Metascore

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

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 271 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: 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. 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.
  3. 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: 47 out of 108
  2. Negative: 50 out of 108
  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. I'm a little torn how to rate this. I play with my family and cousins online and we were all very excited about this game. Each of us had differing opinions on games, but we all enjoy playing together when we can. First, why call this Most Wanted? It clearly isn't and the idea they posted it under the NFS franchise suggests they were looking for sales based off the Title alone. NFS:MW was/is one of the better racing games made. It catered to both Sim fans and Arcade fans. This is back when it mattered to EA if they released a good game or not. I personally thought with Criterion involved even EA couldn't mess it up. So when my cousin won a copy, we were all pretty excited. We went over expecting to find a great game the rest of us would want to buy and play together. We found some really fun aspects, which could equate to a lot of fun racing online. But after a few days playing, I think we all kind of decided it just wasn't worth the money. It's certainly not a racing Sim, which is fine since a few of us don't really care for racing sims. But the lack of camera views was annoying. I don't care about manual/automatic but my brother did. I do care about fun, and every car had it's unique qualities, which is ok, but they also all were pretty much the same. You could win with a little 4 cyl compact as easily as a super sports car. This is fun, at first, but after awhile it gets annoying. Especially if you get a car you think looks cool, because you're only allowed so many races per car. Really, you can read most reviews, aside from the "This is the best game ever, get it now!!!' and the "WTF, no manual transmission? This game sux don't buy" reviews. There are plenty of people who actually spent time to write what's good and bad about this game. Most of the better reviews gave it lower scores, but they explained it. Many of the 9 and 10 reviews seem to write how everyone else is wrong and the game is really good but they don't really go into details why. Just from what I've seen anyway. I strongly recommend you read more than a few reviews to get a better idea of the good and bad points. Because this game definitely has some great features and some not-so-great features. From a racing sim fans point of view, this game just isn't worth the money for me. It feels like they went for an over-the-top attempt and glitz and decided that a high production quality makes a good game. And for those who like that kind of racing, it will be a very fun game. Because, even though I won't buy it, it would be fun to play from time-to-time in smaller doses. For me, I don't think this really fits what I would call a racing game. I don't need full out realism, but I do need a challenge when I race and this game isn't challenging. It's a smash-up game, and they could substitute the cars with tractors, bicycles, old people pushing carts, just about anything that moves could be swapped out. My brother said it best "It's Mario kart but with kick butt graphics and very cool cars." And Mario Kart is a very fun arcade game, so maybe EA does have a hit on their hands. Just not with us. I think we all wanted to like this game, but it just is lacking in too many areas. Too bad. Expand

See all 108 User Reviews