GameCube

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Granted, Need for Speed Most Wanted may not live up to its Underground predecessor completely, it is still a good game. It offers things that Underground lacks. Plus, it’s nice to see a slew of exotics alongside sport compacts. The newest Need for Speed may be the most wanted of the season, being one of the best racing games for now.

I can't begin to explain how pleased I am that the Need for Speed team really looked at issues with last year's game and fixed basically every single one of the problems I personally had with it. On top of that, the addition of police chases withing a world are simply classic.

Need for Speed Most Wanted succeeds in many ways, but too often I found myself racing in events that I felt I had already played. In that respect, EA Canada could have put more emphasis on unique races, perhaps striving for a game that provides the gamer with genuinely new-feeling race events each time. That's a minor gripe in an overall excellent package. If you're a Need for Speed fan out there, Most Wanted will be your most wanted holiday present this season.

While I didn't review the last Need for Speed game, here's my take on it - the open city is a pain and the difficulty wasn't balanced very well. So, Most Wanted being a sort-of-sequel, does it bring the series back to its current-gen high point of NFS: Underground? Largely, yes. But as a whole, it's not quite there yet.

It’s been missing for a while, but the simple inclusion of the police catapults Most Wanted into one of the best racers in recent history. Dodging roadblocks, evading cruisers and trying to make a name for yourself by getting on The Blacklist is a lot of fun, and it’s simply a couple of technical hiccups or other game issues that hamper this from becoming an instant classic.

Developers of racing games received a new injection of life and purpose in the last two years. The growing popularity of street racing and modding has flourished in the popular culture, while Criterion's Burnout series has blazed a path all its own, bringing arcade racing back to its pre-Gran Turismo glory days. The Need for Speed series has never clung to a particular aspect of pop culture like Rockstar's Midnight Club or a particular car like Sega's Ferrari 360, but the long-time series struck gold with its light implementation of modding with Need for Speed Underground, selling more units worldwide than any game in 2003 with 7.5 million. Need for Speed Most Wanted continues the street culture thing, but EA's Canadian development team has mined one of the better iterations of the series, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, fusing both rudiments into a newly refined, yet strangely familiar racer.

While the actual racing in Need for Speed Most Wanted is probably the weak link in the chain, it's still solid enough to keep you interested as you move from racer to racer, working your way up the Blacklist as you go. But the real stars of the show are the police, who give the series a much-needed shot in the arm. If outrunning the law sounds like your idea of a good time, you'll have a great time here.

Sicher, grafisch lässt die Game-Cube-Version die stimmige Farbgebung und den realistischen Look der PS2- und Xbox-Versionen vermissen. Spaß macht es aber trotzdem. Die Idee, das gelungene Underground-Gameplay mit hitzigen Cop-Verfolgungsjagden zu kombinieren, ist einfach cool. Die Handheld-Versionen können mich leider nicht wirklich überzeugen.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a great return to form for the series. While the actual head-to-head races are a little disappointing, cop chases provide more entertainment than most racing titles released this year combined. Combine these thrills with some great presentation and some incredible early cutscenes and you have not only the best Need For Speed title in some time, but also one of the best racers period.

With three dozen licensed cars ranging from the new Mustang to the perennial street racing favorite Subaru STi, a meaty 15-20 hour story mode and loads of optional challenges beyond that, Most Wanted is one game you're going to be playing into the wee hours. Unfortunately, unlike the Xbox version of the game, the GameCube version does not support online play, nor is it available in a Black Edition with additional features, like the PS2 or Xbox versions. GameCube gamers can take a bit of comfort in the fact that the GCN version has better graphics than the PS2 version, however. And no matter what platform you're playing on, Most Wanted is still a hell of a value for the money, and it's one title that should be on just about any gamer's wish list this Christmas.

Need For Speed est un style de jeu à lui tout seul. Avec sa réalisation convaincante et son gameplay très accessible, il plaira forcément aux amateurs de conduite arcade basée sur des pointes de vitesse hors du commun. Le mode carrière parvient à immerger le joueur et on se glisse volontiers dans la peau d'un as du volant.

Even after fifteen hours in the career mode, I still wanted to jump into one more race. The different modes and customization options definitely increase replay value, and racing in Most Wanted is simply fun to do. There are lots of different racing games available, and by no means is Most Wanted the best of them available, but it is a great ride that is worth looking, especially if previous Need for Speed games have spent significant time in your console.