Reception and criticism

Reviews
Publication	Score
IGN	8.5 out of 10
Game Informer	8.5 out of 10
GameSpy	4 out of 5
GameSpot	8.4 out of 10
Game Revolution	B+
1UP	8.6 out of 10
PC Gamer	86 out of 100
PC Zone	88 out of 100
Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings	82 of 100 (based on 23 reviews)
Metacritic	82 out of 100 (based on 19 reviews)

Soundtrack

As in other EA Black Box Need for Speed games, Most Wanted's soundtrack comprises a licensed selection of hip hop, rock, metalcore and electronica/techno music. Additionally, Paul Linford provided interactive scores for police pursuit sessions. The soundtrack listing is as followed:

1. Styles of Beyond - "Nine Thou" (Superstars Remix) (3:48) (appears on the album Megadef)
2. T.I. Presents The P$C - "Do Ya Thang" (4:05) (appears on CD T.I. Presents the P$C: 25 to Life)
3. Rock - "I Am Rock" (3:23) (Originally on Need for Speed: Most Wanted)
4. Suni Clay - "In A Hood Near You" (3:59) (appears on the album Suni Clay)
5. The Perceptionists - "Let's Move" (2:55) (appears on the album Black Dialogue)
6. Juvenile - "Sets Go Up" (3:37) (appears on the album Reality Check)
7. Hush - "Fired Up" (3:18) (appears on the album Bulletproof)
8. DJ Spooky and Dave Lombardo - "B-Side Wins Again feat. Chuck D" (4:31) (appears on the album Drums of Death)
9. Celldweller feat. Styles of Beyond - "Shapeshifter" (3:17) (appears on the vinyl single Shapeshifter)
10. Lupe Fiasco - "Tilted" (3:25) (appears on the single Kick, Push)
11. Ils - "Feed The Addiction" (3:54) (appears on the album Bohemia)
12. Celldweller - "One Good Reason" (3:24) (appears on the album Celldweller)
13. Hyper - "We Control" (2:54) (appears on the vinyl single We Control)
14. Static-X - "Skinnyman" (3:23) (appears on the album Start a War)*
15. Dieselboy + Kaos - "Barrier Break" (6:27) (appears on the album Barrier Break/Submission)
16. Disturbed - "Decadence" (3:18) (appears on the album Ten Thousand Fists)
17. The Prodigy - "You'll Be Under My Wheels" (3:53) (appears on the album Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned)
18. The Roots and BT - "Tao Of The Machine" (Scott Humphrey's Remix) (3:06) (also appears on Blade II Soundtrack)
19. Stratus - "You Must Follow" (Evol Intent VIP) (3:55) (appears on the album projectHUMAN)
20. Mastodon - "Blood And Thunder" (3:41) (appears on the album Leviathan)*
21. Evol Intent, Mayhem & Thinktank - "Broken Sword" (5:59) (appears on the album Us Against The World)
22. Bullet for My Valentine - "Hand Of Blood" (3:17) (appears on the album Hand of Blood)*
23. Paul Linford and Chris Vrenna - "The Mann" (3:28)
24. Avenged Sevenfold - "Blinded In Chains" (5:55) (appears on the album City of Evil)*
25. Jamiroquai - "Feels Just Like It Should" (Timo Maas Remix) (3:00)
26. Paul Linford and Chris Vrenna - "Most Wanted Mash Up" (3:34)

Cars

Cars included in Most Wanted can be categorized into 3 distinct types, including "Euro imports" (mostly European) exotic cars and Asian import tuners cars (mostly Japanese), and American muscle cars. The Black Edition of Most Wanted also includes a standard BMW E46 (M3 GTR V8) (although in the Career mode of the standard game, the awarded BMW may be customized) and a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, along with an array of specially tuned and customized versions of stock models from the standard edition of Most Wanted, such as the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG, the Porsche 911 GT2 and the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R .

Car Customization

As in the preceding Underground installments, the performance and physical appearance of the player's car could be extensively modified, but options for exterior modifications have been simplified to only the essentials, with specific parts (i.e. individual bumpers, side skirts, lights and exhaust pipes) foregone, and are primarily used as methods of decreasing the car's wanted level, compared to increasing a car's "reputation rating" in the Underground games. Additionally, players are allowed to assume a sleeper appearance for cars without penalty in Most Wanted.

A decision was made not to include online play for the PlayStation 2 version (including the Black Edition, despite fan requests). It is speculated that EA Games had dropped the PlayStation 2's online services in favor of Xbox Live for the Xbox and Xbox 360.[citation needed] However, the PlayStation Portable version of the game would support this feature. Both the PlayStation 2 versions of Underground and Underground 2 had previously included online play.

EA has quit support to the PC version of the game very early from its release, even with the community asking for another patch to fix lasting bugs, the latest patch for the PC version (1.3) was released on December 6, 2005.

Pursuit system

Most Wanted features police pursuits in the game for the first time since Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002). 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 the 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. Pursuits can also be initiated by selecting an appropriate Challenge (in Challenge mode). Traffic offenses committed by the player are known in game as "Infractions".

The police pursuit 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 (although this has been similarly utilized in Hot Pursuit 2). 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 likely the player will be pursued by state or even federal authorities, and 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. In fact, about ten police cars may be observed pursuing a single car under higher Heat levels. There are five heat levels in the game (with a hidden sixth and seventh heat level at the end of Career mode and in the Black Edition respectively), three authoriative levels (Civic/Local, State, and Federal), and ten police vehicles.

Players will have to be careful in pursuits as attention-grabbing driving may prompt Cross to join the pursuit in a Chevrolet Corvette C6(.R) with customized paintwork.

In Career mode, pursuits are integrated into the game in such a way that it is necessary to challenge Blacklist racers. Completing "Milestones," which involves committing at least a specified amount of traffic offences or pursuit lengths during a chase, and collecting an amount of "Bounty", a form of credit accumulated as players continue to evade the police or damage police units, are requirements. A car's Heat level may be reduced by changing the physical appearance of a car by changing body parts or paint color, or using another purchased car to race in the streets. 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, and also includes the player's standing in each individual record against those of other Blacklist racers.

Players are provided with several additional features which are useful during pursuits. The Speedbreaker, provided within the driving interface, slows down time (similar to bullet time), momentarily adds weight to the player's car allowing it to become more difficult for other vehicles (especially police 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. 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 crushing unlucky police units following them. In addition, players are also required to ensure that they are not spotted again by the police shortly after evading all police units; a "Cooldown" period is required to be met before police units give up and cancel a perimeter search of the player's car. Cooldown spots, hiding spots where players may park in, are also scattered around the city in places like underground carparks, helping to shorten the Cooldown period and end pursuits quickly. However, certain hiding spots may still be exposed and may be discovered by searching police units.

While the game features police cars, including those in the form of Pontiac GTOs and Chevrolet Corvette C6s, 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.

Modes

The game provides players with a selection of game modes, which include a combination of races and police chases. In Career mode, achieving goals by winning races and performing a number of actions, dubbed "Milestones", during police pursuits, as well as a minimum Bounty (see #Pursuit system for details on Milestones and Bounties) 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 Achievement Points 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 (e.g. the ability to "Get Out of Jail Free") or car parts and decors ("backroom parts"), 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 part, visual, and performance marker (called a "Junkman 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" mode comprised of 68 progressively difficult challenges (69 in the Black Edition) where players are required to successfully complete Tollbooth races and pursuit challenges, such as disabling 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 cement 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 foregone. Meanwhile, Most Wanted see 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 (toll booths) along a point-to-point route before time runs out (similar to Time Attack modes in arcade-style racing games); 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.

Gameplay

Need for Speed games, is essentially a driving and racing game, where the player selects one car to reach a destination or race. Police chases have once again been integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police employ vehicles and tactics to either slow down or halt the player's car. As players take control of faster cars and increasingly rely on nitrous oxide speed boosts (the oxide meter now reloads automatically, for the first time since its introduction in Underground), driving sequences become fast-pace and intense, similar to the Burnout series.

Three distinct regions are offered in the city of Rockport, along with cycling weather. There is no racing in the night, all the action is done between sunrise and sunset. A Grand Theft Auto-like free roam mode is still provided like Need for Speed: Underground 2, but is still limited to Career mode, as well as pursuit-based events in other modes. Most Wanted continues to avoid the use of major vehicle damages on all racing models, as it has been with the Underground series, with only scratched paint and heavily cracked (but not shattered) windscreens comprising the whole of the racers' damage modeling. This is due to certain manufacturers not wishing to portray their cars as wrecked. Police cars, however, are subjectable to extreme physical body damages, and immobilization if they flip over or have been heavily damaged by "pursuit breakers" (see pursuit system) or the player's car.

Cut scenes

The cut scenes in the game are presented in a significantly different style from the Underground series, with CGI effects (encompassing car exteriors and environments) mixed with live action. This presentation of cut scenes is used again in Carbon.

Plot

The player arrives at Rockport with a heavily-tuned BMW M3 GTR (E46). Following Mia (played by Josie Maran), the player proves his driving prowess as he is pursued by a veteran police officer named Cross, who vows to take down the player.

Races seems to be in the player's favor until a group of "cheaters" (led by the game's antagonist Razor) sabotages the player and seizes the coveted BMW. Arrested by Cross without a ride, the player is released due to lack of evidence. Mia picks up the player and then informs the player about Razor's plans for Rockport. She then helps out the player by having the player choose a "starter car" and work his way up the Blacklist (a group of drivers most wanted by the Rockport Police Department), eventually beating rivals one by one, achieving a sizable reputation and acquiring comparable rides. She also setups "safehouses" for the player to lie low in throughout Rockport.

The final rival challenge has the player race against Razor with the player coming as the victor, reclaiming the coveted BMW. Just as the player tries to reclaim the BMW over Razor's protests, Mia reveals that she is actually an undercover police officer. Mia throws the keys to the player, and yells at him to go. Razor is taken in custody and the player is pursued by the entire Rockport Police Department under the command of Cross. The player manages to slip away from Rockport by jumping the BMW over an incomplete bridge that Mia points out to the player in a last phone call.
Part of the final cutscene where the player escapes Rockport by jumping over a bridge under construction.
Part of the final cutscene where the player escapes Rockport by jumping over a bridge under construction.

After the player's inevitable escape, Cross issues a 'Most Wanted' status over the player and lists him in the National Most Wanted List. In addition to Razor, the entire Blacklist are arrested, with the "help" of the player.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (NFS:MW) is a multiplatform racing video game, developed by EA Black Box and first released by Electronic Arts for the United States on 15 November 2005. It is part of the Need for Speed series of games. The game reintroduces police chases into a large body of the game's street racing-oriented gameplay, with certain (but not all) customization options from the Need for Speed: Underground series. It is possible that this game's plot is somehow linked to Need For Speed: Underground 2 due to the fact that the word "Bayview" was mentioned in the game. The game is also succeded by Need for Speed: Carbon, which serves as a sequel to Most Wanted.

Most Wanted has been released for Windows-based personal computers, the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360 (as a launch title), Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and mobile phones. Another version of Most Wanted, titled Need for Speed: Most Wanted: 5-1-0 has been released for the PlayStation Portable.

'Black Edition', a collector's edition of Most Wanted, was released in celebration of the Need for Speed series' tenth anniversary and in conjunction with the release of Most Wanted. The Black Edition features additional races, bonus cars and other additional content. The Black Edition also comes with a special feature DVD that contains interviews and videos about the game. The Black Edition was released for both the PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in the United States and Australia; only the PlayStation 2 version of Black Edition was released additionally for Europe.