Walking a tightrope between Arcade and simulation. Review on NFS Most Wanted (2012)

You're casually driving along the streets in a shiny new Lamborghini when – gasp – you spot an equally gorgeous Maserati tucked away down an alleyway. What do you have to do to possess that delicious new motor? What mountains do you have to climb, which seas do you have to cross? None, actually. Just pull up alongside it and it's yours for the taking.

Fairhaven, the diverse metropolis that acts as your playground, is a construction of weaves and webs starting from its bustling industrial core and spiraling outwards into wide-open mountain tunnels and stretches of highway. The city design supposedly includes heavy inspiration from the cities of Boston and Pittsburgh. The location features various destructible items that players can destroy in order to obtain Speed Points .The city features many regions as well as a wide range of roads ranging from the grids of Downtown to six-lane highways, the S-turns of mountain roads, the alleyways of the Callahan Industrial area, and nearly everything in between. Exploring every area of this dense, spectacular world warms you with a satisfying way to spend time, from the discovery of luxurious cars dotted across every corner of the map to the constant stream of information about nearby races and your online rivals.

The first thing to catch your eye about Most Wanted is the sheer quality and craftsmanship of the game. It’s been constructed with an extreme attention to detail. You’ll emerge from winding tunnels into blinding light; flecks of dirt and blades of grass will cling to the screen should you choose to go off-road; the warm sunlight skims off rainwater that has pooled on the uneven, cracked tarmac. They’re all little touches but when they all combine the result approaches something quite sublime. And you’ll still be able to appreciate it all blasting down the asphalt at 200 miles per hour.

This is a driving game, so enough about the city, let’s talk about the cars and driving. You're able to drive nearly every one of its 41 vehicles right from the start, from the boring Lancia Delta to the most desirable Aston Martin V12 Vantage. To drive them you don’t have to win races or accumulate points or buy tokens like before; you just have to find them. They are hidden on rooftops or down back alleys; some are hiding in plain sight. The 10 cars driven by the 10 most wanted racers, have to be unlocked for you to drive them. You simply find them all over Fairhaven. They're easily spotted thanks to the illuminated headlights and the manufacturer logos that hover in the air above them; you just pull up to a driveable vehicle, and it's instantly added to your collection. After that, you can warp to its spawn point and get behind the wheel, no matter where you are. The fact that you can and will so easily find yourself with a sizable stable of cars simply by cruising around Fairhaven, without having to do anything to earn some of the game's fastest rides, means that car collecting in Most Wanted lacks the sense of accomplishment so many racing games instill by letting you gradually gain access to better vehicles.

Each car in Need for Speed qualifies for a number of unique Races. To join a Race, follow the waypoints on your map until you reach the starting area, then spin out your tires by braking and accelerating simultaneously. Police may attempt to interfere with races, requiring you to avoid Take Downs while keeping pace with the leaders. There are 3 types of races-Circuit races, sprint races and Speedruns.

Police interference isn’t limited to Ambush events. They’ll get involved in most races, attempting to ram you off the road or into oncoming traffic; dropping stingers right in front of you; or blocking entire intersections. The upside of having cars waiting at set points (called jack spots) across Fairhaven is that if you get the cops on your tail as you're roaming about the city, you can pull up on a car's jack spot and, provided that you've got a bit of distance between you and your police pursuers, hop into the other car, reducing your heat level a bit. Sadly, one of Hot Pursuit's strengths and core attractions, the option to play as the law and dispense justice fashionably in a blue and white Gallardo, has been scrapped for Most Wanted

Despite its inconsistencies and disappointments, there's a lot to like about Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Fairhaven is a lovely and varied city that looks gorgeous no matter how fast or slow you're going. It’s the racing game for people who don’t tend to like racing games. Criterion set out to make an open-world arcade racer where competition is king, and succeeded in pretty much every respect. It’s undoubtedly one of the year’s most exhilarating experiences.