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Need for Speed Most Wanted
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 22 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada
Genre(s): Racing, Driving
Players: Multi
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: November 15, 2005
Summary
Combining the thrill of illicit street racing and tuner customization with the intensity of strategic police pursuits that rivals any Hollywood-style chase scene, Need for Speed Most Wanted challenges players to become the most notorious and elusive street racer. Players instantly feel the thrill of the ride as they hit the streets in an open world environment where drivers can tune their cars to compete against any class of vehicles or use their wits to out-fox the law to satisfy their need for speed. Need for Speed Most Wanted delivers a unique, fast-paced and gripping ride in the racing genre as players build up their Rap Sheet and street cred to move their way up the Black List to become the most wanted racer on the streets. Players go head-to-head with the top drivers on the scene as well as strategically evade more than half dozen cops at any one time. Also included are a dynamic open world, new gameplay and customization as well as tuners, supercars, muscles and sports cars. [Electronic Arts]
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: Need for Speed Underground Need for Speed Underground 2 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Talk Xbox
You will fall in love with the police-chases immediately, and you are still offered the great racing aspects that you already know and love.
Read Full Review >PGNx Media
The addition of the cops returns the series to its roots, while keeping the gameplay mechanics and large city of the Underground games will make it accessible to fans of those games.
Read Full Review >Armchair Empire
An exceptional racing game, with stunningly awesome graphics and a solid gameplay, albeit somewhat lacking in the A.I. smarts.
Read Full Review >Games Radar
It's a shame that the multiplayer options don't include a cop pursuit mode, but that's a minor omission in a one-game-fits-all package. If you haven't found any of the recent NFS games to be juuuust right, Most Wanted is the one to own.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
It'll fulfill all your outlaw tuner desires, with the added bonus of not making you look like a complete fool when you take it for a spin.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
Great blend of the series' best bits: customizable cars, high-octane races, and cop chases. [Holiday 2005, p.86]
Stuff
Making a name for youself by climbing the game's Black List, aka series of bad-ass mo-fos you must beat, is good fun.
Read Full Review >TeamXbox
This is a better overall game than the "Underground" series, with more depth on the pavement and in the garage. The presentation factor has also gone up tenfold, along with a serious improvement in graphical quality.
Read Full Review >IC-Games
There are some suitably impressive graphics on offer and the career mode is probably one of the most impressive seen in the series to date.
Read Full Review >GameZone
It skips the commercial appeal of the Underground games and offers a game filled with intense races, great FMV cutscenes and number of cool cars.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
Wanted's story won't win any awards, and the game would still be tremendous fun without it, but it gives your racing added significance.
Read Full Review >Next Level Gaming
The return of the police is an excellent addition to the game, too bad that they are not available for online play.
Read Full Review >PALGN
One of the best racing games of 2005. It feels so polished and the presentation is really high class.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
It’s been missing for a while, but the simple inclusion of the police catapults Most Wanted into one of the best racers in recent history.
Read Full Review >Game Chronicles
The amalgamation of the open-city concept of the Underground games with the police chases of Hot Pursuit make for a sort of “best of” of the NFS history.
Read Full Review >1UP
As a current-gen game it's stunning. The Xbox version is notably impressive, and even moreso when you see it side-by-side with its sibling on 360.
Read Full Review >IGN
The game holds at a solid 30 FPS on all systems, and while the sense of speed isn't as palpable in the first hour or so of play, just wait. Win a few cars, upgrade them, and before you know it, you'll be smoking.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
While I yearned for a little more in a few areas (difficulty curve and graphical polish in particular), the overall experience lies somewhere between the first "Underground" and the second...meaning it's easy fun, but not genre-defining. [Dec 2005, p.148]
GameSpot
The actual racing hasn't changed too much, but the ever-present police make this game a whole lot more interesting.
Read Full Review >Pelit (Finland)
A decent enough racing experience. The police chases are excellent fun, but where is the proper civilian traffic? [Dec 2005]
Gamer 2.0
Most Wanted brings the police back in force, and the game benefits greatly from it.
Read Full Review >XGP Gaming
NFS: MW is still in the business of immersing you in the world of illegal street racing and it does a decent job of that.
Read Full Review >Sydney Morning Herald
The addition of smart and relentless police pursuers has reinvigorated this popular driving series.
Read Full Review >Computer and Video Games
We're not claiming Most Wanted to be the best urban racer money can buy, but at least your get your 40 quid's worth out of this one, instead of some mediocre old night-time racer with an over-hyped modification element welded onto the bonnet. Good effort. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]
Read Full Review >GameSpy
The Xbox version, in addition to being considerably better-looking than the PS2 version, also supports Xbox Live online play for head-to-head racing, though seemingly must-have features, like co-op racing or the ability to play as the cops, didn't make it into the online portion of the game.
Read Full Review >Xbox World Australia
The pursuit mode stands out as the best feature, which sadly is not incorporated into multiplayer, which not coincidentally is the weakest aspect of the game.
Read Full Review >Ferrago
The only thing stopping it achieving a better score are the aforementioned niggles coupled with some below par AI. Their computer-controlled abilities switch from laughably amateur to 'one mistake and its race over' Terminator-style brutality in a matter of moments which seems more than a little unfair.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
The controls are solid, the storyline is at least entertaining, the cop chases are fun, the graphics and sound are both well done and polished, and the time it’ll take you to finish it makes it worth a purchase.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
A solid, fun racer, but its repetitive single-player events and limp four-player online multi (Xbox only) sap its power. [Jan 2006, p.120]
Read Full Review >Total Video Games
games(TM)
It’s a nice, clean package that delivers enough hi-octane chases and enjoyment to warrant a purchase. [Christmas 2005, p.121]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Paul W. gave it a9:
Visuals it is more tastefully naturalistic than neon-lit street racer. It's set on the coast, in suburban neighbourhoods and surrounded by trees rather than being very urban. Chases are exciting, set pieces (eg crashing through a billboard, destroying a garage) are slowed down to great effect. The stylised FMV is very good (better than using in game graphics). The only flaw is that the tasks are repeated too many times. The first few hours I played this against my cousin and his friend was the most enjoyable multiplayer session I have ever had.
Kyle L. gave it a9:
Was very intersting. Graphics are on a new level, and the driving is very realistic. I loved this game, and all race fans should get it, if not already.
J. G. gave it a10:
this game is awesome, the cars and movie style cut scenes are great but only one complaint.what is up with 2 player mode no cop chases come on, i like the changes but the co-op chases need to be brought back.
Pimp Player gave it a10:
This game is a "WoW" first time i played it i was amazed of the storyline and graphics system. This is a true game for any racing fan outhere JUST GIVE A TRY and you will see this is a cool racing game.
Michael V. gave it a10:
One of the Greatest GT Street Racing Games around today, All Flash, No Substance.
Todd K. gave it a10:
This game was so much fun. The final cop chase is just insane!! I recommend this game to anyone who likes a good racer.
Daz gave it a10:
i never bothered with nfsu and nfsu2 i thought was very weak. So i wasn't expecting much from this game. Boy, was i surprised!! The game is ace. The single player is fun and exciting and i'm also enjoying the 63 challenges so far. I haven't tried online yet but i've heard from a friend that it's OK. So a recommendation comes from me and i'm not even a fan of car modding game.
