Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Criterion has done the impossible – they've taken what is, arguably, the best race-and-chase game made for this generation and somehow made it so much better.

Criterion just did it again. This is one of the best driving games we've seen in the last few years. Full of content and with many hours of fun waiting for us, no matter if we're playing alone or online. It shows that probably the only way to improve an open-world title is waiting for a more powerful hardware, since Criterion can only beat itself. Definitely a must-have.

All in all Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the Need for Speed game that fans of the series have been clamoring for, for quite some time. It mixes a formula of both old school ideas and new ones, creating an experience that mixes well and will certainly appeal to a wide audience and gear heads. The game is fast, huge, and most importantly…fun, and part of its charm is not taking itself too seriously. Need for Speed is back, and we welcome you with open arms.

Simply put, it's Criterion's most accomplished racer. [Issue#91, p.74]

Burnout Paradise, revised and improved in every aspect. Not a classic Need for Speed. Still, one of the most interesting arcade racers of this generation.

The presentation is mostly right on, and the gameplay feels on par with Criterion's best work.

Criterion Games brings the fire here in this Frankenstein's monster amalgamation of Burnout and Need for Speed. The buttery smooth controls, multitude of unlockable rides/upgrades, and ever-alluring draw of besting your friends' times, not to mention the forward-thinking CloudCompete, come together to offer one of the finest arcade racing experiences out there.

Criterion Games has developed the best arcade driving game of this generation. It is fun, fast, crazy and offers thousands of different options. One of the most remarkable aspects is the online mode up to 8 players in the same Fairhaven.

Criterion has made no attempt to disguise the fact they're making a game designed to be played socially, so it's no surprise that Most Wanted only gets better once you party up.

After the Hot Persuit remake lifted the Need for Speed franchise to new heights, Criterion does it again with Most Wanted. The emphasis on free-roaming, social interaction and over-the-top action with impressive cars make the new Most Wanted a very refreshing racing game. Everyone who likes speed and competition, even in the slightest of forms, owes it to themselves to play this game.

You could argue that the crashes don't match the drama of the chase, the camera angles often failing to relay the complete destruction of your vehicle. The handling might feel a little too forced towards the arcade side of things and perhaps some players will feel that they've played this game already thanks to the many hours they put into Burnout Paradise. But there's no denying that Criterion is the master of its craft, and Most Wanted is its biggest and best effort yet.

If you desire structure, if you wanted a game to be meted out to you, you might find its instant freedom somewhat overwhelming. But Most Wanted is all about deviation and deviance. It's the racing game for people who don't tend to like racing games.

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.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted has every right to be on your most wanted wish list this Christmas.

A challenging game with some handling issues that bug me at times and framerate problems that bug me every time they crop up. However, the overall greatness of the game easily overshadows those comparably small complaints.

While some of the interface experiments are hit or miss, the gameplay in Need for Speed: Most Wanted provides a solid mix of heart-in-your throat speed and playful discovery. Whether you're weaving through traffic or lining up for big air, Most Wanted's densely-packed automotive playground is fun to explore on your own, and really comes alive with friends.

A technically sound and entertaining sandbox for arcade racers. The name should be Need for Burnout, though. [Dec 2012]

By giving each car its separate missions, Need for Speed: Most Wanted introduces a fresh new way to experience open world racers. You will be pushed to use new vehicles, though it is a shame that unlocked upgrades are somewhat useless because of this.

Although far from being technically perfect, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a solid arcade racing experience. Whether solo or within its unique approach to multiplayer there is more than enough here to keep players entertained for a long time.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is yet another solid release from Criterion Games. It's full of memorable events, amazing visuals and the best online multiplayer racing action around. Unfortunately, it's also in the shadows of a much better racing game. Most Wanted is a fun game, but it never fully lives up to its potential!

While the overeager police presence can be a bit of a pain and the online multiplayer is a bit too hectic for its own good, there's no denying that Criterion has brought their expert touch to the Need for Speed franchise yet again, delivering one of the tightest open-world racing games in recent memory.

Fans of Criterion's previous games were clear in what they wanted, and in turn, Criterion themselves were clear in what they were making. There are some scrapes with single-player and a lack of polish here and there, but the multiplayer delivers in such a big way that all of this hardly matters. Need for Speed Most Wanted is that big, crazy, crash-y open-world racer you've been asking for.

Need for Speed Most Wanted is marred somewhat by a fussy, restrictive and self-defeating interface. But it's one of the best racing games of 2012 regardless. And if Criterion's track record of post-release support with Burnout Paradise is any indication, it will only improve over time.

Most Wanted delivers raucous entertainment in spades, whether you're battling Fairhaven City's finest in the campaign or dueling network competition in serious races and silly trick competitions. After years of revisiting Burnout Paradise's recurring playground, we finally have a fresh racing addiction to keep us hooked until Criterion's next seemingly inevitable open-road opus.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted wishes it was a Burnout game. It has the right developer, the right approach to open-world racing design, and the right gameplay to make it a worthy sequel to 2008's Paradise. Unfortunately, it's not a Burnout game. It lacks the punch and thrill of that series, replacing it with something that can't fairly be called "blandness" but is still too generic to set it apart from other games in the genre.

If you're used to the classic NfS style with its extreme customization and its barebones arcade style, Criterion's game could reveal itself as an unwelcome change; however, despite some not very good gameplay choices it's a very entertaining and engaging racing game.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a spiritual successor to Burnout Paradise with the license behind it. This is not a bad thing; in fact it does more good for the game than anything. Criterion knows how to make fun and accessible racers, and MW is no exception. If you enjoy these types of games I cannot recommend the game enough.

An exciting, well-constructed racer, coated in a sheen of vein-popping frustrations. [Christmas 2012, p.72]

This is not quite Need for Speed nor quite Burnout Paradise. But nonetheless this is an entertaining high gloss racer with adrenaline injection. Solo you might want to look for something else, but if you're into wild and crazy online chases you will get lost in Fairhaven.

Each year we are given a new Need for Speed title and this has been one of the best in a long while.

Most Wanted succeeds because it is all about the driving and the driving is excellent. It's Burnout with a name that will sell. And that's a pretty good thing.

As a single-player game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is simply good.

This dumb, loud, fast, silly, sexy car porn is eminently gratifying. Well done, Criterion. This is the game I've been waiting for you to make since Burnout.

The latest Criterion's effort is a compelling racing game in the likes of Burnout Paradise and Hot Pursuit, that deserves all the attention of street racing games fans. Worshipers of the original Most Wanted beware, though: this is not exactly the Most Wanted 2 you were waiting for.

Most Wanted pulled me in more than nearly any racing game this generation, despite the shoddy AI and issues elsewhere.

The single-player game lacks a bit of structure and the multiplayer is certainly chaotic at first, but the game excels in providing socially connected racing that gets under the skin.

Criterion Games have once again proved that they're the pinnacle development team at Electronic Arts and will lead the Need for Speed franchise into a brighter future. While there are some shortcomings, such as poor map navigation and some rubber-banding issues, Most Wanted is an adrenaline-pumping racer that will leave you with sweaty palms.

A compelling argument not just for Criterion's continued stewardship of Need for Speed - assuming Hot Pursuit left you in any doubt on that front - but for the reproduction of those inescapable, irresistible online features across rival genres.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the next Burnout game fans have clamoring for – it may not say so on the box, but everything about it screams Burnout. The feel of the cars, the physics and the eclectic mix of multiplayer modes are all undeniably Criterion qualities, the things old fans love and the properties that convert new fans with every studio release.

A game with some amazing moments and enough little issues to make you constantly wish that it was slightly better, slightly smoother, and (on consoles) slightly cleaner.

Its sense of character may be not be as forceful as Criterion's other games - but the sense of competition that informs it, the joy of discovery and the plain pleasure of driving haven't been dimmed in the slightest. This isn't quite paradise, but it comes very close.

The developer sought to bring freedom to the racing genre, both with the overall structure and the ability to drive almost any car immediately, and they nailed that goal from the opening moments. Yet for all the hard work that was clearly put into realizing an open world, enough issues (re)surface that they undo much of the studio's hard work. Cars don't really handle differently, they just drive faster.

A fantastic racing game at its core, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is let down by too few race types and a multiplayer mode with somewhat limited appeal. Joyriding around Fairhaven can be fun in its own right, but there's simply too little real meat on Most Wanted's bones. Most Wanted? Nearly, but not quite. Criterion can do and has done better.

If you stick to the online mode, have a good group of friends to share the road with, and love fast, sexy cars, you'll probably enjoy the game. It's not incredibly deep, so look elsewhere to scratch that driving itch, but it works for a quick, pulse-pounding hit of action and adrenaline...It's a shame the poor design that plagues the offline mode is so ingrained into the fundamental fabric of the gameplay.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted isn't quite a return to the racing paradise of some earlier Criterion games, but it's a mostly exciting ride nonetheless.

An open world street racer set in an interesting city. There's a lot of things to do, but they get pretty repetitive after a while. The autolog for online competition is brilliant though.

Criterion successfully blended its own style with the Need for Speed one - if you're not into scrutiny of the details. The fun is there, thanks to very accessible, arcade-y driving, and constant challenges to take on both in solo and multiplayer modes. But it's still difficult to excuse some shortcomings like the lack of visibility on some races, and poorly balanced take-downs that break the pace of the game more often than not.