Feel the Need

Electronic Arts is back again with an all-new entry in their long-running Need for Speed franchise. After the smash hit Need for Speed™ Underground took the series into the seedy and stylish world of underground street racing, Need for Speed™ Most Wanted returns the racing franchise to its law-breaking roots. At the same time, the style and flash of Underground shines through in the beautiful car models and the racing challenges you take on.

Violate traffic statutes in style.

Breakin' the Law
Need for Speed Most Wanted puts you in a (somewhat) realistic street-racing world where your reputation amongst your racing peers—A.I. single-player opponents or other gamers on Xbox Live®—determines your level of success. You build that reputation by winning races, setting record times, and (most importantly) getting away from the cops.

The name of the game is Most Wanted , and that means
breaking the law not just a lot, but creatively too.

Your Car is a Weapon
As in EA's Burnout Revenge™, you plow through traffic as you drive. Unlike Revenge, the cars you knock out of the way don't go flying away like tennis balls off a racket. These cars have real weight, and "civilian" collisions slow you down. That said, sometimes the only way to trip up the police in hot pursuit is to knock a truck into their path, or take out a destructible piece of the course (like a lamppost) that blocks up the fuzz.

Scofflaws Wanted
Many factors go into a successful Most Wanted race career, but the most critical—and the one that most affects you in-game—is the bounty that the police put on your head. The higher the bounty, the faster the cops are on your tail, the more cops get sent, and the more gets added to that bounty. As the challenge increases, so do the rewards. If you want to get from the "black list" (which represents all of the other racers vying for street cred) to the A-list, you need to meet those challenges, and then some.

The mountain might get you. The law? Not a chance.

The Speedbreaker
"Bullet time" is back (if, indeed, it ever left) with Need for Speed Most Wanted. When you come up against a wall of cop cars driving side-by-side to make a moving roadblock, it's tricky to get around them even at top speed. But hit the X button to drop the Speedbreaker, and enter a slo-mo mode that makes it a bit easier to get around the law. The same goes for any cluster of obstacles or vehicles in your way. It's best used on blind corners, where an oncoming cement truck can end your race in a heartbeat.

The Police Band
Your new car comes complete with a CB radio tuned to cop FM. The dispatcher and the responding officers aren't just laying out their plans for you, they're also giving you clues about their strategy for taking you down. Sometimes they declare that they're just going to "let this guy crash on his own," which means you can take advantage of a nitrous boost to get a lead on them—after all, you're not going to crash like they expect, right? When you hear them calling in backup or going over their plans to slow you down, use that information to make your own strategies on the fly.

Use the environment to your advantage.

Fellow Racers
What's better than knocking over a water tower to block the path of a pursuing police car? Knocking an opponent out of the running and blocking the path of a pursuing police car! Now you won't always have opponents—time trials, for example, put you up against the clock and the cops only—but in most cases, whether you're racing on Xbox Live® or against the A.I. racers, those opponents make the perfect roadblock fodder. Don’t forget that any collision, even one that leaves a roadblock in your wake, takes off some of your time, so make sure you're in the lead.

Watch for Shortcuts
Most Wanted is all about creative driving, and that's where shortcuts come in handy. Shave off time and get the lead by taking a shortcut that other racers miss, and they're also handy for shaking those smokies on your tail.

Police tactics have gotten more creative.

The name of the game is Most Wanted, and that means breaking the law not just a lot, but creatively too. The more risks you take, the more money you earn, the higher your bounty will get, the bigger your reputation will grow, and, of course, the more cops and pursuit you have to deal with. That makes your job even trickier, but also gives you even more chances to build up that bounty and rap sheet. So go ahead, make their day and leave 'em in the dust!

Article by Ben Barker