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October 30, 2012 Two
years ago acclaimed British developer Criterion took a stab at one of
Need for Speed’s most established imprints: Hot Pursuit. The results
were fantastic; it was a game that pushed the arcade racer forward in
new, exciting directions, providing unprecedented levels of
connectivity, and was a major shot in the arm for the series.
Thankfully, following on from the disappointment of last year’s entry
The Run, Criterion is back in the driving seat, turning its
perfectionist’s gaze towards another title from the franchise’s past.
This time it’s Most Wanted receiving the makeover and the results
occasionally approach the sublime.
The first thing that impresses you about Most Wanted - and there are
many highlights to choose from - is the sheer quality and craftsmanship
of the game. It’s evident in most aspects of the game. It’s been
constructed with a fastidious attention to detail. You’ll emerge from
winding tunnels into blinding light; flecks of dirt and blades of grass
will cling to the screen should you choose to go off-road; the music
quality will dip and static will accumulate on your Sat Nav when you
venture underground; the warm sunlight skims off rainwater that has
pooled on the uneven, cracked tarmac. They’re all little touches –
testament to time and energy – but when they all combine, as they
frequently do, the result approaches something quite sublime. And you’ll
still be able to appreciate it all tearing down the highway at 150
miles per hour.
You get the impression that Criterion is rather proud of its
achievement. Each race is prefaced by an introductory video, which
showcases the city it has built from the ground
Need for Speed Most Wanted
offers players an expansive open world packed with exhilarating action
where they can choose their own path to become the Most Wanted.
up. Some are surreal vignettes in which
police cars fall from the sky or perch on the ceiling of car parks like
flies; others are snapshots of the city itself, showcasing its urban
beauty.
Things in the distance don’t bear up to the same scrutiny but it’s a
more than acceptable tradeoff, since every side of Fairhaven – every
sewer and flood drain, bridge and road – is accessible to you right from
the beginning, without a single intrusive loading time. This is
open-world gaming at it’s most seamless. Different sections aren’t
crudely welded together with lengthy loading times. You’ll only be
pulled out of it when you change cars, enter a race or switch to
multiplayer and it never takes more than a few seconds.
But this is a driving game of course, so inevitably it comes down to
the cars. And in keeping with its sandbox aspirations, you're able to
drive nearly every one of its 41 vehicles right from the start, from the
mundane Lancia Delta to the most desirable Aston Martin V12 Vantage. To
drive them you don’t have to win races or accumulate points or buy
tokens; you just have to find them. Some are hidden on rooftops or down
back alleys; some are hiding in plain sight.
When you find a new car it’s equipped with stock components: basic
tyres, a basic chassis and transmission, and no nitrous exhaust. You
upgrade your car by accumulating Speed Points, which you earn by
transgressing the law, setting off speed cameras, bursting through
billboards, evading the police. But the fastest way to net some serious
Speed Points is by entering street races.
Each car has five races open to it, ranging from easy to hard. The
races themselves are fairly varied: there are straightforward circuit
races, sprint races and Speed Runs, in which you’ll have to maintain an
absurdly-fast average time while weaving in and out of traffic. Place
well in the races and you’ll receive perks such as off-road tyres, a
reinforced chassis (so you can burst through roadblocks), or different
gear sets, depending on whether you want a higher top speed or faster
acceleration.
Modding is easily done via Easy Drive, the game’s persistent
on-screen menu. It lets you upgrade your car using the D-pad, change
your car and set a route to new race. It again furthers that open-world
feel. Criterion is smart enough to know that nothing is more
antithetical to the open-world experience that it’s trying to create
than drilling down through a series of static menus.
In addition to straightforward races, there are also Ambush events in
which you’ll have to evade the boys in blue. Part of the fun of Most
Wanted is antagonising the authorities. Initially you’ll feel restricted
to the roads and highways of Fairhaven, but the races show you
different sides to the city. There are two ways in which you can lose
the fuzz: keep on running for the horizon and hope they can’t chase you
or break the line of sight and hide under a bridge, like Ryan Gosling in
Drive.
But police interference isn’t limited to Ambush events. They’ll get
involved in most races, attempting to ram you off the road or into
oncoming traffic; dropping stingers right in front of you; or blocking
entire intersections. As your ‘Heat’ level increases they’ll employ
faster cars to chase you down and even call in SWAT teams. And this is
where your mods can give you a slight advantage – if you need to plough
through parked SWAT vans or SUVs you must equip a reinforced chassis and
the powershot exhaust, otherwise your car will crumple on impact.
However, modding on the move isn’t all that easy and the risk of
crashing into an obstacle while trying to change to re-inflatable tyres
isn’t really worth it. And while Kinect allows you to access Easy Drive
more easily, during the fast-paced races of Most Wanted it’s still a bit
of liability to mod mid-race.
The spectacular is well within reach of even the novice in Most
Wanted. Cars handle brilliantly. Once you master drifting and how to use
nitrous bursts effectively, you’ll be competitive in most races. Harder
races aren’t intimidating with practice and a range of mods unlocked.
Slow and steady won’t win you races in Most Wanted; only insanely fast
and audacious will.
Races in Most Wanted begin not from a static racing line, with you
patiently waiting to hit the gas, but from a rolling start – you’re
furiously thrown into the middle of the race and that’s pretty much
emblematic for the game itself. The opening credits end with an
invitation – a robotic-sounding woman’s voice says, “What happens next
is up to you.” And that’s part of the game’s central weakness. It
provides so much freedom that some will find it rather aimless. When you
can drive and upgrade a Lamborghini Gallardo right from the beginning,
the motivation to do it all again with a hatchback quickly evaporates.
Some many of its pleasures are immediate, not rationed nor deferred.
Saying that, there is a very loose narrative of sorts: you’re tasked
with becoming the city’s most notorious racer. When you earn sufficient
Speed Points you’ll be able to challenge one of Fairhaven’s ten most
wanted racers. They drive the most desirable cars in the game – from the
real-world Bugatti Veyron to fantastical concept cars – and the races
are akin to boss fights, periodically testing your skills and knowledge
of the city’s streets. (Incidentally, each race is preceded by the most
stunning introduction.) Beat them by successfully take down their
vehicle and you’ll take their car as a prize. It’s the main incentive to
keep on racking up those Speed Points.
That incentive is bolstered by the game’s approach to multiplayer.
You’ll be able to drive around a private version of the city with
friends, smashing into each other with Ballardian glee, or run through
‘setlists’, which comprise of races as well as challenges – who can make
the biggest jump or execute the longest drift, and so on. It’s a lot
fun and, as with the main game, it’s all seamless and flowing. Events
are linked by mini-races as players attempt to get to the starting point
before the rest. But if multiplayer isn’t your sort of thing Criterion
has subtly woven competition into the very fabric of Fairhaven.
Billboards will carry the face of your friend who burst through it at a
higher speed, for instance. It’s subtle but very effective.
