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Races are there, to be sure, but you might also be tasked with odd assignments like parking on top of a specific building for as long as possible while everyone is trying to knock each other off. (You can also jump into a SpeedList game with random players using the Quickmatch option.) Comprised of five random (or custom) back-to-back events-often with vehicle-type requirements-SpeedLists mix things up a bit more than the standard races you'll find in single-player. Once in a multiplayer match, a SpeedList can be created by the host. The real star of Most Wanted's multiplayer, however, are SpeedLists. It's a great way to force players to experiment with other vehicles, but it's another choice that diminishes the importance of each individual vehicle within context of the whole experience.Ĭlever asynchronous competition with friends can be had by doing things like racing past speed cameras as fast as possible, or smashing through billboards littered throughout the city, and the game's Autolog feature offers up car-specific milestone challenges and rewards for besting times in events raced by your friends. Re-racing events with the same car only provide cursory Speed Point gains, once they've already been beaten. In single-player, this means that it's often necessary to switch up vehicles to obtain the giant chunks of Speed Points one gets for placing or winning those races. Point prerequisites must be met to unlock the ability to race the ten ranked cars on the Most Wanted list. Speed Points are the overarching currency of progress in NFS: Most Wanted, and can be earned by doing just about anything in both single-player and multiplayer modes. New paint and mods, for example, are milestone-based unlockables in multiplayer. "Pro" versions of the upgrades can also be unlocked in both single-player and multiplayer by achieving set milestones. These short lists of races vary from car to car, but there's only a small handful of these events to best on a per-vehicle basis before they're all unlocked. Each vehicle has a handful of specific races associated with it, and placing first or second in these events nets upgrades-like nitrous that can be applied to the car on the fly.
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There are a lot of cars to unlock, which are each fun to drive, but in single-player, the amount of time you spend driving a given car will likely hinge on how long it takes you to upgrade it. However, it has the unintended effect of removing some of the motivation to play solo. It's an interesting design decision, because it circumvents the common trope of placing a progression barrier between players and their most coveted rides. In single-player, rather than requiring players make their way through a ladder of events to unlock new cars, procuring a new ride is as simple as finding one of the city's many "Jack Points," pulling up next to the vehicle parked there, and hitting a button. Seven vehicle classes comprise Most Wanted's playable cars, meaning that players should be able to find cars that suit their particular tastes. Though it's entirely possible we'll see playable police vehicles appear via some kind of DLC, their exclusion from the roster is a bit disappointing. Sadly, players are always pursued, never allowed to play as the long arm of the law. Police chases and roadblocks offer up some of the game's greatest, most intense moments in the campaign. Of course, it is a Most Wanted title, so cops show up regularly to try and shut down speeders. Unlike The Run, this year's game simply relies on compelling driving mechanics to motivate players from one race to the next, not some cheesy storyline-and the game mostly succeeds in that respect.
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The list of ten "most wanted" drivers that the player is tasked with beating in the single-player experience is the closest thing to a narrative structure to be found in the game. And once again, the sandbox nature of the setting provide a fertile foundation for some outstanding multiplayer, even if it's at the expense of the single-player experience.Īs expected of the genre, Most Wanted centers around winning races, while taking down opponents in the process. As in Burnout Paradise, Most Wanted has players racing around an open world: Fairhaven. Its latest, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, delivers much of what fans expect from their games: white-knuckle races at breakneck speeds, gorgeous presentation, and solid (albeit familiar) driving mechanics. Developer Criterion Games is no stranger to making solid arcade racers.