Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Microsoft Xbox 360, 2005)

The Game that Defined the Series.

First of all, the game is still extremely fun to play even after 15 years of new releases and new hardware. The far selection, albeit limited perfectly fits with the themes of the city and the feeling of being in the daylight and more sort of industrial and edgy feeling. The soundtrack is also great, bands like Bullet For My Valentine? Disturbed? Mastodon, even Celldweller... Great mixture of songs and genres, even if all I stated was metal. But there is one thing that can easily kill the game for someone like me... The big thing that for me, crushes it from being the BEST NFS is the rubberbanding, it is completely busted in this game, if you get any noticeable lead in this game, before you realize it, the AI will be right on your rear bumper again, for me around Blacklist Rival #5, the game went from really fun to really frustrating, I probably selected the wrong cars, but come on, the AI with fast cars and rubberbanding...? It’s a recipe for disaster.

The pursuits themselves are quite fun really, the whole feeling of having the city in the palms of your steering wheel chasing after you, it is a great feeling but anything past heat condition 4 becomes an absolute nightmare to get away from, when you are trying to escape and start to get away, a Helicopter spawns, for example... Like rubberbanding, it is incredibly frustrating and can completely ruin the game late game when going for the late game pursuit milestones...

The races themselves are fine, you got racing, lap knockout, tollbooths (basically time trial) and the WORST and most BS race type of them all... Drag Races...They are absolutely horrible, basically you are on a rail the entire time, the car following the set lanes for you, and you have to shift gears and swap lanes, it’s fine yeah? The problem occurs when it comes to the AI cars... Or traffic cars, they are put in places just to crash your car, oh and have I mentioned that if you hit a car too hard in a drag race you get totaled? Anyways, they turn into complete RNG and luck, trial and error also.

Final word though, I know this review is quite negative for a 4* review... But honestly it is still top 5 in terms of Need For Speed games... Not the best IMO, but up there... The game is extremely frustrating, thing all the mid 2000’s NFS titles were good at being... And the final thing I will say is that if you want a nostalgia trip, go ahead and pick it up, you won’t regret it... Even after all the frustration of the rubberbanding and the Drag Races...Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: jaysdealzzz

Bought this because of nostalgia

I played Need for Speed Most Wanted back when it came out in 2005, and since then, it has been my favorite NFS title to date. It's the perfect marriage of Hot Pursuit style police chases and Underground style vehicle customization and fleshed-out plot. However, I first had the Nintendo GameCube version, which was lacking in the graphical quality department. Xbox 360s were brand new back then, so I didn't have one. Recently, I had been thinking about buying the newest NFS title, Payback, but the dismal reviews kept me away. I began thinking back to what the best NFS games were, and thought of how much I enjoyed Most Wanted 12 years ago. I no longer have the GameCube, so I couldn't play my original copy, but I do have an Xbox 360 now. So I bought this version.
The graphics are a huge improvement over the GameCube, and the controls are better too. Neither measure up to the latest racing games like Forza Horizon 3, but in 2005, the Xbox 360 version was definitely the one to have. The story is a lot cheesier than I remember it being, but I was 14 then, so of course it is. It's still enjoyable. The car selection (and customization options) compared to new racing titles like Forza is laughably small, but the cars included fit the tone the game (with the possible exception of the Porsche Carrera GT, an ultra-rare supercar that feels out of place in this outlaw street racing game, even among other exotics like Lamborghinis and Aston Martins).
The game is in many ways just as good as I remember it being 12 years ago, and with the 360 version, it's even better. If you're looking to recapture Need for Speed's glory days, the Xbox 360 version of Most Wanted is the way to do it.
*It's worth noting that this game will not work in an Xbox One. No backwards compatibility with NFS titles released on the 360 has been added to the One yet.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: lukiegames

Fantastic. One of the best Need for Speed titles.

For almost every NFS fan… it always comes down to either Underground 2, Most Wanted, or Carbon. Lets start by the graphics, this is one of the biggest graphics jumps in the series, especially on PC cars looked stunning! If you do not wish to play the PC version, then Xbox 360 is easily your best bet, by far superior graphically and smoother than the PS2, Gamecube, and original Xbox versions.

Going into career mode you notice how they use full motion video, which mostly turns out so bad in other games its funny. Somehow Most Wanted made this style look cool again with a great setting and background and not so bad acting!

The story is the best in the series, is it a good story for a movie? No. Its as cliché as it can possibly get. but it’s the way they immerse you into the story with your car getting stolen, the usage of voice mail and text messages while progressing in the career, every time Razor sends you a message calling you “sweetheart” you just want to punch his face that much more…

The gameplay is fantastic, handling feels good, and the sense of speed on the highway is just awesome, shortcuts are everywhere in this game and its fun memorizing them to use them to your advantage. There is one big flaw in the gameplay, drifting, it feels like pulling a wardrobe on a rocky surface, the car just immediately loses all its momentum and control and that’s probably the reason there are no drift races in the game.

Cop chases are easily the most fun in the series, if not the most challenging, you will love dropping giant donuts on the police and running around in circles while the police just constantly crash each other and give you extra bounty.

Challenge mode is very, very hard in the end and has a respectable 68 challenges, career mode is quite long as well, car lineup is awesome and varied, there’s just so much to do in this game and I haven’t got bored of it not even after 14 years, its sad the reboot of this masterpiece was another hypercar riddled Burnout reskin… Most Wanted never deserved that.Read full review

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Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: gamesdf

Amazing game

NFS Most Wanted is unlike other games I’ve played by NFS because it is a free form concept. You can drive just about anywhere and play your own way at your own pace. The graphics are stunning and the gameplay is very challenging. There is no easy, medium, or hard difficulty to choose from so you are forced to learn and improve. I have not yet tried any of the online features and cannot comments on them. Overall this is an excellent edition to our game collection. Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: zmcm15

Awesome!!

I brought this for my son..I normally stay away from used games because you don't know how well its been kept..Awesome game and graphics.. My son is over the moon!! Thank so much

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: buyer-rage

One of the best games for anyone to play.

I have always loved playing racing games and this one is one of my favorites it's very fun challenging and addictive thank you.

Need for Speed MW

This will be the 5th time playing this game. I'm in love with it and wish it would be redone for the Xbox oneX platform.

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: leifolas

they dont make them like this no more

this game is the last of a dying breed. it also has split screen which isnt on racing games much anymore

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: lukiegames

Awesome graphics!!

I had this game for ps2 and the graphics are terrible. The graphics on the Xbox 360 are awesome. I saw on YouTube of the comparison on all the systems that the game came out on and Xbox 360 wins!
<br>I recommend buying this game even if you played back when it first came out in 2005. #noregrets!Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: centralstates

Great game,brings back fun memories.

I love this game,it's so fun and unique. I remember playing this game back in the day when it just came out for my xbox 360 in 2005. Overall great game.

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: castore2