The Need For Speed series has come a long way since the original 3DO, Arcade, and PlayStation renditions, where the highlight was simply being able to change the time of day, and to be able to go off-road. My, how times have changed. As the NFS series continued to grow and evolve with the people that played it, many new variables to the classic race had been introduced. The series developer, EA Canada, had decided to shake things up a bit in 1998, with the birth of a new idea. This idea was called Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit. Players would find that in addition to having the hottest cars on the roster, a mode in which they could race a competitor and evade police was now available.

Looking further into the future, the underground racing theme became popular around 2003. Street racing had become outlawed, and if players wanted to race, then it had to be kept on the DL. Stock cars weren’t going to cut it anymore in this game, and if players wanted to win, then customization became priority one. Upgrading and customizing stock cars with the prize money from races was cool, and it worked. This trend has kept up to today, where players once again find themselves evading the police while chasing after victory.

Features

• Tons of great cars in the roster.
  
• Three individual modes of play.
  
• Virtually limitless ways to customize vehicles.
  
• Supports 16:9 Widescreen and Dolby Pro Logic II.
  
• Rated T for Teen.
  

Becoming the Most Wanted
The story in Most Wanted is unfortunately, nothing new to the Need For Speed series. Players start out as a hot shot with a tricked out ride, and quickly find it all gone in a puff of smoke. Archetypes like this remind us heavily of the Metroid series. To present the story are stylistic combinations of real actors and FMV embellishments. The above average acting and clever usage of CG come together to form story sequences that feel very dream-like. On the other hand, the story’s script and acting direction make the story seem almost comedic and unrealistic.

Most Wanted has been heavily themed with a bit darker, grittier world. Players have their car sabotaged by a low-ranking opponent, who then essentially steals your car and gets to the top of the Black List. This list represents the 15 people whom players must grind into the pavement in order to reign supreme on the streets.

Each person on the list is introduced by short, stylized sequences, complete with their names written in illegible graffiti. This sequence is used to highlight each Black List member’s characteristics and point out what players may need to do in order to score a victory against them. After the introduction, the Black List member will be lying in wait for their opportunity to race against players.

Obtaining this opportunity isn’t simply giving the list members a friendly call and asking them out for a shake. In sharp contrast, players will have to go out and beat race challenges that have been littered across the map. Beyond this, players may also have to obtain a certain amount of "Bounty." When we say "bounty," imagine a bounty hunter. The more bounty that’s on a person’s head, the more those bounty hunters are going to be after them.

In order to get the attention of Black List members, players will need to go out and get recognized. This means capturing the attention of the local police and breaking into wild chases for a period of time, then breaking away. The police, frustrated by their intentions of detainment being foiled, will become increasingly more aggressive with each time players encounter them.

This aggression is measured in "Heat." Wrapped around the mini-map is a Heat meter, and it rates how aggressively the police will seek to capture players at any particular time. The Heat meter is very much like Grand Theft Auto’s star system. Those familiar with said star system will know what to expect with the Heat meter. Driving the same car around for a prolonged period of time will get players all of the attention they can shake a stick at, from both Black List members, and the police.

After defeating a number of opponents in local races, and having attained a high enough bounty, players will have the opportunity to challenge the current Black List member that they are at matching rank with. These people are then titled "Rivals." The first Rival, otherwise referred to as Black List member #15, that players will go up against requires very little to be able to race. Win a few local races and get the police to even so much look at players’ license plates, and it’s race time for #15.



Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Racing the actual rivals is considerably harder than the races that lead up to it. Even Sonny, the lowest ranking Black List member, provides quite a challenge. This challenge could be due to a number of things, however. At this point in players’ careers, the customization and upgrade options for vehicles is limited, and so are funds. Another aspect of the challenge is the wonky world design. While the world design is very realistic, this seems to do more harm than good. We have found it rather difficult to speed through school yards and hospitals at upwards of 200 miles per hour.

The Underground series was centered on racing around in wide, open, low-populated areas. The reverse seems to be true in Most Wanted, where players will more often than not, find that all of the competitions revolve around local city streets. This would be fine and good, but the inclusion of often heavy traffic can be the source of unimaginable frustration. Players haven’t lived until they hit a big rig at 180mph. Not only do players come to an absolute halt, the force of the impact actually pushes players backwards, rendering the vehicle unable to move momentarily.

Whether this is a bug, or a feature, is beyond us. We do know that it is very frustrating to encounter a situation like this, and watch victory race by you at ludicrous speed. At this point, the only thing players can do is restart the race over again. To remedy this, there is a small, shining ray of hope for the quick-fingered.