NFS | Onelargeprawn

We Review: Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Do you feel the need? The need for…Burnout? The Need for Speed series has seen some 18 titles since its beginnings in 1994, and in the last couple of years, the franchise has had its ups and downs, trying to stay relevant.

2012 hasn’t really been a bumper year for arcade racers so any title that randomly wandered into my rear view would have my attention (Ed: I see you ignored Ben 10 Intergalactic Racing, though…). As luck would have it, those veteran developers—Criterion Games (who also updated Hot Pursuit)—are once again in charge of rebooting another Need for Speed staple.

I like Need for Speed but I love Burnout. Does the latest Need for Speed: Most Wanted look to combine the best of both worlds? Let’s check under the hood. Vroom!

We Review: Need for Speed: The Run

It’s not been that great a year for fans of arcade-style racing, with only a handful of titles like Dirt3, MotorStorm: Apocalypse, and Mario Kart 7 vying for our attention. Of course, no year in arcade racing can be complete without a game from the seemingly interminable Need for Speed (NFS) series.

When you think of Need for Speed, you are reminded of thrilling arcade racing with great looking cars and even better graphics. Plot is almost always inconsequential. From face value, it would seem that the latest NFS title (and 18th title in the series), Need for Speed: The Run, has all the hallmark qualities one would expect from the franchise. But something in the machinery is horribly broken. The Run misfires in a quite a few places and didn’t give me the thrill ride that it had promised. Find out why after the jump.