Is the PS3 retro? Possibly not but here goes anyway. 2012’s Need for Speed Most
wanted takes the franchise closer to it’s roots than it’s been for a long time.
Need for Speed games of old gave you some fast cars drive and maybe some police
to outrun, there was mostly no story with an absurd amount of cutscenes getting
in the way back then. Most Wanted is more like those old games. The “story” such
that it is involves you beating the 10 racers on the Most Wanted list. To do
this you’re given access to every car in the game to use in whichever order you
want. The only catch is you have to find them in the open world before you can
drive them. However there is nothing stopping you from just driving around the
world, which is fully unlocked from the start, and finding all 41 cars before
doing your first event after the tutorial. To earn enough points to take on a
Most Wanted racer each car has 5 events to complete. These range from simple
circuit races to escape the police challenges. The events for each car range
from easy to hard with the majority of them giving me no trouble. There are few
that will start to fill you with rage but persistence is key. Races never seem
unfair as such, just the occasional frustratingly difficult ones like the
Speedrun time trial events which usually means having a near perfect run for the
gold time. Even retrying races isn’t a problem because practically every car in
the game is fun to drive. Yes they all handle a bit differently, a hyper car
being more of handful than a pickup truck for example. As for the cars
themselves there is no cosmetic customisation available. As you only use each
car for 5 races it wouldn’t be worth the effort anyway. For completing events
you will unlock performance upgrades including nitros, track and off/road tyres,
stronger chassis and aero packages. Once unlocked these upgrades can be swapped
out on the fly in mid-race. There is no money to be earned in Most Wanted which
means no grinding for those expensive parts or cars. Everything is just there
for you to have fun with. Basically what we have here is Burnout Paradise 2 in a
Need for Speed costume. It was even developed by the same team at Criterion.
There is DLC to expand the game with a new airport to play around on and new
cars but unfortunately the pack is the same £24.99 today as it was in 2012.
Strangely the game still has a healthy online community that is still playing on
PlayStation 3. Which means those pesky multiplayer trophies are still obtainable
and the people still playing seem more than happy to help out. I got all the
multiplayer trophies in 3 hours and that was this month (June 2023). If you’re
bored of the story getting in the way of the fun in modern Need for Speed games
and just want race some fast cars and take out some cops then 2012’s Most Wanted
is definitely worth a look. Reviewed on PlayStation 3. Where to play in 2023
Need for Speed Most Wanted is available on a wide selection of systems. It can
be played on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS Vita and PC and is available both on disc
and digital download on all systems except the Wii U, where since the closure of
the eShop it can only be bought on disc. Depending on your system of choice a
physical copy will cost anywhere from £5 for the Xbox 360 version all the way up
to £20 for a boxed PS Vita cartridge.
You really presented MW 2012 in its finest essence. Can’t argue about that. It’s a 9/10 game for me if I look at it like it’s an NFS game, but a 3/10 if I treat it like a genuine NFS: MW sequel. Perspectives can change a product’s reviews significantly.
Yeah, honestly that’s a great approach. I was seriously hating MW 2012, until I gave it another try without comparing it to any NFS game, and I loved it.
Indeed, Carbon really was the true sequel, although Criterion’s original ambition was much much greater for MW 2012 (E3, leaked stuffs), but EA didn’t bother to add them more time.