Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2012)

Gave this a whirl last night. It's definitely a spiritual successor to Burnout Paradise, with many elements lifted straight from that game (minus the Showtime mode, unfortunately). The graphics are very nice -- clearly a step up from NFS: Hot Pursuit. I'm still getting used to the controls, which seem floatier than NFS:HP and BP.

There's some basic performance customization that you can do for each car, and those options get unlocked by doing well in races, which appear to all be car-specific. No visual customization aside from car color.

Haven't tried multiplayer yet, since I'm still getting my bearings in single player...

- Jer

Got to spend some quality time with this tonight. I'm liking how they've sprinkled the cars throughout the game world, and you have to explore to find them. Once you find one, you can warp back to it any time you're free roaming and don't have cops after you.

I found a Corvette ZR-1 early on that's proven to be the best all-around car I've encountered so far, and I've apparently found half the cars. It's funny, because I thought the ZR-1 had horrible handling in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, but I like it a lot in this one.

Every scoreable item in the game has its own speedwall, which gets superimposed on the game world when you get near it. Really slick.

Each car does have its own set of races to complete, but those races are shared across multiple cars. I also had an ambush event once, where I had to lose the cops within a set time limit. Losing the cops works pretty much like Interceptor mode in NFS:HP.

The game world is a good size, but not gigantic. Free roaming is fun, because speed and traffic violations can get the cops after you for ad hoc pursuits, complete with roadblocks and spike strips. Between that and all the other activities and exploration, you always feel like your free roaming time has a purpose.

I'm enjoying it.

- Jer

My ZR-1 with all pro mods is destroying the Most Wanted list. The 918 Spyder Concept and even the Aventador didn't stand a chance. Powershot nitrous and reinflatable tires are key for those high-level Most Wanted races.

I'm now working on building up the Aventador because the handling feels better than the ZR-1. I'm guessing its stats will edge out the ZR-1 once I get all the pro mods.

Still haven't gotten around to multiplayer yet. Should be funny, since they introduced that "Everyday" class below the Sports level. The idea of racing a Ford Focus against one of those Lancia hatchbacks makes me chuckle.

It's a bummer that my real world car (Infiniti G37) is in the game all over the place, but I can't drive it! Seems like half of Fairhaven owns one. I guess I could drive the GT-R and squint a bit, but it's not quite the same.

- Jer

Cleared out the rest of the Most Wanted list tonight. Probably could have done it all with the ZR-1 (hell, I beat the Veyron Super Sport with it), but I'd beefed up the Aventador enough to use it for the final two chases instead. I still have half the regular races left, plus some collectibles, so there's a good amount of single player remaining.

I'm a little disappointed that I got the ZR-1 so early, since it was good enough to beat the entire game with. The Most Wanted cars also aren't worth much until you get to the top 4. Still a very fun game, though...and I haven't even touched the multiplayer yet (though I'll correct that shortly)!

- Jer