Need for Speed: Most Wanted - A Criterion Game PC
User Score
4.4 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 479 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 151 out of 479
  2. Mixed: 64 out of 479
  3. Negative: 264 out of 479

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  1. jangers
    Jun 18, 2013
    6
    The game is totally senseless in single player. Without the story and random racing. For one car we have assigned eight races.. wtf Irritating is also crash/elimination system. Car tuning is minimalist and we do not see visual changes. In multiplayer a game can be enjoyed, particulary when we play with friends. I was expecting a better game
  2. galakfryar
    Jun 16, 2013
    1
    This game is literally unplayable on PC for me (Asus G75VW). I expected much better from criterion. They did a piss poor job on the PC port. I am so disappointed. I got so frustrated with this game that I actually hit alt-f4 from this game. No redeeming qualities what so ever. I hope this never happens again.
  3. hodgesb
    Jun 9, 2013
    8
    I enjoyed Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the PC. I don't generally play racing games, but I gave this one a shot and it surprised me. Even though my PC is equipped to play most games on the highest graphical settings, I did have some FPS problems during a few cut scenes, but the actual racing portion was fine (30+ FPS). Contrary to many of the user reviews, I think the gameplay was the most impressive aspect of the game. I haven't played many racing games, but I was able to jump in and play successfully with little to no practice using a USB controller. However, I would have liked to seen more customization options on the cars. Overall, I enjoyed this game and I will likely play Criterion's future NFS titles.… Expand
  4. shanad1998
    May 26, 2013
    0
    I bought this game over joyed that they were finally making a need for speed most wanted 2. But all that joy went away when I played it for the first 10 minutes. Especially when I found out my first car on the game was a Porsche! I'd rather work my way up to a Porsche than get one right off, its so stupid. Next, there is no story line like I thought there was going to be, big disappointment. But anyway I just decided to keep playing to see if it'd become more fun as i completed some missions, but after that i actually found more wrong with the game. The map was too small, there were no ordinary cars(tuners, muscles) just plain old super cars and all you had to do was find them and you owned them! And there is many more wrong with the game. After about an hour, my mom came i and asked if i liked the game, i didn't want my mom t think it was a waste of money so i told her i liked it. A couple of months later, i got Forza Horizon and it was way better. I wish i would have bought that one earlier. Anyway, I beat MW2 in just one day of playing it.… Expand
  5. Akuma698
    May 7, 2013
    3
    OMG this game is a load of utter B.S! Don't waste your money! This game is lazy boring and easy. You "Hijack" cars. This means driving around and parking next to a car such as a Lamborghini and pressing E. I mean what the hell. No saving cash to buy a awesome car. No car customization. Cops are just retarded. You can hit another car right in-front of them and they don't do about it.I didn't even care about the racing cause there was no POINT!… Expand
  6. frast2012
    May 4, 2013
    7
    Nie łatwo jest zrobić kontynuacje czy odświeżenie tak bardzo lubianej gry wyścigowej w tak samo dobrym stylu. Myślę jednak że twórcą się to po części udało. Mamy tu główny nacisk na wyścigi w dzień, emocjonujące pościgi, ucieczki przed policją i otwarty świat. To chyba to było najważniejsze w starym Most Wanted? Myślę że brak tuningu to nie wada. Nacisk na tuning pojawił się w Underground' pojawił się w Underground'dzie 1 i 2, w Most Wanted głównymi czynnikami były inne rzeczy. Ludzie nie, nie lubią tej gry, ludzie nie chcą jej lubić. Hejt na nią jest uzasadniany żałosnymi argumentami..więc ja przedstawię swoje. Gra jest strasznie nie dopracowana. Bugi, bugi i jeszcze raz bugi. Nie mówię już o tych przez które przegrywałem wyścigi, ale coś w stylu speed 100 razy większy kiedy policja lub mój przeciwnik chce mnie dogonić(naprawdę popatrzcie sobie czasami na mapkę jak przeciwnik popełni błąd i będzie stał przez chwile, zobaczcie jak nagle przyśpieszy po pewnym czasie...). Do tego nie dopracowany Frosbite. Uruchamiając grafikę na Ultra mam tu tyle efektów, przez co nie widzę nic na ekranie. Jezu, nauczcie się wreszcie wykorzystywać dobrą grafikę. Gra zrobiona na totalny odpierdziel. Twórcy dali nam otwarty teren, dali nam auta, i nic, powiedzieli "ścigajcie się" i mieli, brzydko mówiąc "wszystko w d***e". Mało wyścigów do każdego auta, pewne głupie pomysły i momentami strasznie ciężka ucieczka od policji czasami ustępuje i wreszcie doznajemy przyjemność z wyścigów które rzeczywiście wyglądają ładnie, i rzeczywiście jeździ się przyjemnie. Podobają mi się jeszcze filmiki kiedy uruchamiamy wyścig z Most Wanted, naprawdę, perełka. Szkoda że Criterion po tak świetnym Hot Pursuit, tak spierniczył Most Wanted. Moja ocena 7/10… Expand
  7. Kutsubato
    May 3, 2013
    9
    I CAN´T UNDERSTAND ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO SAYS THAT NFS MOST WANTED IS A BAD GAME!!! It´s very great car game with the best multiplayer and graphic i´ve ever seen in a game like this!
  8. mastergene
    Apr 27, 2013
    4
    a game with hes pro's and con's you cant complain about the graphics but other than that even on a high end pc you cant get this game running smooth which makes EA effort to take our money minimal and the crashes yea they ruined the game for me its horrible so yea not even worth its 50€ not even 30 in my eyes for the horrible port play the game in another way if ya can but not wortrth its money is EA did only filling there purses and not the fan base… Expand
  9. voiders
    Apr 26, 2013
    7
    Amazing graphics, imersive sounds and phisics but the game is very short and the moviments are weird.
    I have a steering wheel but i dont know why, the car lose control so easy.

    Some times i think you have to have some patience with bugs and controls.
  10. bjaz
    Apr 23, 2013
    1
    THE WORST NO.1 IN NFS SERIES,
    There is no story,No good music,gameplay is bad(compared to previous one)
    This Game is nooo match for the previous Most Wanted (2005),which i still play sometimes.
    I'll GIVE A BIG THUMB DOWN...
  11. Duro
    Apr 23, 2013
    6
    The first thing you need to do is change graphics because anything under 60fps ruins gameplay. Once configured to your specs the game is actually very enjoyable. Nothing like the original but still lots of fun driving around at high speeds. Cars are way to easy to get and after a handful of races with each there is really no reason to use it. There is no story or progression besides taking down the top 10 most wanted. The city feels empty and pursuits are very easy. Cops basically throw themselves at you, roadblocks are static and will not pursue you. Building heat is very easy and escaping pursuits is very boring as cops catch up to you from a dead stop almost instantly. Crashes are way overdone in both SP and MP. Multiplayer is somewhat fun if you mute everyone but again it is high speed bumper cars. I love racing games and have played all the NFS games. Yet this one just seems empty, its just about driving cars and nothing else. The DLC is just more cars. I was really unhappy at first but after a couple weeks it grew on me. All the cars are fun to drive there just really isn't any feeling of accomplishment in the game.

    Overall it is a good game. However the lack of patches and communication kills it.
    Criterion basically shut down their forums and won't respond to any problems.
    EA tries to help on their forums but it is frustrating because they can't do anything about it.
    The game crashes on one race 'Every time' and caused a corrupt save.
    Now the game won't even start up even after a repair of the install which found no errors.
    Many people are getting save problems that is causing them to delete and start all over.
    I would rent it if you really want to play it on console, but on PC its just a mess.
    How can you make a game and then ignore your customers? Not fix problems but yet push out DLC.    … Expand
  12. EV3RLiGHT
    Apr 16, 2013
    2
    It's a hugely over-rated game that misses its expectations by miles. Fully detached from its origins, brought to the PC for arguably better visuals and simplified controls, but a polished turd is still a turd. Where's the customization? Where is the proper story? Where is a fraction of realism? Criterion has ruined the legendary Most Wanted by making it too "arcadeish" and way too simplified, all that this game has is decent (not outstanding) graphics and a relatively short list of licensed cars. I've had to push this to 2 out of 10.… Expand
  13. davoz28
    Mar 31, 2013
    1
    First off, this game looks rediculously good on max settings. Gorgeous game. But unfortunately its a RACING game. Omg the controls. OMG. Cars are tanks, they either dont turn at all, or turn you 90 degrees into a wall. I've played for 5 hrs now, TRYING to get a grasp at it. Its just unplayable and unenjoyable. I really want to like it but if you cant steer, you cant race. Shameful a game that looks this good races this bad.… Expand
  14. suthnara
    Mar 21, 2013
    3
    What can I sat that hasn't been already said. Worst Need For Speed game? Yep it wins that title quiet easily. All cars handle like buses, sloshing left and right and NO MANUAL transmission!! The multiplayer is useless. I never had any clue as to what I was supposed to do. To improve this game some should make a patch or mod to improve the handling of the car and please include manual transmission. Only good thing about the game is the beautiful graphics.… Expand
  15. KalanYamato
    Mar 12, 2013
    5
    This game's not that bad as a game by itself, but this is purely Burnout Paradise. There's barely any trace of Need for Speed, or anything original to begin with.

    Decent game, but false advertising. Do not buy.
  16. ProtoDrake
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    TL;DR: This is Burnout Paradise 2 not Most Wanted. Console port without optimization also means low fps even with high end cards like a GTX 680. >|

    This game is not worthy of calling itself Most Wanted. Compared to the original it lacks numerous features such as tuning, body kits and paint jobs. There is no story within this game and because it is poorly optimized for pc, max settings     cannot be brought out without constant dips in fps rates into the low 20s (I have a GTX 680). If this game were to be labeled as Burnout Paradise 2, I would give it a solid 10 (minus the performance issues) but since EA has enough balls to call this game Most Wanted it will earn my 1 out of 10. To add insult to injury, they also have the balls to make running through petrol stations fill your nitrous and fix your car, completely ripped out of burnout paradise without any bother to change. However, for me what did it was the constant unavoidable crashing because apparently hitting a civilian car will cause you to flip over 10 times in a row whilst head-on collisions with cops will do nothing.… Expand
  17. eriksonis
    Feb 23, 2013
    0
    This game is really disappointing. First thing that really bothers me is gaming menu it doesn't exist at all. Makes me feel that his game is regular straight console port. Second, no matter how well you drive, you will crash 10+ times during your race. View from the cab does not exist too. Disaster, it deserves 0 rating.
  18. LostInDaJungle
    Feb 22, 2013
    2
    How in the world did this game get such glowing reviews? For starters, I love both the NFS and Burnout franchises. So one of those, or a mix of the two SHOULD appeal to me, right? I put over 100 hours into Burnout Paradise... Issue 1: Car handling. Playing with a gamepad, I found the handling to be unbearable. The stick was over sensitive, you would turn a bit, let go of the stick and still be turning, and then have to correct back the other direction. Wha? Combine this with some of the narrow obstacle filled races, and it was nothing short of unpleasant. Push the stick too far, and find yourself spinning like mad. FYI No option to increase or reduce sensitivity. Their racing system is designed around the idea that you're going to drift around every turn. Issue 2: Freaking lens flare. Too many pop-ups. Obstacles hidden over hills. The game sets it's difficulty curve by blinding you. The graphics are quite beautiful, but half of the time you just can't see what the heck you're doing. You don't want to slipstream other cars, because you'll be blinded by their smoke/dirt trail and they'll turn at the last second leaving you staring at the wall that just appeared out of nowhere. Issue 3: Awful AI. The game has a rubberband AI that means that there's always 2 cars right on your tail. No matter how well or poorly you play. Add in Cops who wait around corners and "Jump out" to wreck into you. At the end of the day, this game wasn't enjoyable. It was a frustrating grind, and I felt that the difference between getting 1st place and 6th place was more luck than skill. Poor visibility, bad AI, and oversensitive handling meant that you couldn't see what was coming, couldn't react to it, and when you hit it, 2-3 AI cars were lined up behind you. Restart race, start over... Oh, and the menus are slow and fiddly too. Wait for bizarre/stupid cutscene to load, skip it, watch another cut scene of the race starting... You spent 2-3 minutes starting a race just to have the poor AI or poor handling put you into a barricade that you couldn't see due to lens flare in the first 15 seconds. Restart race... Rinse lather repeat. Get first place, sigh.… Expand
  19. Avadon
    Feb 20, 2013
    2
    I hadn't played a NFS game in years and had really missed it, so I got this with very minimal expectations. I just wanted the usual post-Underground NFS game, with silly storyline and enjoyable driving. Even with non existent expectations however, this game is bad. When I can run Far Cry 3 on high and I need to turn this down to low details, you know there's a problem. Also, the handling is so terrible that I couldn't stand it for more than an hour. You press the stick to turn and at first the car doesn't respond and then it immediately takes a 90 degree turn straight into the nearest wall. I can't believe Criterion made this game, wtf happened to them? I don't think I need to add anything else, when you've got a sluggish racing game that handles terribly, it's done, nothing else matters. Huge disappointment.… Expand
  20. Ckazochnik
    Feb 15, 2013
    9
    Most Wanted by Criterion is true arcade racing. Tuning for kids and stupid storyline cutted and we having pure racing now. Beatiful and stylish cutscenes for each race. No money no limits, I can try each car in game in one game passing. Cops and opponents more aggressive than ever and it's cool. City is great and I like just to ride around. This game remember me about NFS3:HP. NFS:MW2012 is old-school NFS.… Expand
  21. GamesReviewed
    Feb 13, 2013
    0
    This is such a game it deserves a negative score. You spend most time looking at annoying crash cams instead of playing the actual game. It's utter garbage and I refuse to play it anymore. Had 2-3 hours on it and it angered me so much I wanted to literally watch the people that made the game get shot in the public square. I am glad I decided to torrent the game before deciding to part with my hard earned money. Word of advice, stay away from this turd. You're better off playing with yourself really, rather than having to play this … Expand
  22. shArk87
    Feb 5, 2013
    0
    Criterion, Go yourself, you're screwing all NFS games!!!
    When does the mercenary *EA* learns what we really want... Criterion, your only good game release was Burnout, and it stayed there.. Stop before u screw Need for speed
  23. 2Eric
    Jan 31, 2013
    10
    This game is awesome I loved the open world setting its like burnout paradise but with real high end sports cars and awesome graphics. If you have a high end pc this game definitely will show it off everything from the awesome weather effects to super detailed cars to effects like smoke coming out of sewer holes and waves splashing up against the shore all come together to make a very realistic experience. I love to hop in a Bugatti and just go driving then taunt a cop and then smoke him. It is cool to get on the high way and just open it up. Add all of the features from street racing to car mods and this makes for one cool driving experience.… Expand
  24. robalaquio
    Jan 26, 2013
    3
    The worst game of the franchise, initially thought it would be a version of the previous game (one of the best) adapted to frostbite engine,my mistake, the game is more like a version of NFS online with better graphics. The controls are bad, in some races you will start about to hit a wall or fall off the track without any control of what you doing, you wiil need to break giving advantage to the other racers. The amount of availabe cars was new in the franchise, at the begging it was cool, but them you notice that you have to do same things to unlock new upgrades and it start to becoming boring. And as the cops, oh my... the cops, well, for that i will just say that they should have changed the title franchise for Need For Cops, one of the worst experience in a race game ever. But got to give a 3 for the graphics!… Collapse
  25. Thingriz
    Jan 26, 2013
    0
    Not worth the time to even think about it! Baby game written for babies with six axis controllers stuck to their hands and mommy and daddies money in their wallets. Console crap all the way- just like everything from criterion. The user reviews are very kind and the game reviewer's have been paid handsomely to lie! EA has failed on this series for 8 years now. I hated Black Box but Criterion? They can't even make a game that runs on PC or uses PC hardware. They aren't alone though- so they think that makes it alright to steal our money. Not mine! Need for Speed has been dead to me for 7 years. Sorry Sucker's.… Expand
  26. emperorkibbles
    Jan 25, 2013
    2
    It feels like a horribly watered down version of Burnout Paradise in almost every aspect. Hell, even the COLOURS look watered down compared to Burnout Paradise.

    The slow-mo crash thing is horribly disappointing compared to the exact same system in Burnout Paradise.
  27. emmanuelbriceno
    Jan 20, 2013
    7
    Multiplayer = frustrating derby, just crash, crash, crash, and more crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, stupid!!!!!!
  28. bluemonkey93
    Jan 20, 2013
    7
    I am really enjoying this game. It is disappointing it doesn't have garages, money and customization like the original did, but as a modern racing game I find it stands out with its array of content, cars, and beautiful locations.
  29. fessisbest
    Jan 16, 2013
    7
    I don't know where everyone is getting the poor performance excuse. I could run the game on all high settings 25-30 fps with my gtx 768mb. Overall though the lack of story and somewhat repetitive game-play could turn a lot of gamers off, but believe me, when it's fun, Its really fun.
  30. fredderator
    Jan 16, 2013
    5
    I wanted to love this game, I really did.

    Coming off the dismal "Need for Speed: The Run" last year, I was glad to hear Criteron was getting back to the style of "Hot Pursuit", the pinnacle of the modern NFS games. About three hours after firing this up, pumped as ever, I had to stop out of sheer frustration. First, the good. It seems as if there is a massive list of cars in this game.     Ranging for the Bugatti Veyron to the Ford Shelby GT, each car is faithfully represented on the screen.

    The graphics in the game are quite good but for me, they didn't look all too different from 2010's "Hot Pursuit". There are a few exceptions which I'll get into but overall, the game is still great to look at. The Bad.

    First, the controls feel incredibly sluggish. If you put Hot Pursuit at one end of the spectrum and The Run on the other, Most Wanted falls right in the middle. Perhaps I'm biased because I absolutely love the fast paced, arcade style controls of HP but MW falls disappointingly short. I didn't feel like I was in control of the car a lot of the times, especially if I was rubbing up against a wall. The amount of precision it takes to move away from the wall without slamming into the opposite one, feels inappropriate in this type of game. In Gran Turismo, this may work but I feel for a street racing game it's frustrating as all hell. I understand that upgrades can remedy this but you'll be repeating events so many times to get those upgrades the controls will start to wear on you.

    Rubber-banding and teleporting of opponents is commonplace in the NFS franchise unfortunately. Even my favorite, HP, is guilty of this. However in this game, it feels slightly unfair and here's why: At the beginning when you first obtain a car, you need to race for your upgrades including your boost. As far as I can tell, this happens with every single car (which is annoying to race for your boost on your car every single time). These races are already stacked against the player who already has enough to deal with when racing a new car, since each handles differently. Lack of boost, new car and rubber banding/teleporting in a preliminary race is way too much to throw at someone in the first race. The graphics, while beautiful, can be incredibly distracting. I remember during one race, I had the sun facing in my eyes for the entire time. I couldn't see a damn thing. Now this might work if the computer racers were somewhat affected, but they aren't. The amount of dust cars kick up also seems to be too much. In here lies a key problem with this game: It can't decide whether to be an arcade racing game or a simulator a la Gran Turismo. On one hand, the environmental effects scream "simulation" while slamming into a wall at 200/mph and driving away after multiple barrel rolls says "arcade". Mixing the two makes for a frustrating experience. Constant frame-rate issues also seem to plague the PC port but along with controls, it's not something new coming from a console focused title. However, it doesn't make it right. With virtually the same set up between the two, HP seems to have no frame-rate issues nor touchy control problems. The setting is incredibly bland, not to mention that this city feels incredibly similar to Burnout: Paradise's. Each race feels the same with slightly different turns. I think the series could have used some sort of plot device where it allowed for racing in different surroundings, like snowy rocky mountains or big canyons.


    The Indifferent

    There is really no story to NFS: MW. Then again, I don't necessarily play racing games for their story so this wasn't an issue for me but I could see how people feel less inclined to continue up the ranks. Different personalities for the "Most Wanted" drivers could have been neat but again, not really a necessity. The music is really nothing to write home about. You got your rock, your dubstep, blah blah blah. Typically they get drowned out by the constant crashing and smashing of cars that you'll barely notice there's any music. The sound overall is fantastic though, as each car has a distinct sound (as it should). Conclusion

    It may seem like I hate this game, but I really don't. I'm just incredibly disappointed with the end product after being hyped about this being the spiritual successor to Hot Pursuit. In the end, if you enjoy the NFS series as a whole, it's probably worth a rental. Anyone else may have a hard time staying interested after a few days.    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 30, 2012
    60
    Just pick one of the beautiful cars, hop in and drive. But do not want anything else. NFS: Most Wanted is average fun for all car lovers. [Dec 2012]
  2. CD-Action
    Nov 29, 2012
    70
    Most Wanted works best when you treat it like mobile games – switch it on for 15 minutes, do a random race with a random car and then turn it off. It's a good arcade racing title closely resembling Burnout: Paradise but it's not exceptional. [CD-Action 13/2012, p.52]
  3. Worth Playing
    Nov 25, 2012
    92
    Most Wanted's biggest strength is that it feels like a cohesive whole, rather than some amalgamation of a reboot tacked on to another game's engine. The gameplay emphasizes as little downtime as possible, which is a good thing as it's an absolute blast whether or not cops are involved. It's not a reboot as much as it is a reimagining of the original game, taking the bits that worked and wrapping them in a completely new package. Surprisingly enough, it does so in a way that works, and the new Most Wanted ranks up there with the original.
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