| Need for Speed: Most Wanted | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art for Windows version | |
| Developer(s) | EA Black Box, EA Redwood Shores, Ideaworks Game Studio (Mobile Version) |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Composer(s) | Paul Linford |
| Series | Need for Speed |
| Engine | EAGL 3 |
| Version | 1.3 (December 6, 2005) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows,Nintendo DS,Nintendo GameCube,PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Xbox 360,Mobile phone, PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) | Nintendo DS
|
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | CD, DVD, UMD,GameCube Game Disc,GBA Cartridge, NDS Game Card |
| System requirements Microsoft Windows
| |
Plot
The player arrives in Rockport City, driving a racing version of the BMW M3 GTR (E46). Following Mia Townsend (played by Josie Maran), the player proves his driving prowess as he is pursued by a veteran police officer named Sergeant Cross (played by Dean McKenzie), who vows to take down the player and end street racing in Rockport.[1] Races seem to be in the player's favor until a particular group of racers, led by the game's antagonist, Clarence "Razor" Callahan (played by Derek Hamilton), sabotages and win the player's car in a race.[2][3] Without a car to escape in, the player is arrested by Cross, but is later released due to lack of evidence.[4] Mia picks up the player and then informs the player about Razor's new status on the Blacklist, a group of 15 drivers most wanted by the Rockport Police Department. She then helps by assisting the player in acquiring a new car and working his way up the Blacklist. Rivals are defeated one by one, and the player is rewarded with reputation, new rides, and ride improvements with every Blacklist member taken down. As new boroughs are opened up throughout Rockport (Rosewood, Camden Beach, and Downtown Rockport), Mia also sets up safehouses for the player to lie low in, in exchange for placement of "side bets" on the player's races.
The final challenge for the #1 spot on the Blacklist puts the player in a race against Razor, with the player emerging as the victor, thus reclaiming the BMW. When Razor refuses to relinquish ownership of the car and attacks Mia after she confiscates the keys from him, she subdues him, while revealing herself to be an Undercover Cop. Mia throws the keys to the player, and tells him to escape the incoming police force. Razor is taken into custody and the player is pursued by the entire Rockport Police Department under the command of Cross.[5]
The player manages to slip away from Cross and the cops and abandons Rockport City by launching the BMW over an old broken bridge pointed out by Mia.[6] After the player's escape, Cross brings up the player's rap sheet and adds him to the National Most Wanted List. In addition to Razor, the entire Blacklist is arrested with the "help" of the player.[7]
Need for Speed: Carbon's storyline is a sequel set at an undetermined time after the events in Most Wanted.
Gameplay
Most Wanted, like other Need for Speed games, is essentially a driving and racing game, where the player selects one car and races against a time limit or other racers to reach a destination.Police chases have once again been integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police employ vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and Need for Speed: Carbon. As players take control of faster cars and increasingly rely on nitrous oxide speed boosts, the oxide meter now refills automatically for the first time since its introduction in Underground, and driving sequences become fast-paced and intense similar to the Burnout series.
Three distinct regions are offered in the city of Rockport, along with cycling weather. Racing events take place between sunrise and sunset, unlike in the Underground where the events took place at night. A Grand Theft Auto-like Free Roam mode is provided as in Need for Speed: Underground 2, but is still limited to Career mode, as well as pursuit-based events in other modes.
Brand promotion from Underground 2 still continues strongly, with the removal of Best Buy, Old Spice and the entry of Burger King restaurants, Castrol oil, Axe Unlimited and Edge shaving gel. The Cingular logo is still visible in the game's wireless communication system. Performance, body and visual parts that can be bought in the game are also from real life companies.
Modes
The game provides players with three game modes. The Quick Race mode allows the player to select a car and an event and immediately start racing. The available cars and events are unlocked as the player progresses through the storyline in the Career mode. Achieving goals by winning races and performing a number of actions, dubbed "Milestones", during police pursuits, as well as a minimum Bounty are needed to advance in the storyline and race against any of the mode's 15 Blacklist racers. In the Xbox 360 version, the player is awarded with Achievement Points each time a Blacklist opponent is defeated. Career mode introduces a new feature - the ability to win a Blacklist opponent's car ("pink slip"), bonus functions, extra cash or car parts and decors, after defeating the opponent in question. These come in the form of six markers - the rival's pink slip (which is concealed as a bonus marker), two bonus function markers, and three custom backroom parts markers of which there is a body part, visual upgrade, and performance marker ("Junkman Marker") that the player can select - of which the player can choose only two. New cars and parts are also unlocked as the player progresses through Career mode by beating Blacklist racers.
In addition to the Quick Race and Career modes, there is also a "Challenge Series" mode involving 69 progressively difficult challenges where players are required to successfully complete Tollbooth races and pursuit challenges, such as tagging a number of police cars. The pre-tuned cars used in each Challenge is fixed, ranging from mostly Career cars with poor handling to traffic vehicles such as a dump truck or police cars. Additional bonus cars may be unlocked as the player progresses through Challenge mode.
In terms of actual variations of races, Most Wanted inherits several racing modes prevalent in its Underground predecessors. The game's four existing modes: Circuit races, point-to-point Sprintraces, lap knockout races and Drag races, remain largely unchanged since the first iteration of Underground, while Drifting, Street X, Underground Racing League tournaments and Outrun racing are removed. Meanwhile, Most Wanted sees the introduction of two new racing variations, which places emphasis on speed. The first mode is known as "Tollbooth," where a player races alone to designated checkpoints along a point-to-point route before time runs out; the more time a player has as they reach a toll booth, the more time they have to arrive at the next one. The second mode, dubbed "Speedtrap", sees racers competing with each other to get the highest accumulated speed record at multiple traffic cameras. At a speed trap/traffic camera, players accelerate their car to aim for the highest possible speed. Accumulated speed is reduced over a period of time after an opponent crosses the finish line first.
Pursuit system
Most Wanted features pursuit evasion in the game for the first time in the series since Hot Pursuit 2. In Career mode, police pursuits may occur during a race or during free roaming through the city, depending on the frequency of the police units in the area and traffic offenses players have committed. The player can initiate a pursuit immediately from the game's safe house or menu by choosing an unfinished Milestone or a Bounty challenge. Pursuits can also be initiated by selecting an appropriate Challenge in the Challenge Series mode. Traffic offenses committed by the player are known in game as Infractions. These include speeding, excessive speeding, reckless driving, damage to property, hit and run, ramming a police unit, and resisting arrest.
The system is significantly more complex than its previous Hot Pursuit incarnations. The manner in which the police handle a player is now determined by the "heat level" of the player's current car. Heat levels, which increase with the length of a police pursuit and the amount of damage caused by the player during the pursuit, add a twist to the pursuit. The higher the car's heat level, the more aggressive the police units are against the player, employing additional tactics and tools, such as roadblocks, spike strips, police helicoptersand heavier and faster police cars such as police SUV's.
In Career mode, pursuits are integrated into the game in such a way that it is necessary to participate in pursuit in order to be able to challenge Blacklist racers. The player must complete Milestones which involve committing at least a specified amount of traffic offenses or pursuit lengths during a pursuit, and collecting an amount of Bounty, a form of credit accumulated as players continue to evade the police or damage police units. A car's heat level may be reduced by changing the physical appearance of a car by changing body parts or paint color, or by using another purchased car with a lower heat level to race in the streets. If a car is not being used by the player its heat level will slowly lower over time. Rap sheets, with records such as the player's infractions, cost to state, deployed tactics and pursuit lengths, are also available for viewing by hacking into police records.
Players are provided with several additional features which are useful during pursuits. The Speedbreaker, provided within the driving interface, slows down time similar to bullet time and momentarily adds weight to the player's car allowing it to become more difficult for other vehicles to push around, and induces a drift. This allows the player a limited amount of time to quickly maneuver the car out of difficult situations, or assess an escape route through a road block or spike strip blockade.[1] Another feature in Most Wanted are Pursuit Breakers, road-side objects which are designed to collapse when a player uses their car to knock down its support, either damaging or disabling following police cars (which can be visually seen in many cases). In one example, if a player smashes through a gas station, the roof of the station falls potentially crushing police units following them.[2] In order to evade the pursuit, players must get out of the pursuing police’s line of sight. This is accomplished by getting a certain distance away from the cops or by disabling the cops. Once the player has evaded the cops they enter Cooldown mode. During this time the player must avoid being detected/seen by the police; If the player is detected while in the pursuit continues. Cooldown spots, areas in the world usually not seen from the street, can be used to hide from pursuers. If the player finds a hiding spot and stops they will spend significantly less time in Cooldown mode.
