Franchise Focus - Need for Speed Most Wanted (PS2)
Here we are, racing through our final game in this franchise on the Playstation 2. Well...sort of. I mentioned last time that the next handful of games in Need for Speed are split between this generation and next. And since I always prefer to have the most recent version for graphics / mechanics / overall improvements, these games I will be playing on PS3.
So, this game in particular is one of the most talked about in the franchise. I hear a lot of people mentioning this as the best one in the whole series. Why? I have an opinion on why, but I'll save that for the end. I will, however agree that this game is really great. It keeps the tuner mentality from the previous two games, but brings back the one key feature that ended up missing from the Underground titles. Police.
Most Wanted sets you up in Rockport City, racing through the streets and winning races. One of these races gets interrupted by the police, but before the player's character can be arrested, a call comes in about a high speed chase. Later, a newcomer to the city known as Razor, ends up sabotaging your car leaving it wrecked at the finish line. The city's most wanted drivers are all their to laugh in the moment until the same police show up again. Unable to escape, you get arrested, but then are freed by Mia. Together, Mia helps you acquire a new set of wheels and enlists your aid in a mission that will help you both. She wants Razor in handcuffs, while you want the glory of being Rockport's #1 most wanted driver.
The gave makes heavy use of the free roam mechanic, giving you full access to Rockport City. Initially it's broken up into three districts, with you limited to just one, but eventually you'll have full run of the whole city. To progress in the game, all you need to do is, in turn, take down each of the city's 15 racers on the cops Most Wanted list. How is this done? With a few simple tasks that revolve around races, milestones, and bounty. To face each driver, you'll need to win a certain number of racing events, complete some milestones, and the bounty on your head has to be at a certain price.
Races are fairly straight forward. Most of the old modes return with the exception of Drift racing. There's a couple new ones too, but they are more of a spin on the traditional Sprint race mode. These new additions are Tollbooth and Speedtrap. Tollbooth features you racing all by yourself, through a series of the in-game tollbooths in an arcade-style race. Each booth acts as a checkpoint, and you have a limited time to reach it. If you do before time runs out, more will added to your clock to make it to the next booth, and so on until you reach the end.
Speedtrap takes time completely out of the equation, and focuses on how fast you are going. Again, it's a sprint styled race with several points along the way where your speed will be recorded as you go through. At the end of the race, all of these speed totals will be added up and whoever achieves the highest accumulated speed will be the winner. So, you don't necessarily need to be the first one through, just the quickest.
Outside of racing, you'll need to bring up the bounty on your own head, while completing certain milestones that will help drive it up. These can include getting clocked at going over a specific speed through a speedtrap, or a number of things that will need to be achieved while running from the police in a chase. You might have to hit or eliminate a set number of police cars, break through a number of barricades, cause a big amount of monetary damage to the city, or escape a pursuit under/over a specific time (some will want you to escape in under two or three minutes, while others require you to go for a minimum of four or five).
Once all these are completed, the next blacklist driver will call you out and challenge you to a couple of races. If you win, you'll be rewarded with a screen of markers. There will be six in total, three visible and three mystery. You can pick two and they will be able to help you out big time. It could be lowering the heat level on your vehicle, winning a specific parts upgrade, big loads of cash, or my personal favorite, the pink slip to the car of the racer you just took down.
The game does a great job of having you split your time between racing and free roaming. However, unlike it's predecessor, you can now select to travel to events. Let me repeat that : events. Not just races. If you're missing a couple of milestones, you can simply select them from the list and you'll either be instantly dropped into an active pursuit, or transported to the location of whatever speedtrap you need to whip through. But it's completely up to you and how much you enjoy just driving around through the city.
You'll be dealing with a heat level too, and it's respective to each vehicle you own. This directly influences just how hard and heavy the police come after you. Level one you'll just deal with basic cruisers trying to ram you off the road, but as your heat increases, you'll start seeing armored vehicles, roadblocks, spike strips, and even a helicopter. If the heat builds up too much on one car, throw it in the garage and drive something else around for a bit
Outside of all this, vehicle customization is still the same as it always was, so cosmetically the game doesn't change all that much. There is a good bit of change though, so how'd it effect the series?
Speedtrap takes time completely out of the equation, and focuses on how fast you are going. Again, it's a sprint styled race with several points along the way where your speed will be recorded as you go through. At the end of the race, all of these speed totals will be added up and whoever achieves the highest accumulated speed will be the winner. So, you don't necessarily need to be the first one through, just the quickest.
Outside of racing, you'll need to bring up the bounty on your own head, while completing certain milestones that will help drive it up. These can include getting clocked at going over a specific speed through a speedtrap, or a number of things that will need to be achieved while running from the police in a chase. You might have to hit or eliminate a set number of police cars, break through a number of barricades, cause a big amount of monetary damage to the city, or escape a pursuit under/over a specific time (some will want you to escape in under two or three minutes, while others require you to go for a minimum of four or five).
Once all these are completed, the next blacklist driver will call you out and challenge you to a couple of races. If you win, you'll be rewarded with a screen of markers. There will be six in total, three visible and three mystery. You can pick two and they will be able to help you out big time. It could be lowering the heat level on your vehicle, winning a specific parts upgrade, big loads of cash, or my personal favorite, the pink slip to the car of the racer you just took down.
The game does a great job of having you split your time between racing and free roaming. However, unlike it's predecessor, you can now select to travel to events. Let me repeat that : events. Not just races. If you're missing a couple of milestones, you can simply select them from the list and you'll either be instantly dropped into an active pursuit, or transported to the location of whatever speedtrap you need to whip through. But it's completely up to you and how much you enjoy just driving around through the city.
You'll be dealing with a heat level too, and it's respective to each vehicle you own. This directly influences just how hard and heavy the police come after you. Level one you'll just deal with basic cruisers trying to ram you off the road, but as your heat increases, you'll start seeing armored vehicles, roadblocks, spike strips, and even a helicopter. If the heat builds up too much on one car, throw it in the garage and drive something else around for a bit
Outside of all this, vehicle customization is still the same as it always was, so cosmetically the game doesn't change all that much. There is a good bit of change though, so how'd it effect the series?
Changes
Returning Police - They were gone for a couple games but boy are they back. The police chases not only return but they crank it up to eleven. These guys are brutal, smart, and use their numbers to their advantage. While in a chase, you'll have a tracker at the bottom which tells you how many cops are coming after you and have been involved in the chase, and believe me this number can climb pretty quick.
Chase Goals - It's the other side of the chases, and it's what makes them fun because without these goals each chase would be a carbon copy of itself and become extremely stale and boring. These goals ask you to do things like hit a certain number of cops, eliminate them, break through blockades, and more. I love these goals despite the fact that, in the moment, they can be quite infuriating.
Climbing The Ranks - Another feature that, in my mind, saves an element of the game from being boring. It's obvious that in this chunk of games from EA, you're climbing the ranks in a city to become top driver. The Blacklist gives you an actual physical representation of this and provides a more direct objective approach, instead of just dropping you on the streets and saying "Go race," with a pat on the bumper.
Having played this game now, I see why it's regarded as one of the best (if not the best) in the franchise. We're only about halfway through though, and we're done with our second console. Coming up next, we'll be playing the first installment to see the PS3, Need for Speed Carbon
Climbing The Ranks - Another feature that, in my mind, saves an element of the game from being boring. It's obvious that in this chunk of games from EA, you're climbing the ranks in a city to become top driver. The Blacklist gives you an actual physical representation of this and provides a more direct objective approach, instead of just dropping you on the streets and saying "Go race," with a pat on the bumper.
Having played this game now, I see why it's regarded as one of the best (if not the best) in the franchise. We're only about halfway through though, and we're done with our second console. Coming up next, we'll be playing the first installment to see the PS3, Need for Speed Carbon
