Need For Speed Most Wanted

In this installment of the acclaimed Need For Speed series, you play as an anonymous protagonist, working his way up the ‘black list’ of skilled underground racers and evading cops on the way. Most Wanted will not disappoint fans of the series, and will appeal to casual gamers and hardcore racers alike, with its spot-on balance between realistic physics and arcade controls.
Story

You start off with a introductory phase of the game in which you are one of the best racers in Rockport City. To prove your skill, you race Razor, the unlikeable antagonist who is Number One on the blacklist, a rankings table of the fifteen best racers. However in the penultimate race, it is discovered that Razor has tampered with your car. You grind to a halt, and are promptly detained for illegal street racing.

Soon released, you discover street racing has moved on without you. With no car, your only option is to accept the assistance of Mia, who is later revealed only helped you in order to bet on you.

From here, the story is minimal, with only the odd cellphone call to remind you of the existence of anything outside of a car.

Gameplay

There are two main parts of the game: cop evasion and racing. They are seamlessly entwined, with cops often pursuing you during races.

The racing is a standard affair, with the arrow keys (or a joystick) controlling the car, with the option to play with automatic or manual shifting. The track is enclosed with translucent barriers, but a variety of short-cuts exist to give you the edge. There are various racing types, but they all have the same objective: get to the finish before your competitors or your allotted time.



You will commonly be evading police, and are required to meet milestones in the game regarding this. You will find yourself ramming them off the road, crushing them under scaffolding, and generally wreaking havoc.

Overall, the gameplay is well-executed and enjoyable, portraying a great sense of speed, but may get repetitive near the end of the game.

Graphics

The game’s visual quality is average by today’s standards, but still manages to look very pretty on the PC on higher settings, with highly-detailed car models.

Content

Destruction
As to be expected, there is much of the world that is destroyable. You can be expecting to destroy trash cans, road cones, smash through glass, and completely wreck many a car. This is not as concerning as the reasoning behind this, which brings me to my next category.

Lawlessness
The whole game is derived around breaking the law, with the ever pursuing police force a constant reminder of this. The actions you take in the game are extremely dangerous, and morally unjustifiable in the real world. Whether or not you are comfortable with this simulated lawlessness must be made decided prayerfully by the individual playing the game or their guardian.

Lyrics
The game is soundtracked by a mixture of hip-hop and rock, with most objectionable content censored. The worst lyrics include a few ‘OMG’s and some pessimistic viewpoints towards life. However, the focus is not on the music in the game, and any objectionable songs can be disabled in the settings of the game, so any negative influence is minimal.

Violence
Violence is almost non-existent, with only the odd push or shove in the cheesy cutscenes. As far as racing goes, although many a car will be smashed into, the drivers are nothing more than mannequins and no indication of injury is ever shown.

Scantily Clad Women / Adult Themes
Mia, who aids you throughout the game, will almost always be in tight clothing exposing the midriff, as are many female racers in their profiles. However suggestion is kept to a minimum, and this attire should only really be a problem for very young gamers. Their is the odd wolf-whistle at Mia from neutral characters in the game, but is portrayed in a negative light and should not offend.