a change. You’re still a super-illegal street racer though and indeed much of the game revolves around you being pursued by the police in some very Blues Brothers-esque chases.

Appearing to take a leaf out of Burnout’s book, the game encourages you to make the most of traffic and roadside objects, in order to put off the long arm of the law or simply one of your fellow racers. The demo race so far seen features a lot of weaving in and out of traffic and some very cinematic touches such as zipping underneath a giant lorry carrying tree logs, which then spill out on the road behind you further aiding your escape.

The graphics in the game have definitely received a boost from the last one and appear far more detailed and ambitious in scope than Underground. Unsurprisingly the ability to customise your car is still a large part of the appeal, although again there’s a big distinction between extras that are just for show and performance tuning that actually has an effect on the way your car performs.

It probably still won’t please hardened petrolheads but if you just want a simple, accessible racing game it looks like Need for Speed is set to deliver once more. --Harrison Dent

This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.

Manufacturer's Description
Wake up to the smell of burnt asphalt as the thrill of illicit street racing permeates the air. From the makers of the hit Need for Speed Underground series, Need for Speed Most Wanted challenges players to become the most notorious and elusive street racer.

Combining illicit street racing and tuner customization with the intensity of strategic police pursuit that surpasses any Hollywood-style chase scene, Need for Speed Most Wanted will be on every gamer's 'must-have' list this holiday season. Out-race rivals, evade cops and exploit hundreds of miles of open road as gamers make their way up the Blacklist.

To become the most wanted racer, players must build up their street cred and Rap Sheet with gripping, white knuckle, head-to-head races with the top drivers on the streets, as well as pull daring, evasive moves to out-run and out-fox the cops that patrol the open road. Players can manage their heat or utilize a number of strategic tactics to keep the cops off their tails as they leave their rivals behind to suck their exhaust fumes.

Need for Speed Most Wanted also features a variety of the hottest cars that range from tuners to super cars. You can customize your ride to race against any class of vehicles. The streets will be your playground this Fall.

Key features

Customer Reviews

Flawed...
I have been playing this game for a while now and it is a fun game but why is there no pursuit mode in quick race? The only way to enter a pursuit is to go into career mode. Also there is no way to do pursuit split screen or with one person the cops and the the bad guy or vice versa. The other bad thing is the graphics. The xbox version (and I haven't seen the 360 version) looks downright horrible at times. Most times in fact. Jaggies are everywhere and the game has this horrible shimmering effect. Split screen mode looks like something from the playstation era. And I'm not kidding.

BUT, and this is a big but, the game is very, very fun to play. It's just a shame that the graphics and lack of pursuit options let it down.

This really is a great game
First up, the reason I only give this game 4 out of five overall is really just a personal gripe: sometimes the cops seem to catch me even though I am still (theoretically) able to drive away...this may have to do with the fact that I always play car games with the 'in-car' view..my son plays watching the car from outside and doesn't seem to have this problem...heigh-ho..

Other than that this game is frankly awesome, the cars look great, sound great, and the graphics are superb, with as far as I can tell at 200mph, no glitches at all.

One point to those who have already read the other reviews complaining a bit about the drag races, let me give you a hint: the drag races are NOT always won by simply nailing the gas and banging up through the gears! I have won at least three (I forget) by closely tailing the opposition waiting for THEM to crash, and at least two have needed DOWN-shifts as well! In other words they all require a little bit of thought as well as quick reactions!

I completed the career mode quite quickly, but that was more to do with the 'just-one-more-go-ness' of the game, rather than because it's a bit short. Even so, I STILL can't put it down.

You NEED this game in your collection.

Need for Speed Most Wanted on XBox
First time I played this game, it brought back memories of Driver, although this game is a lot more about the racing than it is about chases.

You can either play a career game where you get to fight your way up to the top challenging 15 rivals, there's a challenge mode where you have to complete challenges (60 of them or so) I didn't play many of these as I had done similar things in the career mode anyway, and then there's multiplayer, which I haven't player either on or off-line so I don't know what this mode is like. In career mode there is a list of requirements that you need to complete before you can challenge the next rival.

The graphics look pretty good, the music is suitable, plays well too, the cars available feel different when you drive them and you notice the improvement when you upgrade them, there's a good selection of cars... although this is no Gran Turismo. I feel that the customisation options are a little limited. The cities where you get to race seem pretty big at first but after a few days of racing you'll feel that you have raced similar courses all the time, so it is not as big on circuits as it could be the first impression but overall I think it's reasonable.

Also this game has some serious flaws, for example when in pursuit mode trying to complete the challenges and achieve bounty points I got busted through no fault of my own, I'll explain, while I was being chased I run through a pursuit breaker (which are certain places in the city where you for example run through the pumps at the petrol station making it explode and stopping all the cars chasing you that were close behind) well sometimes after this there was a spike trap set just near one of these pursuit breaker points and my car run automatically through the spikes meaning that I got busted and I couldn't do anything about it because after you run through a pursuit breaker point you don't have any control over the car for an instant, so MY ADVICE: steer well clear of pursuit breakers if you see a barricade nearby, or you will get very angry like me if you get busted after playing for like 10-15 minutes and achieving lots of points and completed challenges.

Things I would liked to have in this game, an editing replay mode, and why didn't they include a circuit maker of some kind?... all in all a good street racing game.