Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 179 Ratings

  • Summary: With a relentless police force gunning to apprehend you, you値l 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 with no menus or lobbies, you値l 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: 18 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Oct 30, 2012
    94
    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.
  2. 90
    The online features are vast and should keep you busy for quite some time.
  3. Oct 30, 2012
    90
    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.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 69
  2. Negative: 33 out of 69
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The overall driving mechanics and game physics are not too shabby. Although the game can often be very blurry and hard to see even on a 50 inch HD screen. My biggest problem is that I loved Most Wanted for ps2. In fact it is still my favourite need for speed game ever made. If that is what you were hoping for in this game you will be VERY disapointed. There is virtually nothing for customization options. Besides winning new tires or having nos or not. That is the extent of customization, which previous need for speed titles were known for. The fact that you dont start from scratch but actually start the game in a porsche is also a dissapointment. Half the fun of the game was having a worthless car and competing and EARNING your way to better cars and better races. Speaking of earning better races, the autolog racing system is stupid. There are only 5 races for each car. After that you have to abandon your favourite car and drive some peice of crap. There is virtually no structure of progression in place to take you further. You just wander aimlessly untill you earn enough points to race the guy above you. After that, back to wandering aimlessly. Overall as a remake this is a total failure. A piss-poor attempt at customization. No sense of how people like to enjoy video games and progression, or earning something. A measly 10 people on the most wanted list ahead of you compared to 25 from the original. I hope this helps anyone who was considering buying this game because its CALLED "Most Wanted" The name is selling this game, and nothing else. Avoid this game or be disapointed. Expand

See all 69 User Reviews