Need for Speed Most Wanted

Lots of sequels are anticipated, but few have received as much attention or as much scrutiny as Need For Speed: Most Wanted. It's the third offshoot the Need For Speed series has had, and with an Xbox 360 version due at the console's launch, everyone's eyes are on the graphics, expecting revolutionary visuals and unprecedented gameplay.

Playing the PlayStation 2 version can't quite match the polygonal punch of Xbox 360. It does confirm one thing though: Hot Pursuit was hot, but it wasn't enough. Hence the need for a bigger, faster game - Most Wanted. 

Most Wanted is the quintessential cops and racers game. That doesn't have as nice a sound as cops and robbers, but get behind the wheel of a Mazda RX8 and you'll forget all about how much fun an arsenal of weapons can be. (And if not, there's a new James Bond game to satisfy that need as well.)

Cops are meaner, and hunt in greater numbers than in Hot Pursuit and its sequel. Players will be warned of the danger of nearby officers before they begin their pursuit via intercepted police reports. Hearing someone say, "Multiple vehicles seen headed northbound," with that familiar, overly static voice is the first warning. Once they start describing the situation and refer to you and your opponents as "street racers" (as if that's illegal or something!), you know you're in trouble.

The act of getting caught is almost as fun to watch as it is to escape. Police will literally pile on top of your vehicle and ram into it from all sides to prevent street racers from escaping. Narrow streets could be a great shortcut, but it's a deathtrap if two or more of the police vehicles catch up with you. If you're having an especially bad day all it will take is one cop car to do you in. If you're rammed from the right angle it'll send your car spinning. Additional rams will be made, and by the time you notice the busted meter at the bottom of the screen it'll be half full.

Perpetrators (they're victims if you ask me!) are dragged away in cuffs, looking away from the camera as most criminals do. You can't see 'em anyway since their faces have been pixelated, TV report-style!  Information about the arrest is scrolled across the screen while the camera follows the scene as it unfolds. It's hilarious. I can imagine that it won't be too funny when you take the lead during a tough race and wind up losing because of a couple disgruntled officers. But I swear you'll laugh the first time it happens.

Players are expected to do doubly well in this game. Winning races -- that's half the battle. When you cross that finish line, feeling so proud, you'll probably expect to see a load screen followed by a "you win!" emblem to boost your cockiness. That's what you get from other racing games. Most Wanted has another way of rewarding first place wins: they send the cops after us. "Don't get busted." That's all it says. Oh thanks guys, way to go! Now I'm stuck driving 90 miles an hour down a busy street with six cops on my tail and who knows how many waiting to join the chase.

This chase comes after the game has already notified the cops and let them loose during the race you just won! Essentially you have to win twice to win once.

Thus the introduction of another EA sports breaker: the Speedbreaker. Practically every EA sports game has got one, so it's about time Need For Speed got on board. The Speedbreaker lets you slow down the action that resembles but is not exactly like Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge. It seems the advantage of using the Speedbreaker lies within sudden turns and police chases, though we won't know exactly how advantageous the feature is until the game's released. 

With bigger and bolder vehicles, relentless cops, and the flashiest graphics since NFS Underground, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is one of the most wanted racing games of the year. Underground was good, but Most Wanted is where the series should be: fast, furious, and more exciting than the movie to which these games are being compared.