Most Wanted is definitely aimed towards those players who normally don't play racing games. The game doesn't feature the exhaustive customization options of game's like Gran Turismo; instead Criterion successfully delivers a beautiful looking and fantastic adrenaline packed racing experience.

Need for Speed Most Wanted does a great job at what it's supposed to - the cars feel good, the game looks pretty and the multiplayer is phenomenal. Some curious decisions hurt more than they help, and I'll never get used to the LSD inspired intro videos, but overall it's evidence that Criterion are getting ever closer to nailing that balance between arcade and simulation racing.

Competitive types will adore proving themselves superior to their friends while doing all of the above. I think it's safe to say that no matter which type of gamer you are, you'll find at least some aspect of Need for Speed Most Wanted to completely lose yourself in.

The latest Need for Speed release has its share of slip-ups, but it's mostly able to sideline them and deliver a fast, fun open world racing game very much like Criterion's classic Burnout Paradise.

With an innovative and engaging asynchronous and traditional multiplayer package baked into their top-notch open world framework, Criterion has created a modern standard for arcade style racers.

Once again, Criterion still manages to stand out and offer something fresh, setting a new standard in open-world driving games with - that word again - a seamless feast of quality. [Dec 2012, p.98]

Even though it doesn't reach the class of Forza Horizon, Most Wanted is an open-world game in the truest of senses. You have to look for the fun to find it. But since there is so much entertainment scattered about Fairhaven, this should be no problem. Those wild and nerve-wrecking police pursuits alone, which regularly develop their own zany dynamics, would be a decent raison d'être for any racing game.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted has a number of flaws that prevent it from reaching the same heights as Forza Horizon or Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. But at the same time it has some great ideas of its own to make it entertaining. I would've wanted Criterion to work more on the sense of speed and removing the graphical bugs, but besides that Most Wanted is a great racer that will give you a good time both online and offline.

Sometimes while playing Most Wanted I was confused what to do next due to the sheer volume of opportunities. I was even frustrated at times when seemingly out of nowhere, a civilian car clogged up the last turn of a particularly high-tension race, causing me to eat metal instead of grabbing victory. But part of the beauty of this game is that there is no such thing as an unfair ending. Whether you're dominating your opponents or barrel rolling your way through a race, you're getting what you wanted – a game, that win or lose, goes all out getting there.

At times Most Wanted elicits the hungriest of addictions, feeding on the player's desire to beat more and more friends. While a few gamers might find the ride too fast or too arcade-y, racing fans of all shapes and sizes will find hours and hours of fantastic rivalries.

It might not be as good or as lavish as Hot Pursuit, but Criterion surely offered another great addition to EA's legendary racing franchise.

When played alone, Need for Speed: Most Wanted feels too large and too empty, a game devoid of compelling content and one that doesn't provide enough reasons to play. When played online, however, it is instantly transformed into a far more vibrant, manic and exciting place to be.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a hybrid that combines Criterion's long-living Burnout-franchise, i.e. fun gameplay, fast paced action and exceptional driving, with the mechanics and elements that made the original Most Wanted so great in the first place, making for one of the best racing-games this side of 2010.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a solid arcade racer, and although it feels a bit thin when it comes to single-player content, it more than makes up for it when you head online with your friends.

Doesn't beat Forza Horizon, but that doesn't matter with a great Autolog and lots of challenges to take on.

Just an average kind of a racing game. Criterion has meddled the things that work to no avail. Has it been an order from EA or have they been trying to take the series apart to prepare a market for a true Burnout comeback? A conspiracy theory? Maybe, but nothing changes the fact that the Most Wanted game is dull as dishwater.

It's not quite the smooth, finely tuned speed machine it could have been, but Need for Speed: Most Wanted is still an exciting racer.

If you're not big on multiplayer, there's little reason to pick up Most Wanted over, say, heading to the bargain bin for a copy of Burnout Paradise. If you're willing to invest a few hours to learning the game's quirks, however, and are at all interested in racing against your friends online, this suddenly becomes one of the most recommendable arcade racers to come along in the past few years.

Criterion and EA deliver an entertaining online racer that won't go down in genre history as a revolutionary step in the Need for Speed franchise evolution however. A well done online experience saves an otherwise soulless game.

Great multiplayer and a huge sandbox to play in make this a wild and crazy ride. [Jan 2013, p.64]

It's undoubtedly one of the year's most exhilarating experiences.

Ready for another exhilarating gaming experience? Need for Speed Most Wanted is your answer. Going back to the franchise's roots which made it the classic it is today, this is an unmissable instalment in the series that you must play. It's time for your next dose of adrenaline.

Criterion Games proves once again they know how to make successful racing games. After a pleasant Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, the British video game developer offers a new version of Need For Speed: Most Wanted, bringing some Burnout elements to the IP. The title puts the leveling features aside, focusing on an experience players will enjoy instantaneously thanks to a new open-world universe and enough difficulty to hold them spellbound.

A successful blend of Need For Speed and Burnout that lacks a little in personality, but certainly not in terms of content or online action.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted deeply tries to be original, but its open structure ends up to be a little bit too repetitive. Luckily, there's a lot of fun to be had in multiplayer.

This is a whole new, uber-improved racer that will change your view on the Need for Speed franchise for the better. Best enjoyed with eye-drops as you won't want to blink.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is everything but a simulation racer, but it still feels a lot less arcadey than Ridge Racer or the classic Burnout games. It makes takedowns a bit more risky, since you risk losing control over your car, but also more satisfying. [November 2012, p.86]

Easily the best arcade racer of this generation. [Issue#225, p.76]