The cops are on our ass (Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox))

Member Name: sifair

Product:	Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox)
Date:	10/06/07 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good cop chases, nice graphics, easy to drive

Disadvantages: cop chases get a little repetitve

Before Most Wanted the Need For Speed titles focused heavily on the underground street racing scene, both of the previous two efforts were pretty average but this one is a whole lot better. The game comes with all the same modding options and more just like in the previous games, the gameplay is much more satisfying this time round and the game feels much better to play. If you familiar with the game you'll definitely want to buy this game as it's fun and interesting to play.

This time round the big difference is that you also face police as well as your opponents, every step of the way police cars try to surround you several of them at a time and they seem to come out of everywhere, it makes the game more fun and challenging to race in as you have to race your opponents and give the police the slip. The police chases in Need For Speed Most Wanted help the game return to it's roots and they are just so much fun to race in, you will find yourself on the edge of your seat dodging cops left right and centre whilst trying beat your opponents to first place and trying not to crash.

The dodgy and very cheesy cut scenes in between races and at the start of the game tell your characters story and even though it's tacky and the actors are unknown it seems to work well. The story goes that you get busted by the cops while driving, you get banged up for a bit and when you get back out you only have enough money for a low end hatchback. From here you have to earn some 'Cred' which is your way of getting respect and money. To get more 'Cred' you have to beat racers who challenge you. If you have more 'Cred' better racers will challenge you until eventually become top dog after beating everyone below you.

The only problem with this game is that it feels just like the Underground games, it just feels like a bit of a chore in the end making the game less fun to complete right up until the finish. The roads in the city of Rockport also feel a little bare and empty despite the game graphically being very good, although the city looks good, it would have been nice to dodge normal road vehicles that aren't actually racing. This would have added more of a challenge to racers and made each race a little more fun. There are some non racing cars on the road but just not enough to make it feel like a city. Basically you'll see more police than normal cars.

Since the two underground games 'most wanted' has made the switch to day time racing, this helps the game to tear itself away from the two previous titles and allows the series to reinvent itself which is a good thing as the whole underground thing was becoming tiresome and mundane. The most fun part of the game is the cop chases though, it's just great fun to smash through a bunch of siren topped sports cars and then try and break away from them, it's where the real excitement of the game lies and EA has done a good job of bringing some life back into the Need For Speed series.

In the game the handling feels nice and although the game still feels easy to drive it's arcade style of racing will please any Need For Speed fan and anyone else willing to give this game a go. The city looks good and the textures are nice even though the city of Rockport does seem to look very much the same for the most part. The sounds are good, there is a good soundtrack that keeps you on your toes and the cop sirens always alert you when trouble is following you.

Of course just like in the previous two titles you can mod your car to the max but in this title it's not forced upon you quite as much and it isn't so integral to the game helping the game to remove a bit of that bad boy racer image it has. Even though you will have to upgrade your car every so often to compete with the other racers it's nice to just be able to do it when you need to rather than at every turn in the game.

This game is much better than the previous two titles, it's much more rounded and the series isn't just for cool teenage boys or young men with hot hatchbacks or a heavily modded vehicle. This title is for everyone that likes racing, it's easy to race in, challenging and most of all generally fun. The game has multiplayer, online multiplayer, career mode and a single player challenge mode. The game has enough content to keep you playing it for a couple of months, it's better than the last two Need For Speed's and it is a decent game. Well worth a look at just £5-10 as well you can find the game at most online retailers such as Amazon.co.uk and Play.com. This game is good and I would recommend it to fans of the racing genre and anyone who is just after a fun game to play.

Summary: a good NFS game