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Lakeland Fun in North-Central Minnesota
Paul Bunyan Land and This Old Farm Pioneer Village
Old-fashioned carnival rides might not impress the thrill-seeking set, but they will keep the little ones (and kitsch-hunters) happy. A lumberjack greets kids at the entrance. In Brainerd (218/764-2524; thisoldfarm.net).
Brainerd Golf Trail
A partnership among 10 area courses, the Brainerd Golf Trail's 180 holes run through a unique blend of forests and lakes. Look for special packages through resorts and hotels (brainerdgolftrail.com).
Considered a premier area for golfers, central Minnesota offers many other courses as well; click on the Minnesota Golf link below for a listing by region.
Paul Bunyan Land and This Old Farm Pioneer Village
Old-fashioned carnival rides might not impress the thrill-seeking set, but they will keep the little ones (and kitsch-hunters) happy. A lumberjack greets kids at the entrance. In Brainerd (218/764-2524; thisoldfarm.net).
Paul Bunyan Trail
A 110-mile converted rail bed goes from Brainerd north to Bemidji. Bikers and strollers fill the level, surfaced route of the Paul Bunyan Trail in summer. Snowmobilers zip past in winter, braking for hot drinks in the area's small towns. Plenty of rental places dot the 110-mile trail (paulbunyantrail.com).
Nisswa's charm
Just 15 miles northwest of Brainerd, Nisswa hosts the weird and wonderful Wednesday afternoon turtle races, a tradition that draws crowds (pictured at left). Youngsters can rent turtles or bring their own and feverishly urge them on, while onlookers cheer (800/950-9610; Nisswa.com).
Nisswa also offers several good choices for shopping and restaurants. Cool off with an ice cream cone at The Chocolate Ox (218/963-4443) or try a peach scone at Rachel's Bakery (218/963-0900). Lundrigans Clothing (218/963-2647) sells cabin-style home decorating items as well as clothing; Rainy Days (218/963-4891) is a bright, cheery bookstore with a good selection of children's books.
Retro chic at Detroit Lakes
Tucked among north-central Minnesota's trees and lakes, you'll find generations-old resorts built around screen-door cabins and a refusal to gentrify. Downtown Detroit Lakes (population: 8,100) features a mile-long beach near streets of everyday shops, not just gift stores. Throw in simple pleasures such as waterskiing lessons, a huge flea market and a county fair, and you don't get much more Parent Trap (Hayley Mills version) than this -- and that's why people love it.
Pictured: Guests practice paddling at Detroit Lakes' Fair Hills Resort.
Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce
Shady Hollow Flea Market
Open summer Sundays, some 100 vendors sell art, pottery and collectibles, 5 miles south of Detroit Lakes (218/847-9488; shadyhollowmarket.com).
Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge
This 43,000-acre sanctuary, about 18 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes, is home to more than 250 bird species and 50 mammal species. Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge lies in one of the most diverse transition zones of vegetation in North America, between hardwood forests to the north and prairie grasses to the south. Hike, fish or bird-watch. The visitors center also has a printed guide to an auto tour (218/847-2641; fws.gov/midwest/tamarac).
Itasca State Park
Twenty miles north of Park Rapids, old-growth forest holds the burbling, clear source of the Mississippi river. Most people come to Itasca State Park to walk the Mississippi headwaters, but the forest's massive pines, sparkling Lake Itasca and miles of hiking trails and paved bike paths might steal the show. Visit both the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center and the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center, which offer exhibits, maps and gift shops (218/699-7251; www.mnstateparks.info).
Chippewa National Forest
Popular Leech Lake is part of the Chippewa National Forest (east of Bemidji), a 1.6-million-acre swath of lakes, wetlands and forests. Activities in this vast area include hiking, biking, fishing, berry picking, boating and eagle-spotting (218/335-8600; www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/chippewa).
Minnesota Grown Directory
Summertime festivals celebrate blueberries, raspberries and other Minnesota bounty. And there are many places for visitors to pick berries and buy locally grown, fresh produce. The free Minnesota Grown Directory lists nearly 800 farms and markets that sell berries, wild rice, fresh milk and eggs. You can also browse the website for farms to visit, searching by city or ZIP code, product or service, or seasonal favorites.
About 100 miles north of Brainerd, this town of 13,000 is the northern gateway to the Paul Bunyan Trail. Visitors to Bemidji come for the abundant outdoor recreation -- as well as to see the iconic statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox next to the visitors center along Lake Bemidji (877-250-5959; visitbemidji.com). Another popular stop is Bemidji Woolen Mills, an 88-year-old company that sells lumberjack gear and other woolens (888/751-5166; bemidjiwoolenmills.com).
Winter adventures
When winter's chill settles into the Brainerd Lakes area, only the water comes to a standstill. With 50 inches of annual snowfall and hundreds of lakes, Brainerd Lakes is one of the Midwest's liveliest playgrounds. Popular winter sports include skiing, snowshoeing, snow tubing, snowmobiling and even dog sledding. Hotels book up early for the annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza (usually in January).
Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza


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Why aren't you in Europe right now? You are missing out on coastlines, vineyards, wineries, lush valleys, metropolitan cities juxtaposed with Roman Ruins, food and flower markets, cheeses, chocolate, castles, sleepy villages, and century upon century of history and art!
I was graciously invited to attend the annual end-of-season guide dinner in The Netherlands by our European Operations Manager and our European guides this last December (how is it already 2014?). How could I refuse? So, off to Europe I went, again.
Transoceanic flights so often tend to be eight to ten hours (or longer) of uncomfortable, sardine-like travel; however, both of my flights proved to be memorable, comic, and touching experiences. After safely arriving at Schiphol in Amsterdam, retrieving my very heavy luggage, and stepping out of the hurried international airport, I was struck by the sharp winter breeze with notes of the North Sea and was instantly reminded why I love being in Europe. And why you should, too.
There are a myriad of reasons to love Europe. Europe is Earth's second-smallest continent covering only 2% of the World's surface and is home to 11% of the Earth's population, but within that small space is a multitude of incredible countries that have to be seen at least once. You can be in a different country with its own distinctive culture in mere hours. I live in Montana so the notion of driving one and a half hours and crossing through two, if not three, countries is truly notable. Being able to immerse myself in multiple cultures in a relatively small area is irresistible.
The coastlines in Europe are remarkable, even if you live in a coastal city and especially if you live in a landlocked area. From north to south each is worth visiting. The North Sea along The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark is striking. It is a rough, grey body of water with light-colored, sandy beaches bordered by natural sand dunes. The water here appears wild, untamed, with a sense of stubborn independence. You can feel it while your feet are sinking into sand and intermittent gusts of the prevailing winds sweep through your hair, trust me. To the south, Croatia boasts the Dalmatian Coast on the eastern Adriatic Sea. The waters range from clear, aquamarine to deep sapphire blue. Of course, the Dalmatian Coast has a Mediterranean feel to it with warm waters in the summer and cooler waters in the winter with beaches that range from pebbly to soft beach sand. The sentiment here is untouched, relaxed, and pampered with a sun-kissed glaze.
Europe is overflowing with history. Everywhere you look, each step that you make has a million stories behind it. You can see passage graves in France that were built with rock that has been exposed to the elements since 4850 BC, stand in sheer wonder at Greek and Roman ruins, learn why houses in temperate areas of Europe have had thatched roofs since the Bronze Age, visit villages that look as though they have been untouched for hundreds of thousands of years. The chateaux, castles, and cathedrals that have withstood time, wars, religious changes, multiple governments and have been host to artists, politicians, murderers, royalty, insanity, and disease are unforgettable.
These are but a few of the reasons that I love Europe and why you should, too. Europe should not be explored hastily, but leisurely with willingness to experience all that it can share.
I have been to multiple places in North America, Central America, Asia and several countries in Europe. And Europe is still my favorite. So, tell me again, why aren't you in Europe right now? Oh, right, the usual…work, previous engagements, life. Why don't you shake it up a little bit? Let us share Europe with you on the back of bike in the spring! I'm game, are you?

subset: commoncrawl


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As graphic designer and FSC Coordinator, Jason England combines his experience in design, production, and business to help his managers and colleagues shape the future at Yale Printing and Publishing Services (YPPS).
After graduating with a degree in Art History and Graphic Design from Keene State in New Hampshire, Jason went on to work as a general manager with Illuminated Graphics at Atomic Projects. Within two years, he helped that company grow from a basement operation into a company valued at over $6 million.
BluePrint printing clusters, now found around campus, combine what was previously a variety of printer programs including YPPS Copier Rental and PaperCut programs.
Under the united BluePrint system operations will be seamless for customers who previously used any previous systems. For instance, PaperCut customers will continue printing to the same queue names and client software.
Originally established as an in-plant electronic print shop, YPPS has evolved into a center offering a wide-range of services, and plays an integral part in the support of Yale's mission of teaching and research by offering to students, faculty, and staff support encompassing the publication and dissemination of information.
The Yale community can draw upon all YPPS services including our traditional high quality black & white and color printing/copying, print consulting and publication production, graphic design and Web site building, scanning/imaging and document management, a full compliment of mail and fulfillment services, availability to in-house offset press capabilities, and much more. Integrating current and leading edge technology wherever possible, many of YPPS offerings provide the most current "state of the art" means to perform tasks including e-ticket services for job submittals, electronic job status/tracking capabilities, and on-line viewing of class course materials and other publications.
Working closely and in collaboration with the University Printer's Office, the talented staff of YPPS is ready to assist you. Members of YPPS have a commitment to Yale and are eager to fulfill their commitment to support Yale's mission.


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The Employees-First Effect
Faced with one of the toughest recessions in recent history, HCL Technologies called on the talents and insights of individuals across its 95,522-strong organization and became one of the fastest growing companies in the world.
Call it the Employees-First Effect.
In 2005, HCL had begun a series of experiments based upon a radical new management philosophy, "Employees First, Customers Second," which in many ways turned the traditional management hierarchy upside down. The aim of EFCS was to create trust grow through transparency, to make managers as accountable to employees as employees were to their bosses, to transfer the responsibility for change and value creation to front-line employees working in the "value zone," where HCL and its customers interact. Systems and processes were put in place designed to achieve these goals.
As a business philosophy, EFCS attracted the attention of academics (Harvard Business School did a case study on the approach), the media (Fortune magazine characterized HCL management as "the world's most modern"), and analysts (a Gartner research report highlighted the customer benefits of Employees First).
But it has been the newly encouraged and empowered employees who have brought the philosophy to life. They are now running the next era of growth at HCL, leading implementation of EFCS 2.0.
- What about you? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
- The recognition that you are an employee?
Not really. . .
- The realization that everyone is an employee?
Well. . .
- The belief that every employee is a hero?
Hmmmm. . .
Aren't you an employee first? Let's go to work.


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- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: Oct 30, 2012
- Also On: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
User Score
Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 617 Ratings
User score distribution:
Positive: 196 out of 617
Mixed: 86 out of 617
Negative: 335 out of 617
Review this game
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Nov 14, 2012I'll begin by addressing the problems and common misconceptions about this game. The main problem with this is that it's not optimized for PC. You may want to go straight to your "Criterion Games" folder in My Documents and in the cfg file set LockAt30fps to true. This is not something you should have to do with any game, let alone one designed for casual gamers. 30 FPS does suit the game well though. A recent patch has fixed many problems with regards to controllers and framerates though. In terms of the brick-like heavy handling and the seeming "auto-correct" when steering; just remember that this game is made for non-racers. If, like me, you're used to super-sharp and technical driving you need to break out of the precision mindset and just throw the car about more generally, since in more hardcore racing games the smallest input at the wrong time can lead to a disaster. Here you need to be aggressive, so it can take some getting used to if you're serious about your racing games. As for more general downsides, this game lacks any real depth in terms of single player content. It wouldn't be as empty if the leaderboards were more focused globally rather than on friends. Indeed if you have no friends who play the game all the speedwalls are pointless as always. But this game is designed with mutliplayer first, as stated by Criterion. Hence, the single player is just a free-roam messabout arena rather than the main chunk. The title has caused much confusion. The 2005 game is my 15th favourite game ever (at time of writing). However, Criterion have stated (see Wikipedia article on this game) that their intention was NOT to make a sequel to the original masterpiece. And so it follows that the concept behind the title is being "Most Wanted" amongst your friends. Like in NFS Hot Pursuit, the handling is very arcade and there is no manual transmission. However the city of Fairhaven resembles that of Most Wanted 2005 so you get a good mix of urban twisty roads and inner city centre. The design philosophy for the single player is to keep it very simple and basic. So no budget to manage, no garage, no consequences for getting busted, no special cars or upgrades to unlock from levelling up or whatever. Just very simply: Whatever car you find, you can drive. The graphics are obviously state-of-the-art; and you'd expect them to be given the system requirements. Compared to Hot Pursuit 2010, there's no innovation, and handling is inferior to that in The Run. The lack of manual transmission doesn't help matters. But unlike The Run this game doesn't have any camera issues, and it's not linear; it's free-roam. I like the concept and the game does feel very modern, with an excellent choice of cars which do handle slightly differently (although once again, not comparable to The Run's handling). This game is not sophisticated, and this is with great delibration. Infact, the emphasis is on the pick-up-and-play, do what you want whenever you want without having to grind through a half-arsed story - kind of thing. If you're expecting a sequel, then you have either been mislead by the title or deeply misinformed of the game's intentions. All in all it's a great game but the technical issues on the PC version on launch and the lack of emphasis on global leaderboards position if you don't have any friends is dissapointing; given that Autolog has been around for quite some time now. Nevertheless, it's definitely the game I would recommend to someone who has never tried a racing game. Everyone who thinks that this game is multiplayer only or is not worth getting if you're planning to mainly or only play single player is lying. When you consider how many cars there are in the game, and that there are 5 races for each, there are upgrades to unlock for each which have their distinct advantages and disadvantages and can be changed at any point even during a race, and the upgrades themselves have "Pro" versions (just as perks in Call of Duty have Pro versions); add in the 60-odd speed cameras and over a hundred billboards to smash and also trying to beat your best time on each race or get more points on each pursuit without having to worry about getting busted and paying a hefty fine - you get the idea. Basically, the amount of content in the single player is actually more than meets the eye if you want to do everything. Variety isn't great but is sufficient to keep it feeling satisfying. The city is tiny but it's used so well it feels bigger than it actually is. The cars sound great, have nice colour schemes, and SFX is generally high quality. When you consider that you get the best-looking racing game to date by a large margin with some of the finest cars around in a very casual drop-in/drop-out environment where there is still motive to unlock things but not the main part, it's very pleasing and relaxing. The difficulty of the races is pretty good if not a little too hard, especially for casuals. Overall, fantastic work Criterion.… Expand
Jul 26, 2013I haven't played Need for Speed in a long time (since 2005 or so), and this game was a disappointment to me. First, why is the menu keyboard-only controlled? No mouse?
The game starts without even telling you the controls.
The turns feel not responsive enough. I just kept crushing and bumbing into all kinds of stuff. After a while i just didn't care since it seems nothing can happen to the car even if you crush into a wall at 300 km/h. The game forces you to go some place to start a race, then drive some other place. This felt just idiotic. I ended up just driving randomly across the city for a while and then uninstalling.
And yes, the starting cutscene made me lose all hopes in today's generation. Are players really that dumb? I mean "10 drivers dominate the city and police can't find them", and collect all those stupid cars across the city? I don't remember myself being so dumb to enjoy a story like this even in the age of 12 (if that's the age of the target audience they had in mind).
Overall, a bad joke and a disgrace of a good name.… Expand
Nov 1, 2013This is one the worst NFS game, if not the worst No story, terrible V-Sync, random races, no adrenaline, no rush, no passion... I've never played more than 10% of the game because it's so utter crap I totally hated it I'm curious I still have it on my HDD I deleted it right now...
Apr 26, 2013Amazing graphics, imersive sounds and phisics but the game is very short and the moviments are weird.
I have a steering wheel but i dont know why, the car lose control so easy.
Some times i think you have to have some patience with bugs and controls.
Oct 30, 2012Need for Speed: NOT Wanted. Where can i start from the annoying camera that you have deal every time you pass a roadblock or the car handling that feels like driving a brick with wheels. And what is with the cops I am driving with over 300 km/h and still the cops always stick with me even if i am dealing with average police cars. How is it possible a average police car run with the same speed with a Super car that runs almost 300 km/h ?!!? (smells like cheating AI to me). As for the rest there is no Single player story or any real purpose just running around some city trying to be number 1 in some list and doing similar races every freaking time (very boring !!!). Only good thing about this game are the graphics which are pretty good as for the rest it is a disappointing game that gets boring really fast… Expand
Oct 31, 2012Fun game, but it owes practically everything to the ultimately superior Burnout: Paradise (another Criterion game). In a total effort to avoid cannibalising Burnout: Paradise's look and feel, NFS: Most Wanted used the odd controls that are classic NFS (not snappy and precise like BP, but "sluggish" and weighty). Events are started at traffic lights just like BP, but for whatever reason don't feel as plentiful. I very much like the licensed cars and there's fun to be had in hunting them down, however. Online interaction with other players often devolves into "meeting up" with other players and having your car smashed repeatedly by other drivers as everyone waits for the event to start. As a series, I think Need for Speed needs to be retired. It had its time and place during the PlayStation era but unfortunately does not hold up next to the modern sensibilities of Burnout: Paradise. Criterion's wasting time with this franchise when it can be moving forward. For an example of its gameplay, see http://youtu.be/9QYby4Giox4 (you'll notice at 4:08 that a giant message pops up that totally obscures my view of the roadblock, causing me to crash.) Criterion, time to go back to Burnout and make players happy again. :(… Expand
Feb 20, 2013I hadn't played a NFS game in years and had really missed it, so I got this with very minimal expectations. I just wanted the usual post-Underground NFS game, with silly storyline and enjoyable driving. Even with non existent expectations however, this game is bad. When I can run Far Cry 3 on high and I need to turn this down to low details, you know there's a problem. Also, the handling is so terrible that I couldn't stand it for more than an hour. You press the stick to turn and at first the car doesn't respond and then it immediately takes a 90 degree turn straight into the nearest wall. I can't believe Criterion made this game, wtf happened to them? I don't think I need to add anything else, when you've got a sluggish racing game that handles terribly, it's done, nothing else matters. Huge disappointment.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012I always hated trolling, and this game is nothing but trolling from Criterion...
1) Most Wanted? Seriously??? Do they ever played MW by BlackBox? Obviously not, otherwise the game would not be such facepalm...
2) NFS??? Seriously? I see nothing but very bad replica of Burnout: Paradise City...
3) Graphics sucks on HD screens as NFS:HP2010 earlier, seems that Criterion is still has no arms to develop smth worthful
4) Controls - fuuuuuuuu!!!!
This is the the 1st game I give such a low score. The way not to go Criterion... But better - get your arms off NFS title, go develop next BRNT...… Expand
Nov 7, 2012This game has no soul at all. Taking down the most wanted rivals is completely boring. There is no character associated with a vehicle, no story at all. It's simply unlock a most wanted challenge and then beat it, get car, rinse, repeat. Customization is gone completely as all mods are the same for each vehicle and you unlock them in the same generic races over and over again. The online is kind of hit or miss for me...they reward crashing WAY too much. Nobody races with any finesse they just fly around slamming into you all the time. And WTF is up with the speed trials and challenge events!?! This is supposed to be a racing game!! In some events you actually have to try and PARK your car longer than anyone else in a specific spot!! That's right...the object is to PARK your car?!?! What the heck is Criterion thinking!?!?! After the awesomeness that was NFS: The Run, I had high hopes for this game but if you ask me Criterion screwed up just about every single aspect of this game and sucked all the fun right out of the online game. This is definitely one to avoid for sure.… Expand
Feb 5, 2013Criterion, Go yourself, you're screwing all NFS games!!!
When does the mercenary *EA* learns what we really want... Criterion, your only good game release was Burnout, and it stayed there.. Stop before u screw Need for speed
Oct 23, 2014To be honest, I was disappointed by this game. Don't get me wrong, the visuals are stunning, the cars sound amazing and the soundtrack is decent. However this game has no storyline, no real sense of purpose. Doesn't even compare to it's 2005 counterpart.
Oct 31, 2012I am a huge Burnout Paradise City fan. This game seems to straddle the line between that game and the more recent Need for Speed titles... to it's detriment. It's not as silly and fun as Paradise City, nor as hardcore as the Need for Speed games. The map feels small and the vehicles are dished out too readily, making the reward seems less valuable. It can be fun, but it is not the masterpiece that Paradise City was and is. Also, I was hoping for some more/better PC options. As it is, I'm using a 660ti and the high res texture pack seems to make it drop frames. Not great.… Expand
Mar 12, 2013This game's not that bad as a game by itself, but this is purely Burnout Paradise. There's barely any trace of Need for Speed, or anything original to begin with.
Decent game, but false advertising. Do not buy.
Jun 25, 2013The game is totally senseless in single player. Without the story and random racing. For one car we have assigned six races (when we don't have any DLC's) wtf.. Irritating is also crash/elimination system. Car tuning is minimalist and we do not see visual changes. In multiplayer a game can be enjoyed, particularly when we play with friends. I was expecting a better game
Dec 23, 2012For those of you wanting my opinion, see my video over on YouTube.
My review is in the description, with video proof.
Sep 28, 2014Great game with great graphics, if you like racing games, you'll love this, however when you crash it pans around your car which can get really annoying after some time as you have to constantly wait for you to respawn, in addition to this, the races can get really frustrating sometimes!
Nov 26, 2012What the hell Criterion? Burnout Paradise was what? 4 years ago? and it still has better graphics and is more realistic than this crap. EA too - Prostreet is more fun. Coulda been alot better if you took another year to work on it. Plus, you cannot unlock/purchase cars. You have to find them around the city... That's no fun. This series is turning into Call of Duty. No one should get it. Good for $10. Great for $5.… Expand
Nov 13, 2012My problem with this game was where my expectations were before getting my hands on and some game time behind me. I love the NFS series and have hours of fun with friends racing and competing on Autolog. While these things still exist in Most Wanted i still feel like there is something missing from the experience. The handling took me a while getting used to and to be honest it rarely changes between car to car, providing no thrills from finding your next vehicle. The use of the easydrive system is good, if not a little difficult to use while racing, but once you are used to it can be very effective. For me the longevity in this game is lacking it has been less than a month out and i am feeling my will to play just slip away. Could have been much better.… Expand
Nov 5, 2012I personally prefer the NFS: Most Wanted 2012 ported on Android & iOS because it has in-game currency & it doesn't suck! When I first heard of this game, I thought, "Wow! My favorite game from the NFS series will be remade. Sgt. Cross, the hot chick named Mia & the Blacklist are coming back." My hopes has been ruined. This game is just a combination of NFS: Undercover (which I really hated) & Burnout Paradise (which I really liked). It has no manual transmission, poor handling, bumper cam & chase cam only, the city is very small, no car customizations & modifications, no currency, no story, cheating AI (SUVs that can catch up with supercars), & most of all, there's no distinct character milieu like in the original Most Wanted. Flashy graphics doesn't always mean a good game. It's not worth the money. This game should be boycotted. EA better not touch NFS: High Stakes next.… Expand
Apr 23, 2013THE WORST NO.1 IN NFS SERIES,
There is no story,No good music,gameplay is bad(compared to previous one)
This Game is nooo match for the previous Most Wanted (2005),which i still play sometimes.
I'll GIVE A BIG THUMB DOWN...
Apr 16, 2013It's a hugely over-rated game that misses its expectations by miles. Fully detached from its origins, brought to the PC for arguably better visuals and simplified controls, but a polished turd is still a turd. Where's the customization? Where is the proper story? Where is a fraction of realism? Criterion has ruined the legendary Most Wanted by making it too "arcadeish" and way too simplified, all that this game has is decent (not outstanding) graphics and a relatively short list of licensed cars. I've had to push this to 2 out of 10.… Expand
Nov 6, 2012Loved the original Most Wanted (not because of the plot, but because of gameplay), came in with high hopes, but left unsatisfied. I would agree on the comments about bad optimization and low frame rates. I have a high end PC, and games like Battlefield 3 work without any problems on max settings. NFS: Most Wanted however, doesn't. There is constant frame rate issues. Also I can't drive with manual gears, only automatic. The cool slow motion replays during jumps and roadblocks, which I loved in the original Most Wanted, are gone. No police helicopter anymore even on highest heat level, don't know why they left that out. As everyone knows by now, all of the cars are unlocked right away. This doesn't bother me, but the "Easydrive" system in which you can upgrade your car while driving isn't that functional. You can't really steer and navigate the menus in the same time, so you're gonna have to stop the car anyway. All in all, I'm pretty disappointed.… Expand
Nov 7, 2012Gorgeous, poorly thought out, and badly optimized for PC. Cars handle like they are driving flat out even at low speeds. Success in the 'speed run' (maintain average speed) are purely determined by lucky traffic conditions. 'Quick Drive' mechanic allows you to switch upgrades (basically various perks for cars, not really upgrades) but requires you to drive to each event - seriously questionable logic here. Menus load painfully slow and aren't skippable - you will wait 10 seconds after each race attempt at the same menu animations; it will feel like torture. You will have to drive very defensively, as once you've committed to a turn, a random car coming out of a turn will ruin your day.
Some interesting design concepts, but in the end don't compliment each other. The result is a gorgeous, uninteresting, and frustrating mess that you wish was more fun.… Expand
Nov 4, 2012NFS Most Wanted features a very, very small map, packed with horrible frame rate issues. The framerate is so poorly optimized that makes the game unplayable at certain sections of the map. A total disrespect to the PC customer. When you get the game working on the more "clean" sections of the map (and by lowering the graphics almost to nothingness) you can expect decent graphics, mediocre presentation, and poor soundtrack. Aside from the crazy framerate drops, the main problem with NFS:MW is the lack of content. You will beat the most wanted list in about 6-10 hours, and you will be forced to race the same tracks/events again and again, only with different cars. This game is not worth full price, wait for a price drop.… Expand
Dec 26, 2012This game should be called "Burnout Paradise 2 - No Need for Speed: Least Wanted" becaus its not that awesome NFS Most Wanted game remake we wanted and expected, its not NFS at all!
- What made original Most Wanted 2005 a great game? Story - with underground street racing atmosphere, its was intriguing blockbusters where you had clear goal, good characters and felt yourself a real street racer a pain in cop's ass! Style - awesome moody "golden" lighting, real autumn, road with orange leafs, cool graffiti, awesome customized cars with all sorts of variety! Challenging races- against cop of regular NPC or both, it was not easy it was breathtaking in terms of tension they gave us, final race against cop was totally awesome experience i still cant forget. And getting new cars or customization as price in race was a real treasure that allowed to progress and match your rivals that progressed as well, to get a new car you need to win a lot of races and you need to choose wisely! Customization and tuning - well comparing to previous NFS Underground 2 or next NFS Carbon it was simplified here and there, but it still was good, stylish and allowed to make a lot of various rides, and i heard you all like pimping your rides and they put a "pimp your ride" in your "NFS" so everyone could spent half of gameplay time pimping ride like some Xzibit while playing NFS. Physics - well it was not realistic, it was arcadish, but it was adequate and balanced and kept everyone entertained. Various race modes - i cant remember them all, i think drag and drift racing was missing (well NFS UG 2 and Carbon was still better) but it was enough and all was challenging. Variety of gameplay features - you was able to not just use nitro, but a slow mo as well, was able to hide from cops, if you change cars or colors the heat was going down, you was able to brake parts of levels to make a traps for cops and rivals, there was SMS, car shops, customs shops, safehouses and count of damage you dealt to city, and more gameplay features. Cutscenes - well this goes to story department of game, but even if there was no good story, scenes was very-well directed and quite impressive, people really loved how they mixed real actors and in-game environment and cars, in game real-time cut-scenes that showed cars before and after races was impressive as well and was making all car lovers horny, it was a real vehicle-porn in good meaning. Controls - they was different for every car, they was good, they was optimized well for gamepad, keyboard and wheels. Sound track - i guess everyone remembed awesome tracks since NFS Underground famous "Eron-don-don" and up to Carbon dark grime. There was more good things about original MW, but i need to finally start talking about MW 2012, however there is not too much to talk about.
So if you played original MW, once you hear about new MW, you expect all the good things from original to appear in new game and evolve to next level.. to make this game even greater than original was...
And the biggest problem of NFS Most Wanted 2012 that this freaking game HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF WHAT I JUST LISTED AND WHAT MADE ORIGINAL MOST WANTED 2005 such a good game!
Im freaking serious! Almost Absolutely nothing except for cop and free roaming city... game is just empty and boring, you have one big (great however) city where you have nothing to do except for changing cars and driving simple circuit races against dumbest boring cops and nameless NPCs... Yo Dawg! Criterion heard you like driving, so they put only a driving in your driving NFS game so you can drive while you drive and do nothing else! No story! No cut-scenes! No style! No customization and tuning! No challenging races! No tension! No adequate physics! No different good controls for different cars! ! No memorable soundtrack! No rich gameplay features! No goals! No sense of wining the race! No awards for winning! No motivation to play! Only a pure empty city where you have nothing to do except for driving through billboards with EA, DICE, Bioware, Visceral game and Criterion logos, and changing cars that have only a cosmetic difference.
Despite this game feels like a Burnout Paradise 2, it missing a lot of Paradise features and insane speeds, so its not even good as Burnout! Pure marketing FAIL! This game have nothing to be called MOST WANTED, its a LEAST WANTED NFS game (just like recent Hot Pursuit remake)! After playing i realized that crappy Undercover (which was initially called Most Wanted 2) was not so crappy and was actually better than this Most Wanted 3 aka 2012 (or actually MW 4, because Carbon was real MW2 and Undercover was actually MW3). Damn it, half of cars dont even have NITRO! Can you imagine it? Gameplay is somehow close to level of rusty NFS 1-3 which is very simple and empty comparing to what we saw in NFS and Midnight Club and Test drive in recent years.
Dont buy this game and ask for refund if you did!
4 of 10 only!… Expand
Nov 1, 2012This game is nice, is well done. The gameplay is very nice. I like the new style police chases, without any pursuit breakers or anything. I also like how you earn parts, cars, etc. My complaints are the handling on the cars. I find they are glitchey and sometimes unresponsive. Other than that the game is great! Just needs a patch or two.
Jun 27, 2013First of all, this is not Need for Speed, its Burnout. Has all the charasteristics, same game mechanics as Burnout Paradise. In other words, its a bad NFS game. Is it a bad game overall? No, its a great racing game, but it does not live up to the NFS criterias. As im playing this on a PC, the game is also poorly optimized and runs at about 25-30 frames per second no matter what settings on a GTX 670 and i7 3770k.… Expand
Nov 11, 2012Console port! Not much options to set graphics. I see somewhat anti-alias.. but maybe it's just me? It's still rough looking and no option to change AA.
Gameplay is terrible, 250 kmg drifting on wet asphalt through 90+ degree corners is just ridiculous. It's so bad that I dont have words for it. Collision and everything physics related is stuper bad.
Waste of money!
Jun 9, 2013I enjoyed Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the PC. I don't generally play racing games, but I gave this one a shot and it surprised me. Even though my PC is equipped to play most games on the highest graphical settings, I did have some FPS problems during a few cut scenes, but the actual racing portion was fine (30+ FPS). Contrary to many of the user reviews, I think the gameplay was the most impressive aspect of the game. I haven't played many racing games, but I was able to jump in and play successfully with little to no practice using a USB controller. However, I would have liked to seen more customization options on the cars. Overall, I enjoyed this game and I will likely play Criterion's future NFS titles.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012///
I really loved the original Most Wanted, I tried this and it was a "huge" disappointment. Is terrible, it should not be called Most Wanted, has nothing to Most Wanted, is terrible, all is a business maneuver to fool the people, someone should prohibit this kind of practice.
In summary:
- If you like Burnout Paradise, buy this.
- If you liked the "original" Most Wanted, DO NOT BUY THIS,You will see it as a fraud
//////… Expand
Nov 24, 2013Among most of the Need for Speed series that I've played, this is by far the worst and crappiest series ever. What the hell Criterion? First of all the controlling sucks heavily. Graphic was fine but the controlling REALLY SUCKS!! I can't even finish one race without crashing to cars and buildings. The car handling was too heavy and the AI was too difficult even at easy level. I'd say this is the most disappointing parts and its not even fluid for the handling. If this rating had a minus rate, I would have given -10!!… Expand
Dec 31, 2013When everyone was happy about NFS remaking the legendary NFSMW, this game turns out to be Burnout: Least Wanted.
The good things about the game is the graphics are good and the map is great with cities and off-roads. The rest are not good or terrible.
The main problem is the concept of the game. Everyone knows (truly not those who started playing from NFS14 yelling this game is awesome) the REAL Need For Speed Most Wanted (9th one) is about being the top illegal racer and revenge the No.1 most wanted. All you do in the game is to win races, do milestones (something nasty with the cops) and become the most dangerous speed racer in the game. Unfortunately, this game is quite boring. All you do is to EARN POINTS to be the "Most Wanted". You don't need to care about the cops because you get NO PENALTY of losing your car or paying money when you get busted. You can simply just pull off when you get into a pursuit, getting busted and travel back to the spawn. Also, the most wanted list is a bunch of CARS, not PEOPLE. You race with the CARS because you want to get better cars, NOT beating people in your way to the fearsome dangerous illegal racer. The cars in the most wanted list is not stylized, just plain white. The whole concept is not being the MOST WANTED, it's just like earning stupid points or wins like Burnout.
The second issue is the cars. It's really hilarious that you get cars by finding them in the street. You can simply find a Mercedes-Benz SLS or a Lamborghini Gallardo parking on sideways without reasons and you can get into the cars somehow and drive. Also, when you drive your car into the repair shop, it changes your car paint to a random colour without choosing not to. So, when you're driving a perfectly-matched yellow Lamborghini into a repair shop, it helps you to change to boring blue without allowing you to choose. You cannot personalize your car to make it look cooler and make the cops remember you and your car. It's simply awful.
The physics of the cars are just terrible. The races have THE SAME PRINCIPLE AS YOU EXPERIENCE IN BURNOUT. You can simply just get invincible when you aim for an AI's back, push the nitrous button and the car will automatically crash for you. You can also crash somebody's car when you slightly hit the side of an AI and it will somehow wreck it for you. You can crash your car easily on the other hand by hitting a road car driving in the same direction with a speed of 120km/h and you get your car flipped by a million times. Criterion is smart by amplifying the "boom" to an extent that you feel it's really a big crash, when you get the exact same sound when you're driving a Bugatti in high speed and you crash the exact same car. This is so Burnout, not a normal NFS game.
Ah, forgot to mention the soundtracks/sound effects in the game. Simply just plain. If you get excited when you're racing (I doubt if anyone will feel the excitement of driving and racing in this game), it's definitely not about the sounds.
It's easy to conclude the game in one sentence: It's another fast-food game produced by Criterion using the remarkable "Need For Speed Most Wanted" name to cover "Burnout: Cops and robot cars". It's also good to conclude the game by saying it's a rip-off.… Expand
Oct 30, 2012I weep for the Need For Speed series, and I weep because EA seem to force Criterion to make mediocre Burnout Paradise clones instead of decent Burnout games. If you want a good NFS game, get the new Hot Pursuit. Otherwise get Burnout Paradise. Plain and simple. ---- Now for the sake of the responsibility I carry as a reviewer I will go into detail a little more. The map is small and boring. The cars all seem to handle and perform almost the same, and earning them feels underwhelming because it's so easy. Also there's no visual customization and you can't even pick your paintjob freely. Then there's the annoying crash cam and less than appealing soundtrack. All in all a bittersweet experience, especially for people who know what Criterion are capable of if they're not handcuffed by EA.… Expand
Nov 17, 2012i dont understand this game. i cant control car and hitting every other cars and that annoying CRASH word come up. its makes me mad. its makes me crazy. there is NO possible way the play this game. miss old nfs games...
Nov 11, 2012Is it just me or is everyone on metacritic **** about every sequel. I wasn't disappointed, I expected the game to be like this. The reason why games are consistently getting worse is because of the community whinging on and on. Such as the game not changing, the game hasn't changed enough or this game play mechanic is broken. EA tries to do their best to make a game that the community is happy about but that's it's flaw.… Expand
Dec 23, 2012Not really worth spending £35 on. The optimization is very bad, even on my HD 7870 I get constant fps drops sometimes as low as 20. However, the game itself is good but could be better. The gps thingy is great, it is clear on the minimap on where you need to go and tells you the distance to the event you are getting to. The racing itself is good but again could be better. The car handling and responsiveness of the car is also good but once again could be better. A few things I haven't seen in the game which was in the original Most Wanted which I think EA could have added into the game are shops, car lots and a garage. Overall the game is decent but not excellent which is why I am rating this 6/10.… Expand
Jan 16, 2013I don't know where everyone is getting the poor performance excuse. I could run the game on all high settings 25-30 fps with my gtx 768mb. Overall though the lack of story and somewhat repetitive game-play could turn a lot of gamers off, but believe me, when it's fun, Its really fun.
Feb 23, 2013This game is really disappointing. First thing that really bothers me is gaming menu it doesn't exist at all. Makes me feel that his game is regular straight console port. Second, no matter how well you drive, you will crash 10+ times during your race. View from the cab does not exist too. Disaster, it deserves 0 rating.
Feb 28, 2014The creator of this games are greedy lazy bastards just copy past from burnout, no story whatsoever, no customization poor number of cars the gameplay is retarded keep crashing in traffic and very annoying scenes, this game concept may be ok for phones but not justify for pc.
Nov 10, 2012With all these whingers and whiners on this board proclaiming this to be the worst NFS tile yet you have to ask yourself did they even bother giving the game a chance before hopping on the flaming bandwagon. To say this is worse than NFS Undercover is a HUGE joke. Seriously??? In this day and age where every one is a throw away critic how can you possibly take anyone seriously after reading through the 0's and 1's and the extreme 10's. People if you are going to do a review remember to judge a game on the sum of its parts, to be objective and to leave emotion by the door. Its getting slightly ridiculous of late with the Jabber-wokkies jumping up and down handing out 0's and 1's because they never got what they wanted and on the other side those nut-jobs who proclaim certain games to be the best thing "EVA" after spending the total sum of no more than a 1-2 hrs with the game. Three of the years biggest titles (Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3 and now Need for Speed: Most Wanted) all suffered the same fate and none of them were bad by any standard, all being highly polished affairs and standing out amongst their respective genre peers. However, I am sensing I am starting to bring my own emotions into this review, so let me stop right there before I become a caricature of what I am protesting against.
As for the game, I do agree the game is not optimized very well for the PC but it certainly does not make it unplayable and this is not the very worst port ever (sorry that goes to Dark Souls). In fact the developers have given PC gamers the stock standard options to mess about with when some don't even try and have provided a high definition texture pack. Is this what is considered bad now days? Man oh man how quick we seem to have forgotten the PC port of the excellent Resident Evil 4. With regards to the engine optimization, for those who bothered to fiddle around with the .ini file would have seen 30FPS=false line right at the top of their file and that by simply locking the game to 30FPS (I agree not ideal but hardly earth shattering in a game of this nature as the game still plays fast and furious) most of your stutters and FPS drops would have disappeared. Don't be afraid to experiment a bit after making a copy of the original as this has always been the joy of PC gaming and to see so many not even bother is saddening. Perhaps its because I am an old time gamer and in those good old days a lot of fidgeting and fiddling needed to take place inside those config files in order to get the desired result. Currently I run the game on a GT70 i7-3610QM with a GTX675M GPU and 16GB RAM with the frame rate lock and everything on HIGH and it plays fluidly and beautifully. Whilst I agree some of the more aging hardware out there may require you to fiddle around a bit more with the settings. Just off the bat the game is going to need some serious upper mid-level to high end tech if you are hoping to reach the 60FPS when the patch that address the engine optimizations is released (if its released at all).
As for the handling, it took me some time to master and at first I simply hated it but a little time and patience was all I needed before I began to get the hang of it and the further you progress the more mods you unlock for your car which in turn makes the cars handle way much better than those first few frustrating hours. Personally I preferred The Runs handling but the game is certainly not unplayable as some have proclaimed. The graphics, for my humble eyes, are a scorcher and the game is simply stunning to look at on a high definition TV with the high definition pack enabled. Particle effects such as falling debris, smoke and the clash of metal on metal as sparks fly as is the reflections of the city on the bonnet and boot of your car as you whizz on by are also accurately portrayed and add to the height-end sense of Michael Bay reality that accompanies these arcade racers of the modern era. I have enjoyed this game on a graphical level immensely.
Game-play is a lot like if Hot Pursuit and Burnout Paradise got together and had a bastard child. Initially I was not so sure how I was going to enjoy this but after having spent a good 30hrs with the game before commencing with this review in the end I feel the developers made the right choices. I did not mind the mechanics of having to search for new your wheels rather then getting them dished out to you as your skill level increased. I thought this was quite refreshing and a modern take giving everyone access to the more powerful vehicles off the bat instead of having to put in some serious time to earn them. But again this is hardly something that would warrant a 0 or a 1 for a score and is simply subjective. All in all NFS:MW 2012 is the most fun I have had with an arcade racer this generation, edging out Hot Pursuit and the original NFS:MW from 2005. I can see many hours should lost to this and the awesome muliplayer. Well done Criterion!… Expand
Dec 7, 2012First of all, this is a fun game. It's a good mix of realism and arcade (leaning towards the arcade side) with nice cars and all in all fun gameplay. I don't do the races, but I do like to just drive around and drift corners in my favorite cars. For PC this game doesn't have the best optimization, I get mostly 60 FPS (capped) and it usually drops to 20-30 in some areas (670, 3570k, 16gb). Oh and there is no in-car view, disappointing for those with steering wheels. I played this with a gamepad (and so should you if you don't have a wheel).… Expand
Nov 9, 2012Ok so I have genuinely tried to like this game... but cant play more now (3 hours in total).. summarizing
THE GOOD: A big world, decent graphics, high poly cars, clearly some effort made for the PC version (AO, HD textures, etc)
THE BAD: HANDLING: Its totally not fun, you will be ramming into stuff every 30 sec or so; and unlike other arcade racers, here every ram is a 3 second crash cam; feels like the game is constantly penalizing you for traffic/obstacles you just can't avoid.
NO CUSTOMIZATION: No need to buy cars or customize them, basically means there isn't a purpose to your racing, in fact you cant even choose the color of your car. RACE STRUCTURE: You can only play 5 races with each car. You like the Ford GT? Well you can free roam in it, or replay those 5 races, gawd so many options!
NOT A SINGLE PLAYER GAME: Bottomline, this is not a single player game; just the fact that the game can be played in SP doesn't make it one. It should have been advertised as such.
CONCLUSION: This is neither Burnout nor NFS, something in between that just doesn't make the grade. Buy only if you are a MP player and don't care about SP.
Sadly for me this is the death of a beloved series, its been all downhill from U2/Most Wanted; and NFS just doesn't have a soul left anymore.… Expand
Nov 2, 2012Honestly the lead designer behind this game needs to face some repercussions, because games repeatedly being released this poorly for such a 'major' title is getting old. The title should read Burnout: With Cops, or if they were so adamant about it containing the Need for Speed title it should've read Need for Speed: Least Wanted. There is absolutely NOTHING innovative about this game. This game is the product of cross-breeding between two titles, containing the worst possible genes and deformities between the two. There is absolutely no story-line, you're kind-of just thrown in a bright colored open-world. What to do now? Want to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo but don't feel like doing any work to get it? Great, just go find it on the mini-map and hop in it! Want to customize it? Sorry, those features were overlooked. Want to change the color to your favorite color? No worries! Drive through the magic repair shop where your car is instantly repaired and your car is randomly given a color. Don't like the color? No problem, just reverse through the repair shop and repeat until you get the color you want! Now, aside from the horrendous customization options, the handling in this game is among some of the worst racing games to date. The steering feels extremely clunky, heavy, and delayed. Say you try to avoid a car in front of you by slamming your throttle to the left, then try to correct yourself after you've avoided the car, you'll usually end up slamming into the wall to your left before your car even begins to acknowledge the fact that you corrected yourself. This NORMALLY wouldn't be that much of an issue in a NFS title, but Criterion felt they had to add in their ridiculous "slow-mo crash cam" every time you so much as bump into something. In which case you'll be forced to watch your car flop about, and in some cases watch your car sit motionless after a pathetic accident. This is the kind of stuff that belongs on Arcade machines where you don't expect to be playing the same game for more than a couple repetitions. If you're not a fan of the Burnout series, save yourself the headache and frustration afterwards and avoid purchasing this horrendous title. Don't take my word for it if you don't believe me. Try it yourself either by purchasing or via trackers. I'm pretty sure you'll come to a similar conclusion. If you want to play a similar title that's free-to-play without the terrible design choices by Criterion, try out Need for Speed World, as it is at least 10x better than this steaming load.… Expand
Nov 1, 2012Game made so angry that I published my review not on PC page but on PS3 page by mistake.
This is crap! Horrible! Why cars are uncontrollable? Why game is lagging on high settings while Skyrim/Battlefield 3 run absolutely normally on my PC? Why music sucks (again)? Why game slows down time every 5 seconds like an online lag? How many freaking hours do I need to hold down "turn left" button for my car to actually turn left? And when she turns left... oh boy... nothing can stop her from causing total devastation in spinning 360 freaking degrees!!! Once you gently, for half of the second tap Space it sends you car flying like a tornado! Screw this game, don't buy it, download it from trackers if you are curious- yeah, i said that.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012As a racing game, it's not too bad. As a nfs game however, it fails to live up to it's expectations. This is not anything like the 2005 most wanted and you'd be disappointed if you were expecting anything more. However, gameplay is quite solid and the car selaction is pretty good, ranging fro classics to exotics. An obvious console port with massive framerate issues, this game is better off borrowed from a friend instead of a full purchase.… Expand
May 24, 2014Need For Speed is no longer a video game franchise.No, it has become a twisted,ungodly product of man's evil, a sickeningly loathsome social experiment: to what extent can a franchise be violated and stripped of every ounce of pride it once hat and still remain profitable. EA wants to know what the bare minimum is, how little effort they can put in a game and still profit from it. Sure, people may accuse them of being perverted spawns from the nether regions of hell, but why should they give a damn, the mainstream public is still more then willing to provide them with do$h. It pains me greatly to see that the "Need For Speed" franchise has become the main victim of these heinous practices. EA rant aside, the game did show some promise, there were a few interesting ideas,albeit poorly executed because EA rushed the development cycle in order to fulfill their satanic duties. But this simple fact gives me hope that the people at Criterion at least care about the series. The 2010 "Hot Pursuit", the first of the NFS series they made, was actually decent. Then again EA weren't the dark lords of the underworld back then. Aside from that this really is a bare bones game and a horrible port.The framerate drops to 20-30 at times on my R9 270, perhaps people with Nvidia cards are doing better. But let's not forget that our delightful fiends at EA have done their homework, they know that the mainstream players of racing games are console users, so they don't really give a single duck-toothed f**k about you, Mr. PC User. If you are, of course, ready to surrender all your belongings and/or soul to EA, I am sure the will happily patch your game. Perhaps this review is not very objective due to the fact that I played this game for about an hour, because of reasons mentioned above and perhaps my great love for the wonderful corporation EA has also clouded my judgement. But for now I must conclude this review in order to sacrifice little puppies in my basement and drink their blood to appease our almighty overlords,Electronic Arts.… Expand
Jun 30, 2013Beautiful graphics and cars.
Horrible soundtracks, horrible handling, horrible camera angle.
It's a NFS, I just want to drive 250km/h and corner at full speed, not crash every single time my cars run on a chewing gum.
And seriously what's wrong with you putting 5 seconds crash animation in a racing game
Mar 1, 2014If you liked Burnout Paradise then chances are that you'll like this game too. Need for Speed: Most Wanted is basically Burnout paradise with Need for Speed name, real cars and slightly different game modes. The biggest downside of the game is that it's quite buggy, especially the multiplayer.
May 27, 2014Amazing game if you have steering wheel for pc. Good graphic, good system of cars owning (only once find car on map and will by yours for ever and you can jump in car from menu anytime) and amazing car sounds. Story is missing but i had good times with friends while playing :)
Nov 1, 2012I liked the old Most Wanted, i loved Burnout Paradise and I'm already impressed with 2012's Most Wanted....Criterion knows how to deliver racing games...i understand most of the players hate towards this game as they were hoping it to be like the original...but its Criterion...you have to judge it by its own merits or demerits...speaking of the game, it has more of the Burnout Paradise feel than any of the NFS games except for the cops...you're going to love to it or hate it..graphics are top-notch and the soundtrack is awesome too..my problem so far only has been the controls that needs to be fixed...… Expand
Nov 2, 2012When ii hear that need for speed was going to be redone, i was excited and hoped the game was amazing. After Pirating the game out of fear that it would be a money waister, my fears were proven correct. This game is note a successful redo of the last most wanted, getting new cars are as easy as driving around and saying "oh look a bugatti veyron......MINE!" no financial buy car trade car system, all these retarded points things, i mean you start off in a porche 911. theres no progression like the classic need for speed games when u have a **** car and progress to a nicer one threw wining pink slips or buying new cars, theres only 2 camera views(no in-car view) and the handling is just terrible, if you want to know what its like, duct tape a hippo to your roof and try drive, as well as there is no Manual transmission, need for speed franchise is on a downhill, and they are become the same as the Call of duty franchise in this regard, they need to pull something out of there asses to make this franchise a gem as it once was. I feel sorry for people who actually went out and bought the game, and ill say this again.... THIS IS WHY WE PIRATE, TO COMPENSATE FOR GAME DEVELOPERS TRYING TO SELL US ****TY WORTHLESS GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand
Not good. Very mediocre. -5 points for: - massive framerate drops even on actual hardware (i7, gtx660, 8 gb) - jaggies (where is the antialias setting, which every modern game has?) - missing story - missing motive force to do something - excessive emphasis on "social gaming" at the expense of the singleplayer campaign I'am really annoyed, that I've bought this game. For now, I will continue playing Borderlands 2.… Collapse
Nov 3, 2012Not great but average NFS.....i was expecting more than dis.....the gameplay sucked especially with the cops... imean what the hell i am at 240km/h and the cops still can keep up with me...dis iz not compared to even real life.......and the cop evading system WOW...i cant xplain how much worse it is no persuit breaker no hide spots,no way to shake the cops of any way......Only thing i like about dis game iz the graphics nothing else.....and i also wished there was a story line....at least i think NFS hot persuit 2010 was better.... oops srry best than all.....NFS most wanted 2005 iz the second best for me.....… Expand
Jan 26, 2013Not worth the time to even think about it! Baby game written for babies with six axis controllers stuck to their hands and mommy and daddies money in their wallets. Console crap all the way- just like everything from criterion. The user reviews are very kind and the game reviewer's have been paid handsomely to lie! EA has failed on this series for 8 years now. I hated Black Box but Criterion? They can't even make a game that runs on PC or uses PC hardware. They aren't alone though- so they think that makes it alright to steal our money. Not mine! Need for Speed has been dead to me for 7 years. Sorry Sucker's.… Expand
Mar 31, 2013First off, this game looks rediculously good on max settings. Gorgeous game. But unfortunately its a RACING game. Omg the controls. OMG. Cars are tanks, they either dont turn at all, or turn you 90 degrees into a wall. I've played for 5 hrs now, TRYING to get a grasp at it. Its just unplayable and unenjoyable. I really want to like it but if you cant steer, you cant race. Shameful a game that looks this good races this bad.… Expand
Mar 27, 2014First of all I own a controller. But this game is horrible on keyboard you won't survive a few kilometers without crashing into something and the crashes pretty much ruin the immersivness of the game. You keep staring at the animation for what feels like hours. It's totally pointless and repeatitve and makes you want to hit alt+f4
Nov 5, 2012This should have remained "A Criterion Game" (no Electronic Arts involvement) and should have been called Burnout Paradise 2. Besides absolutely stunning graphics, the game lacks everything a true NFS fan got excited about when they saw that NFS Most Wanted was coming. It is downright misleading and dishonest. The NFS franchise has just got worse by the title. Most of my gripes have been mentioned in other reviews already. I'm so disappointed!… Expand
Oct 31, 2012The Good - The graphic level, the tunnes, lights, cars and world in general are well made, the highways and streets are pretty well for a simulation of the city.
The Bad - is a Burntout Paradise game with no challenges, run as crazy and free as you want, the filters to make look good this games are way to heavy and with no optimization at all, almost anything bigger than a LOW setting will drop your fps to 35 fps wich by the way is unplayable.
Other than that, is not what expected from "MOST WANTED", just another arcade game.… Expand
Nov 2, 2012New NFS! GREAT! Right? Typically when you see a massive number of negative user reviews, people are just complaining to complain right?
So lets break this latest NFS down. It runs - check. You can drive different cars - check. There are cops, races, and other side mission like things to do - check. The graphics are decent (more on this later) and you have teh dubstep soundtrack! If you've played NFS before EA turned into a completely soulless company, there were some fun moments. You could get past the small flaws and cheater AI that were part of the experience because the core game was fun. Now looking back at every NFS since PU, we have a complete and total failure to produce a game that is even worth playing. This latest entry is full of the same crap and somehow, people keep buying it. Do you want to dominate a race and then lose in the last tenth of a second because the AI magically caught back up? Do you want to drive cars that handle without a bit consistently? Do you think a sandbox racing game should just be a check list of races? After an hour of attempting not to be infuriated by this game, I lost, and decided that I would rather stab myself repeatedly rather than carry on. The PC version is an obvious port, and poorly optimized. You want particle effects? WE'LL GIVE YOU SO MANY EFFECTS THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE RACE! You want to complete that billboard challenge? We'll make sure a the "randomly" generated traffic t-bones you. So what does this boil down to? EA Games beating a long dead series because for some reason, people keep buying these steaming piles of crap games. Save your money, or better yet, find a copy of the first NFS : Hot Pursuit and Porsche Unleashed.… Expand
Nov 4, 2012Well I got about 18 hours in so I feel like I can give a good review and not some of the ones that posted a review the same day the game came out so they could not have gotten THAT far. First off it looks pretty darn good on the PC. People saying it's a straight port obviously didn't catch that it has a high definition texture pack that I know the consoles don't use so they did put SOME thought into the PC but not nearly as much as I would like the graphics menu still doesn't have a lot of options a "Made for PC" game has. It sounds good most the cars sound somewhat like you expect and the music score is acceptable. Nothing special but it gets the job done without becoming annoying. The AI in the game can be challenging at times especially the police when you aren't in the greatest car to get away from them but other racers aren't terribly hard or aggressive. The story is like most stories in every racing game out there. It's stupid and easily forgotten and doesn't really matter. Who in the world buys a racing game for it's story I'll never know. I hate the way most the cars handle in the game. It's not arcade but it's not simulation it's somewhere in the middle which makes all the cars feel like they handle like crap. It has it's Burnout moments from time to time with the crashes and the racing which is a nice touch by Criterion Gaming but you can't help but feel EA was prolly really reluctant to allow them to add what they did. You can't customize your car that much but there are a few things that make your cars better for certain situations and can vastly differ how your cars handle but if you came here wanting to go all out on cars like some you can in Forza/GT5 and the like you will be left out. If you like arcade racing games then you may want to try this game out to see if you like it. It has it's moments when it's fun but the actual act of driving for me is ruined by the way all the cars feel and handle on the road with their in the middle of simulation and arcade feel.… Expand
Oct 30, 2012This game is more "Burnout" than it is "Need For Speed". Criterion has made great games over the years but they need to stick with their "Crash N Bash" formula with Burnout and not dump it on the NFS series. This game is such a disappointment. Criterion took out all the things that made Most Wanted great and added in a bunch of things that didn't. No more manual transmission, next to no customization, no storyline other than "There's ten people who are the best racers in the city. Beat them and I'll give you a cookie". I don't think I even saw a change camera option. What the hell happened? And the so called "Find it, Drive it"? What the hell is that? What happened to doing races for money and using the cash to buy cars and parts? That's a proven formula and everyone knows that, why take it away and replace it with something as stupid as driving around looking for exotic cars that are (for whatever reason) sitting around a city? I'm glad they brought back free roam instead of "drive on a long curvy road with high-speed corners". But at such a cost! This game isn't even Need for Speed anymore. It's like Burnout Paradise City with Frostbite 2 and a different name. It's not even as great as Paradise City, it's like a hybrid that takes all the worst case scenarios EA and Criterion could made each game into (but didn't thankfully) and combines them all into one fustercluck of unrecognizable programming. If you're looking for a fun, freeroaming, street-racing game, try NFS Underground 2 or if you also want great graphics, try NFS Undercover.… Expand
Nov 6, 2012I was very excited when i heard about the game. I hope this could be a good Need for speed after many years , But NO
Game feels half done and fps drop is very annoying. The old Most Wanted was soooo much better
Wasted money...EA need to go back and look at old NFS games. WE WANT UNDERGROUND 2!
Apr 27, 2013a game with hes pro's and con's you cant complain about the graphics but other than that even on a high end pc you cant get this game running smooth which makes EA effort to take our money minimal and the crashes yea they ruined the game for me its horrible so yea not even worth its 50€ not even 30 in my eyes for the horrible port play the game in another way if ya can but not worth its money is EA did only filling there purses and not the fan base… Expand
Jul 19, 2014worst driving game i ever played...the handling is atrocious, the steering is so sloppy it's almost impossible not to hit something and crash, the opponent AI deliberatly smashes into you and every rice is a crashing carnage fest....i have no ideea what they were thinking then they made this game
Oct 31, 2014**** this game **** **** **** Is this game made for people who are on extacy? No difficulty settings, menu horrible to navigate. I feel like crushing the developers scull to pieces. You guys ****ed th Most Wanted name real good!
Jan 20, 2013I am really enjoying this game. It is disappointing it doesn't have garages, money and customization like the original did, but as a modern racing game I find it stands out with its array of content, cars, and beautiful locations.
Oct 30, 2012This game is poorly optimized for PC, a straight port, constant fps drops make the game unplayable. The car handling is too "heavy", the camera choices are horrible.
All in all, wasted money.
Nov 1, 2012This is more a Burnout game than a Need for Speed game. Bad vehicle handling. A terrible upgrade system. New cars are just given to you yet there's only 5 races per car...that you can only attempt with THAT car! The crash cam is annoying and ruins the intense chases that made the original Most Wanted so fun. Don't buy this game.
Nov 3, 2012Need for Speed: Most Wanted is by no means a bad game, but it doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table in terms of racing games. The gameplay is much less repetitive than any other racing game I've played to date, and the gameplay is much tougher than most racing games (due to the inability to hit civilian cars). It's purely fun, with good customization and fun racing. People **** this game are honestly just being ridiculous, it's a perfectly GOOD* game. It's not an amazing game, but it's definitely notable. Worth checking out.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012People don't seem to realize who developed this game. It clearly states it on the title: A Criterion Game. If people want to play a NFS with story go play The Run, this is just typical Criterion material, and a very good entry at that. Graphics are awesome, plays well even on low-mid range PCs and it looks wonderful. As expected from Criterion, the damage impacts look real during and after the crashes. On the other hand, no AA option and (like it happened with Hot Pursuit), the weather effects seem to be missing as well. The weather effects should be added later on in a patch, like it happened with Hot Pursuit. The soundtrack it's VERY impressive; tunes are perfect for racing everywhere: Some pop, rock, techno, dance, etc. The cars handle differently from other Criterion games. The handling feels more difficult, heavier. but more challenging and realistic at the same time. The intros before the races are spectacular, very entertaining clips. The interface it's simple and (while it could have been more deep) it feels just right for the game as it is. There are no linear events here, just step into a car and complete specific-car races (every car has it's own set of racing events) and when you get bored just jump into another car. Finding these cars it's definitely rewarding and completing the milestones leaves a very nice feeling of satisfaction. Multiplayer it's a blast, Autolog really brings this game's potential to it's limit.
This game it's super fun: crashing finding cars, earning milestones, and competing against friends. What this game does, it does extremely well. If people want to look further from that and criticize this game because it's completely different from the original Most Wanted, go ahead. You people are just missing one of the best and most entertaining racing games ever made.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012I like this game but have seriously performance issues, my PC run Battlefield 3, NFS the run, medal of honor very well and that most wanted (with the same engine) even with all in low settings have annoying frame drops that ruins the gameplay...
Nov 4, 2012I still got Most Wanted from 2005 laying around in the attic somewhere. I might as well just played that game again, because this 2012 version is just one big copy past with some updated consolegraphic. Some how it runs like crap on pc (another greate EA port i guess) and the game is way to easy, especially if you played games like GT, forza or Grid. Need4speed is not the same good old game it was 5 to10 years back. It feels like a total ripp-off, because they basically are selling us the same game from 7 years back. However, If you are the type of gamer that does NOT like the brake button and want to hit every corner doing about 280, this is your game! A 12 year old kid should have fun with this, a real gamer who likes a challenge should skip this waste of game. Thank god for the 8 days refund option. Second game from EA I decided to return and change for another game.… Expand
Nov 1, 2012I agree with most of the user reviews here...really disappointing game for me...first of all there is no fluidity in the game..it runs slow even on lowest resolutions and settings, which makes the game unplayable...EA needs to fix this soon....i can play BF3 and MOH :War fighter at high settings without any problem but this is just unplayable... next, about the game play, well, it sux even more...no story, no varied game types and the most irritating one are the crashes... No matter how well u drive, u r bound 2 crash from minute to minute n no, m not a rookie in driving games, have been playing them for years and well dis is the worst i have played so far i think...the game should have been renamed need for crash...i have beaten d first guy in the road to being the most wanted and well, m fed up....can not tolerate this game any more...… Expand
Jan 31, 2013This game is awesome I loved the open world setting its like burnout paradise but with real high end sports cars and awesome graphics. If you have a high end pc this game definitely will show it off everything from the awesome weather effects to super detailed cars to effects like smoke coming out of sewer holes and waves splashing up against the shore all come together to make a very realistic experience. I love to hop in a Bugatti and just go driving then taunt a cop and then smoke him. It is cool to get on the high way and just open it up. Add all of the features from street racing to car mods and this makes for one cool driving experience.… Expand
May 7, 2013OMG this game is a load of utter B.S! Don't waste your money! This game is lazy boring and easy. You "Hijack" cars. This means driving around and parking next to a car such as a Lamborghini and pressing E. I mean what the hell. No saving cash to buy a awesome car. No car customization. Cops are just retarded. You can hit another car right in-front of them and they don't do about it.I didn't even care about the racing cause there was no POINT!… Expand
Aug 13, 2014CRAP! Worst driving model in nfs history! Also: worst nfs ever. Gameplay is boring and not funny. Original most wanted is 100x better. If you like nfs - dont buy this "thing".
Oct 30, 2012this is half done game without any story and challenge, where every car is avaliable from the begining without any motivation to play and unlock anything. As criterion said for people which does not have time to play few hours to unlock something, with forced multiplayer against signgleplayer where is nothing to do... If they can imagine there are player which want to play singleplayer and I don't want to put my face to each banner in the game… Expand
Nov 4, 2012Another one of these 13 in a dozen racegames. Multiplayer is nothing more than a frenzy where everybody tries to hit eachother. No nice ladder system which could at least keep you occupied for some hours. If you buy this game, be prepared to be bored after one day of playing. Too bad most developers seem to be going for the easy console money and stop developing games which really bring something new (or even old and proven!) to tyhe table to make a game interesting.… Expand
Nov 17, 2012One of the worst high-budget game I've ever played.The races are totally frustrating, the cars don't want to turn (or turn only slightly). The graphic and audio is fine, but the soundtrack doesn't. In Burnout Paradise soundtrack was great (rock/metal), in this Need for Speed is **** (only 'cool DJ's', Skrillex). I don't play multiplayer, because I don't like play online, so I can't review it.
Oct 31, 2012As I suspected many flame about this game because it's not like the original, the handling of a car is rubbish and so many other I-lost-a-race-the-game-sucks reasons. In my opinion the game is actually great. yes the single player lacks a story but so did Hot Pursuit. Visually the game is far superior over The Run and it doesn't use EA's performance-guzzling Frostbite 2 which I admit i hate it with a passion even though the visuals are superb. Even at the lowest settings the game looks great. I also love the fact that you have to find the cars so you can use them, not like in Hot Pursuit where you just unlocked them when reaching certain bounty. It adds a whole different challenge to get the best cars. To settle the naming dispute I consider Most Wanted as a homage to the original, NOT A SEQUEL. The range of cars is great although i expected a wee bit more for the selection. I mean... only one Nissan? Only two BMW or Audi? Shame.... wanted a wider selection. Another thing I didn't like about Most Wanted is the shortness of the Singleplayer, I wanted it to last a bit more. Still these aren't such big flaws. The game might not be perfect, but it's deffinetly better than the predecesor, I mean The Run. I can say I'm pleased with what came out.… Expand
Mar 21, 2013What can I sat that hasn't been already said. Worst Need For Speed game? Yep it wins that title quiet easily. All cars handle like buses, sloshing left and right and NO MANUAL transmission!! The multiplayer is useless. I never had any clue as to what I was supposed to do. To improve this game some should make a patch or mod to improve the handling of the car and please include manual transmission. Only good thing about the game is the beautiful graphics.… Expand
Oct 31, 2012This game should be called BURNOUT MOST WANTED. Yes! This is all same like in Burnout Paradise. The only difference is the police, and nice graphics..
Oct 31, 2012As others said, it's very sad how far the Need for speed series has fallen. Kudos to Criterion for trying to showcase frostbite 2, but a giant minus for killing another NFS title. To summarize: The good: nice graphics, good sense of speed, burnout-type sense of speed/action, free roaming
The bad: the handling model is very poor since for some reason, they made all the cars handle the same (very minor variations between RWD, AWD and FWD); all cars feel like they weigh way too much, AI super speed-banding (ie. AI gets accelerated so that they can keep up with you) in both police chases as well as races, useless progression model (got bored within 30 minutes tbh), useless unlock model (again, no real feeling of progression) and absolutely pointless single-player. I`m sorry, but with such poor design choices, this is ``just another failed NFS title`` in my book. Sorry Criterion, I`ll give you a 2 for the graphics and because you made the original Burnout series, otherwise 0 for EA.… Expand
Oct 30, 2012This game is a good work which difficulty does not have, and anyone runs invigoratingly and can enjoy. Many elements which can be enjoyed freely are incorporated and I was satisfied. However, it was regrettable that there is no story like a previous work in a single mode.
Oct 31, 2012Combine NFS: Undercover with Burnout: Paradise and that's exactly what "new" Most Wanted is. Criterion should stop making NFS games, because they can't do it properly. This game still has the very same mistakes I've hated since first MW, like utterly boring city with those same turns, loopings, highways and hairpins we've all seen in previous NFS games, cheating AI, inconveniently placed traffic and super fast cops. That's not all, I'm afraid. As with all Criterion games, steering wheel is useless and you can't even set it properly, only buttons. Handling is simply weird. It feels okay when you want to turn into a bigger corner, but if you want to steer just a bit to avoid oncoming traffic, it feels unpredictable. Entire game feels a bit stripped, there is no transmission options, only two camera views, which are both pretty bad, if you get busted nothing really happens, there is no money to buy cars with, no rewards for hitting billboards or security gates, no nothing. At least there is no story this time :)
No, this is not a bad game. It's still quite fun, which is the most important thing, but it could have been so much better.… Expand
Nov 2, 2012When you meet "drifty handling" and "high crash sensitivity", you may be disappointed. But give this game a chance and try to progress through it. New cars, especially upgraded, have much better handling. With it and when you get used to handling a bit, the amount of crashes will decrease to some playable level. Though this game differs from the original MW, it has "right" atmosphere and lots of fun, especially in multi-player mode. Don't judge this game by single-player mode, which is not supposed to be its main part.… Expand
Nov 3, 2012Well, after a long time of not playing racing games (last one I played was actually the original "Most Wanted" title), I have to say I am impressed. This title is all about arcade racing action - every car feels different and controls different, giving them proper uniqueness and style. Graphics are amazing and the soundtrack is probably one of my favorites in a long time. Multi-player is also intelligently built into the game - to sum it up, one awesome arcade racing game!… Expand
Nov 5, 2012Rushed out to buy this as I had the old Most Wanted (which I really enjoyed). This game is Burnout Paradise 2 not Most Wanted! That's my quick review :D PROS: Nice GFX, runs well on my PC - AMD quad 3.4ghz, GTX470 8gig 1333mhz corsair ram, WIN7 64bit. Free roaming. Nice sound FX for cars, engines, creaking chassis etc. Great fun for Burnout fans. CONS: Music is crap, load of dubstep junk.
No **** cam or hood/bonnet cam.
No gears for wheel owners eg G25/G27
Loading screens between race retry/restart.
No Story mode you just get thrown in and left to it.
I have mixed feelings about this game, overall I like it but there seems to be a lot of things missing and some really stupid design choices - External Camera or Bumper Camera which means you get to see the world as if your face is stapled to the road, I don't like external cams and the absence of a bonnet/hood cam or a **** cam has FAIL written all over it.
You don't feel like you are a real person trying to be most wanted as there is no story and the game sort of feels a bit empty and pointless.
This game is NOT Most Wanted, as others have said (even before release) it is Burnout Paradise 2. If like me you loved BP then you will like this, even though cars are given to you just by driving past key spots around the map you have to win races for the specific car to earn its upgrade which is ok for an arcade racer but takes the sense of achievement out of the game.
I'll give this an 8 because it IS A GOOD GAME, but yet again EA have released another NFS that is not NFS it's Burnout with the Police chasing you.
Sorry if this review is mixed up but I'm still trying to work out why this is called NFS:Most Wanted and not Burnout - Yes I said it again!… Expand
Nov 28, 2012The game is not that bad, it has great graphics, decent controls, it would be a 7/10 game, but as a most wanted sequel it's just disappointing, the first game was all about tunning, about making your car your car, not to mention the fact that criterion recycled much of burnout paradise in this game, that added to the bad optimization makes this an awful game.
Jan 20, 2013Multiplayer = frustrating derby, just crash, crash, crash, and more crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, stupid!!!!!!
Jan 26, 2013The worst game of the franchise, initially thought it would be a version of the previous game (one of the best) adapted to frostbite engine,my mistake, the game is more like a version of NFS online with better graphics. The controls are bad, in some races you will start about to hit a wall or fall off the track without any control of what you doing, you wiil need to break giving advantage to the other racers. The amount of availabe cars was new in the franchise, at the begging it was cool, but them you notice that you have to do same things to unlock new upgrades and it start to becoming boring. And as the cops, oh my... the cops, well, for that i will just say that they should have changed the title franchise for Need For Cops, one of the worst experience in a race game ever. But got to give a 3 for the graphics!… Expand
May 3, 2013I CAN´T UNDERSTAND ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO SAYS THAT NFS MOST WANTED IS A BAD GAME!!! It´s very great car game with the best multiplayer and graphic i´ve ever seen in a game like this!
Jul 26, 2013I think they did put effort into the graphics and it does run well on my system on maximum setting's, my problem is even though it does run well, I don't want to play it for longer than about ten minute's...It's a game with car's sure, but...it seems ambiguous frankly. The handling is...normal...the city is...well a city just like you would expect it to be...in other words I was looking for that thing you get with a game that you cannot explain but it keeps you coming back, but for me this game doesn't have that. I played it for a hour, noticed the lack of story, lack of the sort of custom stuff you can do to your car (Like back in Need for Speed Underground 2 before the series started going down hill) it's just so disheartening to see them make such a pretty game, that feels such a chore to play...And...Criterion I know your proud of Burnout franchise and you have every right to be, I'm a fan of that series myself too, but I never imagined you to only be capable of just one trick. I mean you had a chance to make a new original game, and then you just turned it into Burnout clone...Award winning or not...I don't like it.
I tried it with Eyefinity too, which was a mistake frankly. Not that it hurt the frame rate, that was fine. It was that the menu's and such went behind the bezel's and everything was squashed onto the middle screen. And the lack of controller sensitivity and dead zone adjustment was rather irritating, to say the least.
Over all, good effort in the graphics department still needs work elsewhere though and needs to have its own identity, Need for Speed's identity, not Burnout's identity.… Expand
Dec 4, 2013I'm not happy (to say the least) about this product. So how did EA and Criterion manage to mess up Most Wanted? They didn't. They didn't mess up Most Wanted because this isn't Most Wanted. I think Criterion must've mislabeled some games they developed, because this is clearly Burnout Paradise 2: Now with Cops!
So everything you loved about Most Wanted? Gone. Car Customization and winning races to buy new engines to upgrade your car? In this game, upgrades are given out for winning races there is no money, and there is no store. Furthermore, there are only a few upgrades the tire choice are "on road" and "off road". Just oversimplified, bullet point options. Forget spending hours in the garage getting your car just right. You can't even choose your car's color. I have more control over the visuals of this text than my car in "Most Wanted".
So how do you obtain new cars if there's no money and no stores? Do you unlock them as in Hot Pursuit, getting gradually better and better cars as you progress through the missions? No. You unlock them by finding them. With the exception of the cars the "bosses" drive (more on that in a minute) all the cars in the game are available right from the start, you just have to find them around the city. In fact, the city is littered with ridiculous collectables lifted from Burnout Paradise such as speed cameras, billboards, and "jack spots" (spots where you find cars). In fact, there are roughly 3 times as many Jack Spots as there are cars in the game, just to give you more pointless crap to find. "Collect-a-thon" type games haven't been in style since the N64 era, yet here we are in 2012 preforming extra fetch quests... in a racing game.
And what of the famous Story from Most Wanted and it's sequel, Carbon? The interesting characters, the backstabbing gangs and the bounty hunter constantly after you? All gone. The "story" here begins with you driving towards the city and a narrator explains that you're trying to become the Most Wanted. That's it. Seriously, that's all there is that makes The Run look like a masterpiece of storytelling. There are no other characters no, not even the bosses the final boss is literally named "Most Wanted #01".
Let's not forget that Criterion apparently stole some design secrets from Zynga this game constantly badgers you to badger your friends to buy the game. The autolog is here, but unlike the previous 2 games where it was a nice extra to the racing, this game seems to be an extra to the autolog, rather than the reverse. You are annoyed by the game to add your friends to such an extent that you might as well be playing Farmville EA, if we wanted to play a "Social Game" (PR speak for "Bad Single-Player") we'd go on Facebook.
But what of the actual events? Well, before you start an event you need to drive to it. That's right it's just like Most Wanted... if it lacked the "Jump to Event" feature. You need to have played an event once before you can jump to it. EA tried every trick in the book to pad their game, didn't they. At least the game gives you a way to set your destination, so you know where you're going. Every car has 5 events set up to it. But when you realize there are 40 something cars and only 60 something events, you realize that yes, EA wants you to race the same events again, that you have already defeated, using a different car.
Once you actually get there (if the cops don't stop you) there are five different events it can be Circuit Race, Sprint Race, Ambush, Speed Run, and "Most Wanted" (Boss). The races are Burnout style with takedowns and crashes. The races aren't as fun as Burnout Revenge or Hot Pursuit because of one mistake the racetrack. There are checkpoints on the course to tell you where to go, but it can be quite easy to get lost during a race. Keep in mind that in these races, crashing costs you a few seconds, but a wrong turn can assure you last place. What happened to the "arrow barrier" present in every other Need for Speed and Burnout title? It only shows up when it wants to. Yes, it's in the game, but it's not on every turn. It's like they didn't even finish the game yet.
The sad fact here is that EA and Criterion might've actually made a pretty good game if they took out all the padding sure, it wouldn't be Most Wanted, but it would be a well-designed game. The Races, Cop Chases, and other fun events would be fantastic if they stood alone. There is fun to be had within this game, but it's buried under mountains of tedious collecting, "Social" pestering, and events you need to drive to. It's the equivalent of me adding another 5 pages to this review, but there's nothing but gibberish on them.… Expand
Nov 11, 2013game this is maybe the frustrating i game i ever played i mean why does this earn a need for speed title? first time i play it was no instructions and its badly optimized for pc wonder this game has wonderful reviews by critics guess EA payed them
Nov 26, 2013NFS RIVALS
first of all ,graphics are not heavy as compare to performance
previous nfs most wanted runs great at maximum settings
but this one run at medium thats why rating gets low
but as far as gameplay is concern
it has very nice gameplay(better than cars are also good
i give 6/10 due to gameplay otherwise graphics,animations are quite bad
Oct 30, 2012I'm a big car racing fan and wanted to love this game after completing Dirt: Showdown too, too quickly. This game tries to straddle the line between Criterion's previous two release, but neither matches the single-minded determination of Hot Pursuit (2010), nor the variety Burnout Paradise. Specifically: (-) There are not enough race types (-) Finding cars instead of being gifted them was a dumb idea from the onset - where are the rewards!? (-) The car upgrade system is pointless as there are only five races per car, so by the time you've maxed it out you can't even go in a new race (-) All the cars feel more or less the same anyhow. (+) There are some positives as the graphics are pretty and Autolog is fantastic, but we are left with a big open world to explore with little reason to do so. This is a beautiful engine and a fantastic stat tracking app, but where has the game gone Criterion? *ugh* I just lost the game.… Expand
Nov 8, 2012this massage to all "critics"
u don't understand what u doing. this is NOT an AAA game! this is usless trash. it's not even the game!
- controls not responsive, - 2 stupid cameras, physics? there is no NOTHING in this trash to call it even simple arcade. games for ipad in our days have more deep gameplay and setting... than this.
this is pathetic parody on NFS. critics give this trash 8!!!! U encourage EA and Criterion make this trash NEXT YEAR? or u just sellouts?… Expand
Oct 30, 2012Awesome! Well done Criterion! They know how to make a games! Dynamic gameplay, beautiful graphics on DX11, realistic sounds, realistic and intresting physical model. Many races, funny and playful multiplayer. I hope Criterion don't forget about DLC on PC.
Not good. Very mediocre. -5 points for: - massive framerate drops even on actual hardware (i7, gtx660, 8 gb) - jaggies (where is the antialias setting, which every modern game has?) - missing story - missing motive force to do something - excessive emphasis on "social gaming" at the expense of the singleplayer campaign I'am really annoyed, that I've bought this game. For now, I will continue playing Borderlands 2.… Collapse
Nov 30, 2012Just pick one of the beautiful cars, hop in and drive. But do not want anything else. NFS: Most Wanted is average fun for all car lovers. [Dec 2012]
Nov 29, 2012Most Wanted works best when you treat it like mobile games – switch it on for 15 minutes, do a random race with a random car and then turn it off. It's a good arcade racing title closely resembling Burnout: Paradise but it's not exceptional. [CD-Action 13/2012, p.52]
Nov 25, 2012Most Wanted's biggest strength is that it feels like a cohesive whole, rather than some amalgamation of a reboot tacked on to another game's engine. The gameplay emphasizes as little downtime as possible, which is a good thing as it's an absolute blast whether or not cops are involved. It's not a reboot as much as it is a reimagining of the original game, taking the bits that worked and wrapping them in a completely new package. Surprisingly enough, it does so in a way that works, and the new Most Wanted ranks up there with the original.