Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005 video game)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted 

 

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (commonly abbreviated to as NFS: MW or just Most Wanted) is a racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series. The game features street racing-oriented game play, with certain customization options from the Need for Speed: Underground series. The game is succeeded by Need for Speed: Carbon, which serves as a sequel to Most Wanted.
Most Wanted has been released for Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and is the first Need for Speed game released for the seventh generation console, the Xbox 360, as one of the system's launch titles. Another version of Most Wanted, titled Need for Speed: Most Wanted: 5–1–0 has been released for the PlayStation Portable. In May 2012, the PlayStation 2 version was released on the online virtual market, PlayStation Store, for the PlayStation 3. On June 1, 2012, a reboot of the game under the same title, was announced by the British developing team Criterion Games.

Gameplay :

Most Wanted is like other Need for Speed games, where the player selects one car and races against a time limit or other racers to reach a destination. Police chases have once again been integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police employ vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and Need for Speed: Carbon. As players take control of faster cars and increasingly rely on nitrous oxide speed boosts, the oxide meter now refills automatically for the first time since its introduction in Underground, and driving sequences become fast-paced and intense similar to the Burnout series.

Three distinct regions are offered in the city of Rockport, along with cycling weather. Racing events take place between sunrise and sunset, unlike in the Underground where the events took place at night. A Grand Theft Auto-like Free Roam mode is provided as in Need for Speed: Underground 2, but is still limited to Career mode, as well as pursuit-based events in other modes.

Brand promotion from Underground 2 still continues strongly, with Old Spice and the presence of Burger King restaurants, Castrol oil, Axe Unlimited and Edge shaving gel. The Cingular logo is still visible in the game's wireless communication system. Performance, body and visual parts that can be bought in the game are also from real life companies. However, Best Buy stores did not return from Underground 2.

Modes:

The game provides players with three game modes. The Quick Race mode allows the player to select a car and an event and immediately start racing. The available cars and events are unlocked as the player progresses through the storyline in the Career mode. Achieving goals by winning races and performing a number of actions, dubbed "Milestones", during police pursuits, as well as a minimum Bounty are needed to advance in the storyline and race against any of the mode's 15 Blacklist racers. In the Xbox 360 version, the player is awarded with achievements each time a Blacklist opponent is defeated. Career mode introduces a new feature – the ability to win a Blacklist opponent's car ("pink slip"), bonus functions, extra cash or car parts and decors, after defeating the opponent in question. These come in the form of six markers – the rival's pink slip (which is concealed as a bonus marker), two bonus function markers, and three custom backroom parts markers of which there is a body part, visual upgrade, and performance marker ("Junk-man Marker") that the player can select – of which the player can choose only two. New cars and parts are also unlocked as the player progresses through Career mode by beating Blacklist racers.

In addition to the Quick Race and Career modes, there is also a "Challenge Series" mode involving 69 progressively difficult challenges where players are required to successfully complete Tollbooth races and pursuit challenges, such as tagging a number of police cars. The pre-tuned cars used in each Challenge is fixed, ranging from mostly Career cars with poor handling to traffic vehicles such as a dump truck or police cars. Additional bonus cars may be unlocked as the player progresses through Challenge mode.

In terms of actual variations of races, Most Wanted inherits several racing modes prevalent in its Underground predecessors. The game's four existing modes: Circuit races, point-to-point Sprint races, lap knockout races and Drag races, remain largely unchanged since the first iteration of Underground, while Drifting, Street X, Underground Racing League tournaments and Outrun racing are removed. Meanwhile, Most Wanted sees the introduction of two new racing variations, which places emphasis on speed. The first mode is known as "Tollbooth," where a player races alone to designated checkpoints along a point-to-point route before time runs out; the more time a player has as they reach a toll booth, the more time they have to arrive at the next one. The second mode, dubbed "Speedtrap", sees racers competing with each other to get the highest accumulated speed record at multiple traffic cameras. At a speed trap/traffic camera, players accelerate their car to aim for the highest possible speed. Accumulated speed is reduced over a period of time after an opponent crosses the finish line first.

Pursuit system :

Most Wanted features pursuit evasion in the game for the first time in the series since Hot Pursuit 2. In Career mode, police pursuits may occur during a race or during free roaming through the city, depending on the frequency of the police units in the area and traffic offenses players have committed. The player can initiate a pursuit immediately from the game's safe house or menu by choosing an unfinished Milestone or a Bounty challenge. Pursuits can also be initiated by selecting an appropriate Challenge in the Challenge Series mode. Traffic offenses committed by the player are known in game as Infractions. These include speeding, excessive speeding, reckless driving, driving off roadway, damage to property, hit and run, ramming a police unit, and resisting arrest.

The system is significantly more complex than its previous Hot Pursuit incarnations. The manner in which the police handle a player is now determined by the "heat level" of the player's current car. Heat levels, which increase with the length of a police pursuit and the amount of damage caused by the player during the pursuit, add a twist to the pursuit. The higher the car's heat level, the more aggressive the police units are against the player, employing additional tactics and tools, such as roadblocks, spike strips, police helicopters and heavier and faster police cars such as police SUV's.

In Career mode, pursuits are integrated into the game in such a way that it is necessary to participate in pursuit in order to be able to challenge Blacklist racers. The player must complete Milestones which involve committing at least a specified amount of traffic offenses or pursuit lengths during a pursuit, and collecting an amount of Bounty, a form of credit accumulated as players continue to evade the police or damage police units. A car's heat level may be reduced by changing the physical appearance of a car by changing body parts or paint color, or by using another purchased car with a lower heat level to race in the streets. If a car is not being used by the player its heat level will slowly lower over time. Rap sheets, with records such as the player's infractions, cost to state, deployed tactics and pursuit lengths, are also available for viewing by hacking into police records.

Players are provided with several additional features which are useful during pursuits. The Speed breaker, provided within the driving interface, slows down time similar to bullet time and momentarily adds weight to the player's car allowing it to become more difficult for other vehicles to push around, and induces a drift. This allows the player a limited amount of time to quickly maneuver the car out of difficult situations, or assess an escape route through a road block or spike strip blockade.[1] Another feature in Most Wanted are Pursuit Breakers, road-side objects which are designed to collapse when a player uses their car to knock down its support, either damaging or disabling following police cars (which can be visually seen in many cases). In one example, if a player smashes through a gas station, the roof of the station falls potentially crushing police units following them.[2]

Pursuits in the game are split into two main parts. The first part, which is the actual pursuit itself, occurs when the player is being actively chased by police. The second part, known as the "Cooldown" mode, occurs when the police have lost sight of the player and are conducting a search for him/her. During this period of time, the pursuit and its corresponding timer are temporarily paused and a Cooldown bar is enabled, which will slowly fill up as time passes. Once the bar fills up completely, the player is considered to have successfully evaded the pursuit. Conversely, if a police unit spots the player, the pursuit resumes. To evade the pursuit, it is necessary to enter Cooldown mode first. This is accomplished by getting a certain distance away from the police or by disabling police units. Cooldown spots, areas in the world usually not seen from the street or helicopters, can be used to hide from pursuers and aid in the player's escape. If the player finds a hiding spot and stops they will spend significantly less time in Cool-down mode.

 Multilayer:

Online multiplayer was available on Xbox 360, Xbox, PC and PlayStation Portable. Up to 4 players can participate in an online race and can race in 4 game modes including circuit, sprint, lap knockout and speed trap. Furthermore, there is the option to enable Performance Matching in an online race. When performance matching is enabled, all cars in the race are automatically upgraded to match the performance (i.e. top speed, handling, etc.) of the fastest car in that particular race. However, as soon as the race is over, all modifications made to the cars by performance matching are removed. The online multiplayer lobby was shut down on August 1, 2011. 

Cars:

There are a wide range of cars available for the main Career mode of the game. Cars such as the Fiat Punto, Audi TT and Cadillac CTS are only seen in Most Wanted and tuners return from Underground 2 (e.g. Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7 and Mazda RX-8) but SUVs do not return except as non-playable police vehicles. Exotics like the Lotus Elise, Lamborghini's, Porsche make their first appearance since Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and classic muscle cars featured in the Black Edition (e.g. Chevrolet Camaro ) are new to the series. As the game progresses, better and faster cars are unlocked and races get faster and more intense as the player makes his/her way through the game. Cars must either be purchased at car lots or won by getting the pink slip to a Blacklist Racer's car, as detailed in the Modes section. Cars can be purchased at car lots in stock condition with no enhancement whatsoever. Not all of them are available or affordable for purchase at the beginning stages of Career mode and must be unlocked by defeating a certain Blacklist member. While the game features police cars, Most Wanted does not allow players to play as a pursuing police in chases. However, players may drive several police cars in Challenge mode, but are solely used in checkpoint races and police pursuits, where the police are still pursuing the player.

As in the preceding Underground installments, the performance and physical appearance of the player's car can be extensively modified, but options for exterior and interior modifications have been significantly reduced to only the essentials. The customization of side mirrors, lights, exhausts and individual body kit pieces were dropped from body customization. However, instead of individual body kit pieces, up to 5 whole body kits can be chosen, some of which widen the car's stance. The "Car Specialties" customization (including neon, nitrous purge, hydraulics, spinners, doors, split hoods, and trunk audio) have been completely eliminated with the exception of window tint and custom gauges. Paint customization is limited to the main body color (with mirror, exhaust, spoiler, roof scoop, and brake color options gone). Unlike the Underground games, visual customization is used to lower the car's "heat level", instead of increasing the car's "visual rating". Additionally, players are allowed to assume a sleeper appearance (leaving the exterior of the car unmodified or barely modified) for cars without penalty in Most Wanted.

Plot :

 The player arrives in Rock port City, driving a racing version of the BMW M3 GTR . Following Mia Townsend (played by Josie Maran ), the player proves his driving prowess as he is pursued by a veteran police officer named Sergeant Cross (played by Dean McKenzie), who vows to take down the player and end street racing in Rock port.Races seem to be in the player's favor until a particular group of racers, led by the game's antagonist, Clarence "Razor" Callahan (played by Derek Hamilton), sabotages and win the player's car in a race.[4][5] Without a car to escape in, the player is arrested by Cross, but is later released due to lack of evidence.[6] Mia picks up the player and then informs the player about Razor's new status on the Blacklist, a group of 15 drivers most wanted by the Rock port Police Department. She then helps by assisting the player in acquiring a new car and working his way up the Blacklist. Rivals are defeated one by one, and the player is rewarded with reputation, new rides, and ride improvements with every Blacklist member taken down. As new boroughs are opened up throughout Rock port (Rosewood, Camden Beach, and Downtown Rockport), Mia also sets up safe houses for the player to lie low in, in exchange for placement of "side bets" on the player's races.

Blacklist 15 :

The blacklist 15 represent the best of the best and the most wanted racers wanted by the cops in Rockport. The names and cars are listed below but the required amount of races, milestones, or bounty, [including blacklist races] are not shown but each show how many you have to do to beat them. The catch is that you have to win all of them, not the majority of the races.

The final challenge for the #1 spot on the Blacklist puts the player in a race against Razor, for 5 rival races, with the player emerging as the victor, thus reclaiming the BMW M3 GTR . When Razor refuses to relinquish ownership of the car and attacks Mia after she confiscates the keys from him, she subdues him, while revealing herself to be an Undercover Cop. Mia throws the keys to the player, and tells him to escape the incoming police force. Razor is taken into custody and the player is pursued by the entire Rockport Police Department's Federal Undercover Vehicles under the command of Cross.[7]

The player manages to slip away from Cross and the cops and abandons Rockport City by launching the car over an old broken bridge pointed out by Mia.[8] After the player's escape, Cross brings up the player's rap sheet and adds him to the National Most Wanted List. In addition to Razor, the entire Blacklist is arrested with the "help" of the player.[9]

Blacklist 15 List:

15 - Sonny Car: Volkswagen Golf GTI

14 - Taz Car: Lexus IS 300

13 - Vic Car: Toyota Supra

12 - Izzy Car: Mazda RX-8

11 - Big Lou Car: Mitsubishi Eclipse GT

10 - Baron Car: Porsche Cayman S

9 - Earl Car: Mitsubishi Evolution VIII

8 - Jewels Car: Ford Mustang GT

7 - Kaze Car: Mercedes-Benz CLK 500

6 - Ming Car: Lamborghini Gallardo

5 - Webster Car: Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06

4 - JV Car: Dodge Viper SRT

3 - Ronnie Car: Aston Martin DB9

2 - Bull Car: Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren

1 - Razor Car: BMW M3 GTR