Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 327 Ratings

  • Summary: With a relentless police force gunning to apprehend you, you’ll need to make split-second decisions. Use the open world to your advantage to find hiding nooks, hit jumps and earn new vehicles to keep you ahead of the game. Your cohorts are at the heart of your experience. In an open world wiwith no menus or lobbies, you’ll be able to instantly challenge your friends and prove your driving skill in a variety of multiplayer events. Your rivals will do everything they can to stop you from getting to the top. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 37
  2. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. Nov 30, 2012
    95
    Easily the best arcade racer of this generation. [Issue#225, p.76]
  2. Nov 12, 2012
    85
    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.
  3. Nov 27, 2012
    85
    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.
  4. Nov 10, 2012
    70
    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.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 116
  2. Negative: 53 out of 116
  1. A lot of people have INCORRECTLY said that there is NO penalty for being arrested, this statement is very WRONG.
    I just had a car chase with
    the police that lasted over 40 minutes, during the chase, I gathered 53,872 speed points (experience) that I LOST when the police manged to put and end to my city wide rampage by taking out my tires and trapping me in a rail tunnel...
    Had I managed to escape them I would have been given those points for the car I was driving and would have been able to upgrade it in many different ways.
    A 40 minute car chase may sound boring but I can tell you, it was some of the most amazing and thrilling action I have every witnessed in a video game with stunts and crashes that would have put Hollywood to shame.
    I strongly recommend this game, give it a chance, you wont be sorry.
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  2. 8
    A good solid racing game that you don't need to spend 25 hours on just to unlock a half-decent car. Take it for what it is, a pick-up-and-play racer with little to no need for massive time investment. If you want to tune your car, or spend 40 hours unlocking a twin turbo hatchback, then buy GT5 or Forza. If you are married or have kids and just want to spin the wheels for half an hour, buy this game. Expand
  3. Been playing this for a few hours now and I like the vast majority of the game thus far. The graphics are very nice and the cars look perfect. Most Wanted 2.0 also has many more cars and a more interesting variety, which is awesome. The take-down system from the Burnout games is well implemented and makes racing much more interesting. The streamlined menus are easily accessed from the D-Pad for swapping cars, parts, and managing events. However, Criterion's makeover falls short in a few disappointing ways for me, in no particular order: 1) No manual transmission!?!?! That was one of the few pieces of enjoyment I got from racing games, being able to downshift in anticipation of turns and having the added challenge keeps every race fresh; not in this game though. 2) No customization. Basically a cornerstone of NFS was the customization. You can't even pick the color you want it in this one... (aside from zipping through a drivethrough to repair and recolor it randomly). You unlock part upgrades by getting 2nd or 1st in a race and there's basically 2 options per part and allow you to tweak the stats slightly and get a pro-version of that part for completing certain challenges. That's it. No performance dymo, no tuning, just plug and play. 3) No car progression. What I mean by this is you don't save up for that special car you've had your eye on and then make it your own in this game. (In fact there's no currency at all.) You get 5 events to do with each car and then its essentially done, and you move onto the next car and rinse and repeat. That was something I (and I think a lot of people) really enjoyed doing in NFS games was building your baby from the beginning. Sure you might go through 3 or 4 cars on a play-through but you always had that goal to go for. Without being able to progress a car like in NFS Underground 1 and 2 and Most Wanted 1.0 it really takes away from the game by making it too much like the Burnout's. 4) There is no consequence for getting Busted. As you may remember from NFS Most Wanted 1.0, if you go busted you had some options. Using the tokens you got from Blacklist members to get out of jail free or add impound strikes could save you from paying those hefty fines which increased the more mayhem you caused. In this, you go back to the police station. That's it. No money in the game for them to take away, no way to lose your car. Just go back three spaces. Really makes pursuits completely pointless by doing it this way. Just finish a race with cops on you? Just stop and save yourself 5 minutes of trying to evade, it doesn't make a difference if you evade or get caught; sad but true. 5) In NFS: MW 1.0 they had a plot for us for why we were trying to go back up the Blacklist and had some little plot twists and deception going on which was a nice touch. Here in 2.0, the nice lady voice tells you about the list and that you should be #1 and to have fun. I'm not sure what I would ask from Criterion in this department...but it just feels like they should have done...something. *** IN SUMMARY, this doesn't feel like a NFS game as much it feels like a Burnout game and while the game does a lot of things right and it would play fine for a game on its own merits, this just doesn't live up to the original. If anything I just want to play the first one more now, but give it a go and try it for yourself. It's not a bad game by any means just not as good as it could have been by keeping the core and building around it, instead of trying to smash two franchises together in a somewhat disappointing way to both NFS and Burnout fans. Expand
  4. The game is fun, but compared to what it could be... it's got nothing.

    I was stoked for a new street racing game, I've been looking forward
    to something in open world street racing since Midnight Club L.A. I have to say Rockstar nailed it with that game. I guess I was hoping for something a bit more like that. A couple main points they missed.

    Customization - half the fun of street racing is customizing your car. In NFSMW you can get mods, but they don't do anything to the car. You can't even keep a color. Pretty lame

    Money - The other half of street racing that is fun is starting with an empty wallet and a POS car, and working your way up. NFSMW has Speed Points... but those are pretty worthless, they don't really unlock anything, you can't use them for anything... they just keep stacking up. Like a bank account you can deposit money into, but can't withdraw. All you can do it show people how much "money" you have.

    Cars - I have to admit, driving around in some of those supercars is a lot of fun. But in a street racing game, does it really make sense? I have more fun rolling in a Mitsubishi Evo X than the Bugatti Veyron, just because it makes more sense to me. It would be great if there were more street cars and a bit less supercar weight. Progression - NFSMW is open from the beginning... all the cars are there, you just need to find them... which may sound cool in theory, but it ruins the game for me. There is no game progression. The easiest part of the game was beating the top ten cars... the "MAIN STORY"

    Story - I put Main Story in quotes above, because there is no story at all. Which is fine. I was expecting more of an arcade racer light on the story... but they play with you... just a little hint of a story... and nothing more.

    Cut-Scenes - One thing I thought looked promising was the seamless gameplay... which is done well at points... but then you start a race by squealing you wheels. You think you should just be able to start the race there, right? Nope, you need to wait for a freaking ridiculous cut scene to play. Even when you skip the scene, you are still forced to sit through the end of it. So lame.

    Crash Cam - This is cool for about 2 seconds, and then it gets real old. Especially during multiplayer (which I will get to in a second). Again the seamless quality of the game is completely ruined by this slow motion crash camera... which you can't skip

    Multiplayer - It seems the whole goal to multiplayer is to smash into other people. I think it would be fine if that was a part of it, but you get more points from smashing people constantly than you do from actually winning the events. I just played a multiplayer speedlist, won each event, and then came in 4th overall... How can you win every event and come in 4th? The three people above you decided to crash into people instead of racing. I was done after than one....

    The idea of the game is great. It looks fantastic, the cars are fun to drive, but the racing and overall enjoyment is mediocre (because of the faults listed)... It's like they had this awesome abstract sculpture that they kept filing away at... getting rid of parts... smoothing out any edges... polishing... making sure it made sense to everyone... making sure not to make it to hard... making sure there were not sharp edges... and what they were left with was a polished statue of a little puppy. Cute and all, but the meaning and meat of the work is gone.
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See all 116 User Reviews