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Need For Speed - Most Wanted (PS2)
by JoelM
This game was simply my childhood, I played it countless times through and am tempted to play again, very worried about the reboot of this by Criteron but I will pick that up soon for the PS3 and review that!
The game starts with a brief introduction to the game world (Rockport city) where you are in a blacklist race, racing ... #15 on the blacklist. You know nothing of what this means at the present but you will learn. You will go through all the days leading up to the race etc. You lose your prized possession in the race you're car. BMW M3 GTR. You will reclaim this. I won't ruin the story but personally I found it to be a very interesting story and it kept me hooked through the many times I played even when I knew what was happening.
The cut-scenes were quite a new thing at the time they are an acted scene which come at parts of the game (many at start some when you beat someone on the blacklist) Now this is a small spoiler so if you do not want to learn anything about blacklist then do not read this part. The blacklist is a list of the top street racers in and around Rockport. You will have to beat all 15 putting the car you are using on the line each time until you get to 'Razor' who has moved all the way to the top of the blacklist with your car as the tool. Revenge is 15 blacklist spots away, but getting there won't be easy. To get up to a level where you will be considered able to race these pro's you will need to complete challenges, you will need a certain amount notoriety, have beat a certain number of challenges set out to you such as getting up to a speed passing a speed camera, tollbooth races etc. You will also have to compete in normal races with other small racers to earn the right to race a blacklist racer. Once you have beat someone on the blacklist you choose out of 6 random cards some will be free upgrades to cars, parts, money but the one you will want to find it the pink slip to your rivals car, meaning you will get to take their car from them which is very satisfying.
The gameplay itself is good, controls are easy to pick up. The AI does get harder and you will need certain tactics to win races, using the destructible environments to take out your opponents is one nice way to do this but 'battling' with the other cars tends to generally not work you will need to use shortcuts and race tactics to beat them. There are many race modes I will not go into but they are varied and fun. I must warn though for every blacklist racer you will do similar things to get to race them and with continued play time this will get repetitive and boring.
A great aspect to this game is the pursuits. (this is another thing you will have to do to gain enough notoriety to race a blacklist racer) They are fun and challenging. You can choose where to start from a menu and a police cruiser will be after you from the get go or you can drive around recklessly and into a police car if you see one and gain a star so they will chase you. (Police also appear in some street races and can be a pain especially after the race they will continue to chase you, you will have built up a lot of them by the time you finish and if you did not want a chase it can get a bit annoying) But anyway the chase is fun when you feel like it, they will use more advanced tactics to catch you as you go up the notoriety, a sergeant will come at around 2, a helicopter at 3, loads more at 4 and they will use a 'box' technique to stop you and bust you. (If you are stopped and a cruiser is around you a bar will fill if it reaches the end you will be busted, fined and get a mark on your car 3 marks and it will be impounded) you will have to use the destructible environments to defeat them among other things, different tactics work well for different players. Once you have lost the police you will have a cool down meter than needs to fill before they give up looking for you, you have 'cool down' spots in back alleys and similar places that make this bar fill a lot faster. All in all considering gameplay it was very varied, fun and a glitch free experience for me.
There was a customization aspect to the game which was great you could do pretty much whatever you wanted to your car at the shop, you could put decals anywhere, change parts of the car, improve performance such as the engine, nitrous etc. You could also buy new cars from a dealer but to me this didn't really warrant the cost as you can upgrade cars you win in races to be just as fast or in some cases faster, depending on the car. This brought more gameplay hours and an extra little customizable experience which i thoroughly enjoyed.
The multi-player was a great addition also, you would have all the cars you had collected in your career available and all the races available. You did not win anything as such but it was an enjoyable experience. However in July 2011 they shut down the multiplayer servers for most wanted, so a purchase now will not get you the multiplayer experience. This is a disappointment but not a deal breaker.
This is the NFS game I've enjoyed the most by far. Hot pursuit was terrible in my opinion and Underground was fun but did not match up to this. Have to try the reboot and see what that's like. I would suggest buying this the many ways you now can it is available on PC digital copy or physical around somewhere second hand. PS3 is available on the PSN store. And xbox 360 it's available physical and digitally through the marketplace. The price I have seen is from £5-£15 depending on where you go digital download seems to be more expensive in my experience. I would encourage trying this game if you have not already it is great fun and good graphics for it's time! Only downfall is the repetitiveness that can come and the fact the multiplayer is not available anymore.
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Final Fantasy X-2 - Platinum (PS2)
by kristiansmommy
Final fantasy X-2 is the Charlies Angels' of the Final Fantasy series. It's musical (brimming with catchy Japanese pop songs!), colourful, bright, and full of fun. The main storyline focuses around Yuna, the heroine from Final fantasy X, and her gang of girlfriends, and boy, do they prove that girls can do it just as good as the guys! ... FFX is not everyones' cup of tea; it's a break from the typicality of the series' previous instalments, but it's very lighthearted and extremely playable. The side quests are hilarious and I found myself laughing my way through them. If you take it too seriously then you won't enjoy it, though; you need to take it at face value and play it for what it is. The graphics are, as usual, gorgeous, and the world map is immersive. Overall, hours of fun (although not particularly challenging!) gameplay to be had with this one. For the price you can get it at now, I'd definitely reccomend you pick it up!
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