Earn points usable in the full game

Having spent countless hours messing around in the wonderful multiplayer component of Burnout Paradise, I'm totally sold on what the studio brought to the table with Need for Speed Most Wanted. Some of you, on the other hand -- particularly long-time NFS fans -- are ??rightfully skeptical that the game can provide what you want to get from a racing game.

There's now a single-player demo for Most Wanted on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, should you have an interest in finding out for sure. Access to Downtown and Four Bridges will be given, as will the option to drive the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the Porsche 911 Ca??rrera S, the Audi R8 GT Spyder, and the Ford Focus RS500 assuming you can find them all.

If you do end up liking what you play en?ough to grab the full version, up to 50,000 Speed Points earned in the demo can be transferred over.

The post Nee?d for Speed Most Wanted demo up on Xbox Live, PSN appeared first on Destructoid.

A tad less wanted

Need for Speed Most Wanted is quite an anticipated game for many racing fans, heralding a welcome return to Criterion's open-world style, with tons of stylish cars and modes to boot. Naturally, this is an opportunity for EA to pare down the franchise and package for mobile devices in the form of Need for Speed Most Wanted for Android and iOS.

Most Wanted mobile may not be open world (or developed by Criterion), but it delivers a decent bite-sized experience of the co??re game -- wi??th a number of hiccups along the way.

Need for Speed Most Wanted (Android, iOS [reviewed])
Developer: Firemonkeys Studios
Publisher: EA Mobile
Release: October 30, 2012
MSRP: $6.99

No, the mobile version is not open world -- it's entirely menu-based, old-school racing action. I definitely understand the limitations of? the mobile space, but I feel like this of all franchises would have been a great opportunity to sei?ze the open world space on iOS -- even if it was just a snapshot of Fairhaven.

So if it's not an open worl??d, what's the point of the game then? Well, you select races from menus, earn more cars, and become the "Most Wanted" driver in Fairhaven. In other words, your standard racing game experience.

To help satiate people looking for more than just regular ol' racin', Most Wanted races return, and function the same way as in the retail release. Every so often, you'll climb up the ranks and have the opportunity to take on an exotic car: beat it, and you'll earn it. This is essentially the game's "story," as you complete races that ultimately all go towards working your way up the "10 Most Wanted list." The bad news is, you still have to buy tho??se awesome-looking cars once you beat them? (more on that later).

Like many racing games in the mobile space,?? your car's acceleration is automatic.? You do have a lot of control over your vehicle however, as you can brake by holding the left side of the screen, powerslide while holding the right, and activate nitrous boosts by swiping up.

If you're so inclined, you can use gyroscope controls, but thankfully, a virtual touch wheel is an option. Touch controls feel pretty finicky at first, but once you adjust the sensitivity to your liking, it feels pretty spot on. Speaking of controls, overall, Most Wanted mobile feels great for a racing game, an??d I can't really complain in that department?.

Visually, it's impressive (even on my iPhone 4), and in my experience, there aren't really any mechanical issues/glitches to report. Firemonkeys Studios even succeeds in porting over what sounds like most of the sou??ndtrack from the core game as well, which goes great with the enhanced visuals, giving off the allure of more than just a mobile title. The Autolog social features (which are done through Origin) are inoffensive, and gently nudge you with things like leaderboards and SP (Speed Points, which are essentially XP) comparisons to give you a little incentive to keep playing.

But the presentation isn't the problem: the main issues are with a nu?mber of design choices that poke holes in the fun you'd otherwise have with it. For one, the game features the same annoying, kill-crazy cops from the console version. These cops don't have anything to live for: no wives/husbands, no dog, no prospects, and they've hit rock bottom. They'll kill you on sight or die trying.

As you can imagine, this makes for a pretty uncomfortable experience; they can just pop up without warning on nearly any race. Then you add in the fact that if you're wrecked once, you lose the entire race, which is no fun for anyone -- especially if you've held a lead for the entire stage and just happen to make one mist?ake.

Also, the intricate upgrade system found in the core game is missing here, making cars feel more like a commodity than a treasured acqui??sition -- and that's probably the end goal for EA Mobile, as they?? shuffle you into the microtransaction system.

Sadly, a lot of content is hidden behind a paywall, which force?s you to grind through races you may not enjoy just to procure the in-game funds ??to continue -- of course, not before the game presents the lovely option for in-app purchasing.

On top of EA's usual micro-pay tactics, you need Speed Points to even have the opportunity to purchase cars; then you need to spend in-game cash to acquire them. This backwards system is a staunch contrast to Most Wanted on consoles,?? where you can simply fin??d cars lying around in the world and own them for good.

It's unfortunate that on top of a $6.99 base asking price, there would be an effort to paywall people like this, especially when coupled with the fact that the game itself is actually pretty good.

If you can fight through the lack of variety and questionable design decisions, Most Wanted mobile is decent little companion to the full retail release. It might not be the best racing game on the mobile market, but if you're hurting for virtual driving on the go, you should think about?? picking it up??.

The post Review: Need for Speed Most Wanted (iOS/Android) appeared first on Destructoid.

Need for Speed Most Wanted

Go ahead. Ram me off the road. It's co?ol. I'm not mad. I realize that it's part of the experience and fair game. We're good, man.

But don't get mad if you find that I've intentionally given up placement in the next challenge to screw you over. Don't be mad if I'm sitting in hiding at the apex of the next turn, finger on the gas trigger, waiting to jump out and T-bone you i??nto a wall to take you out. Don't be mad if I follow you around in every race, trying to bash you into other cars. I'm going to be everywhere you are, at all times. Watch your back.

Me? Oh, I'm not mad. Really.

Need for Speed Most Wanted (Xbox 360 [reviewed], PlayStation 3, PC, PlayStation Vita)
Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release: October 30, 2012 (North America) / November 2, 2012 (Europe)

If you couldn't tell, I'm really into the multiplayer side of Need for Speed Most Wanted. I'm out for blood most times, especially if you've?? wronged me. The single-player side of the game has you taking down ten of Fairhaven's baddest drivers -- the Most Wanted -- to become one yourself. But in multiplayer, they're out and your friends are in, making for a much more enticing experience. With every pedal to the floor, everyone speeds to be the first in a shuffled mix of events where the rules are uncommonly loose and winning takes multiple forms. 

You'll race, speed through checkpoints, jump off ramps, and more to earn the most Speed Points in multiplayer. Free racing (and crashing) around the city takes place between events that pop up in a random playlist. When the next event comes up, all of up to 8 players are notified of a meet-up point, and all can race to this point for bonus Speed Points. When everyone arrives and is ready, the game counts down to an event, and as it begins, event objectives are given on a ticker. Until this point, no one has any idea of what objective will come up next, which gives Most Wanted's multiplayer a sort of free-for-all feelin?g. ?;

Most of the events in the playlist are standard races where everyone will speed through checkpoints scattered over Fairhaven to be the first to cross the final checkpoint. The city is packed wi?th sharp turns, perilous intersections, live traffic, jumping ramps, and countless obstacles, all working together to make races more gratifying than what you might find in a sim racer.  Similarly, team races have all players divided up into two teams, with the win going to the team that has the highest number of points, based on placement. In both standard and team races, being an asshole pays off. More on that later.

Other events have you crossing a set point t?o pull in the top recorded speed or jumping off ramps to earn the most air time before the clock runs down. Drifting, takedowns and other challenges will also pop up in the playlists. One of the craziest ones has all cars fighting to find out how to get to a single point in the city, and then staying there for as long as possible until a clock runs down, with the top time on the clock taking first prize. Most of these locations are far above street level, requiring players to figure out how to get from street level, with many requiring the use of ramps and high speed starts. Things become more interesting when multiple cars try to camp the same point. In the best matches, lots of pushing and crashing ?takes place.

The player with the most points at the end of the playlist is the technical winner, but what makes Most Wanted so great is that the multiplayer experience is stuffed with opportunities for small, unofficial victories. Sure, you may not have technically won the most Speed Points, but a particularly good lap o?r a brutal takedown may feel even better than taking first?????????????????????????? place. In multiplayer, everything from tight passing to taking a corner feels rewarding; even driving haphazardly and way too fast has its moments. Even last place had a good time here.

One of the key things that makes multiplayer in Most Wanted so engaging is that your cars are fully disposable and instantly replenishable. Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris and other cars that would normally be considered priceless can be found all over the city and can be immediately claimed with the press of a button. No money, credits, or ranking are required so even the most expensive car in this game costs nothing. And with the crash-y gameplay of Most Wanted, they're made junkers regularly, but they can be instantly repaired to brand new by driving the battered piece of junk through Fair??haven's gas stations. Takedowns, which happen when your car is completely wrecked by another? player's collision, carry little penalty as cars respawn immediately after the crash animation. They may be beat up or missing wheels, but you can still make it to the next gas station. Or at least go kamikaze and crash someone else off the road.

With just about every car being the fastest and most powerful thing on the road, and all of them being free and instantly replenishable, it's like Criterion is encouraging you to be an asshole. That's the true magic of Most Wanted. 'Nice guys finish last' has never been more true. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that even the best driver won't stand a chance against your typical asshole. Perfect racing lines and exact cornering mean nothing when you're slammed directly into the concrete of an on-ramp. And really, the steering and cornering in Most Wanted isn't that great anyway, so you're better served learning how to best take others down. You'll have the best time in multiplayer by not worrying too much about your driving precision, instead spending more time making sure that you've done ever??ything else possible to be the first across that finish line. Anything goes. It's like the biggest, flashiest, messiest game of bumper cars ever.

For as fun as multiplayer is, it's not perfect. I touched on the steering and cornering control earlier, which sometimes feels iffy and slow -- the total opposite of the tight and precise feeling you'd expect in a race??r. The control is forgivable for arcade style racing, but may be a little bit too loose and wiggly even for that standard. Beyond this, there isn't much of a difference between the feeling of any of the wide variety of cars, other than limits on speed and cornering.  Bigger cars may be able to take more damage, and faster cars may be able to lock in better times on speed traps, but for the most part they're all re??ally similar. You're going to find a car you like and stick with it because it doesn't really matter that much. 

Most Wanted's HUD, in both multiplayer and single-player, is lousy, and often obnoxious. Placement indicators are crammed in the very upper-left and right-hand corners of the screen, forcing players to take their eyes off the race completely. I can't tell you how many times I've crashed trying to check my ranking mid-race. The game's ticker, placed at the bottom of the screen, is so small and far away from the action that racers that look at it are at a disadvant??age. In contrast, notices of points earned, placement and other messages are displayed in the dead center of the screen, blocking the action. They stay on the screen for far too long, too. 

The game's map is the worst of all. It's ?small, terribly placed, and frequently disorienting. The placement of your car on this map is so close to the top of its display that it barely serves the player anyway. In going at any respectable speed, there's a high?? chance you'll pass your next turn before you see it on the map. How can you tell what road you're headed toward when the map doesn't show it yet? I've lost count of how many times it sent me into oncoming traffic. If the in-game GPS were a real-world unit, any driver would have thrown it out the window on the first day of use. 

I've focused on the multiplayer side of Most Wanted in this review because I believe that most players will spend the majority of their time playing this mode. Let's be clear: the multiplayer in Most Wanted is so outrageously fun that I'd recommend this even without a single-play??er mode. 

While there's no real storyline in the single player game, there's at least something of a path toward completion with the ten Most Wanted racers, which you'll take on each of eventually as you work your way up in Speed Point count. The game initially drops you in a Porsche and lets you drive around and take on?? challenges at your leisure to earn points. 

The city of Fairhaven is a huge sandbox full of varied raceways and challenges that you're free to tackle at your own pace. The game's EasyDrive menu, mapped to the controller's directional buttons??, makes the world a bit easier to navigate through instant access to any acquired cars, available modifications, and available races and challenges. All of this is accessible at any time, even during races. ?;

The top item in the EasyDrive menu connects to a player's Autolog. This system, which debuted in Hot Pursuit, automatically tracks and compares top race times, ?progression and other achievements against all connected friends. Autolog alerts are announced when records are broken. This event becomes a selectable challenge, which can be acted upon through EasyDrive at any time. Ac?cepting and beating one of these grants Speed Points. 

As you drive in these challenges and free exploration, you'll find other cars that you can jump into, opening up even more car-specif??ic challenges. After a certain point, you'll reach a Speed Point threshold that unlocks a race against one of the Most Wanted drivers. Beating them lets you take their car as your own and beating each of the car's specific challenges lets you upgrade it with perks, like reinforced bodies, better tires, nitro, and more. When you reach the next Speed Point mark, a new Most Wanted race opens up. Beat all te??n and you become the Most Wanted yourself.

The problem ?with these Most Wanted races is that they are so scripted that having to run through a race a second time is disappointing, as you start to see how it all lays out. Even some of the standard races feel scripted sometimes. Traffic seems to pop up in the same places, as do takedowns and police pursuits. In multi-car races, oppone?nts seem to catch up to you or cut you off at about the same place. Beyond the first playthrough of these races, nothing feels very organic or believable which makes crashing and wiping out even more frustrating. 

At first, the wreck replays are fun, but the fun quickly stops. These animations show your car crushing and tumbling in slow motion, like in an action movie. The problem is that they're a bit too long and you're not abl??e to skip them. Even in the heat of a key race, you'll have to watch your car slowly tumble around while you know other cars are zooming by. Players have no indication of their placement until this mandatory animation completes.  Imagine coming out of an accidental crash, disoriented, and then finally finding your place and ranking, only to be pushed back into another crash animation. It's absolutely maddening. I can't tell you how many times I swore off playing this game any further after watching one too many consecutive crash an?imations. 

These races are challenging enough on their own but adding police pursuits to the mix jacks the challenge to an even higher level. Of course, if yo??u're speeding, Fairhaven's finest will want to pull you over. Bump into one during the heat of a race and they're immediately on your tail. It's possible to break away from police pursuit by driving really fast, or by hiding, but it rarely works out that way. 

There are six heat levels that the game steps through if you can't break away, ranging from a mild one car chase to full-force coordinated ram fest, complete with roadblocks, SWAT vehicles a??nd tire-busting strips. Get caught (or wrecked) and become ??Busted. But, if you manage to break away from a level six heat, you'll earn massive SP rewards. These police pursuits walk the line between fun and frustrating. Getting away from a chase feels great, but being busted after 30 minutes or more of high-pressure driving and dodging really wears on you.

There are a few technical issues that won't break the game, but do mar the experience a bit. I found the Xbox 360 version's framerate to be lacking in spots and quite stuttery in other??s. Cutscenes have issues with smoothness with even the opening movie showing jumps and pauses. Hiccups happen during transitions in and out of races, too. The PS3 version is a bit more smooth as far as framerate goes, but I encountered a few game-stopping crashes instead. Both versions won't let you shut off controller rumble and have issues with music settings; if you shut the music off, it will still randomly pop up in places. 

Even with all of the smaller issues I've listed for Most Wanted, it's hard to stay mad at it.  I like how the game constantly reminds you that you're becoming too serious. I found that I would check ?myself during one of the game's crazy cutscenes or race introductions. One has a pyramid of a dozen or so cop cars stacked, rolling at you in unison, lights and sirens on. They somehow turn into a rotating tornado of cars before the pursuit starts. It's as if they're saying that realism and structure were never a consideration. I like that.

It's the same situation with the multiplayer side of the game. The aforementioned issues and lack of any kind of regulations on starting a race makes for events that never really feel like they have structure; you're just part of a rowdy free-for-all. But when you embrace that and stop getting hung up on the details, you really start having fun. Most Wanted encou?rages you to cut corners, to be a cheater, and to bring out your inner road rage. You're missing the point if you don't realize this.

Fans of Criterion's previous games were clear in what they wanted, and in turn, Criterion themselves were clear in what they were making. There are some scrapes with single-player and a lack of polish here and there, but the multiplayer delivers in such a big way that all of this hardly matters. Need for Speed Most Wanted is that big, crazy, crash-y open-world racer?? you've been asking f??or. 

The post Review: Need for Speed Most Wanted appeared first on Destructoid.

I AM ELECTRIC! I AM ELECTRIC!

I've been playing Need for Speed Most Wanted for quite awhile now, in both preview form and now with final code for our upcoming review. The Embargo Gods prevent me from saying much before then, but I'll sneak this out: it's f*cking fun. 

Even though I've been playing for some time now, I didn't hear the song in the above trailer until a couple of days ago. I blamed the song's chorus for losing a race yesterday. But now I can't ??get it out of my head. I drove to the supermarket screaming it with my windows rolled down. I yelled "I AM ELECTRIC" directly into the faces of my dogs after waki??ng up this morning. It's come to the point where I truly believe that I am electric.

?An??d yes, you can actually roll on two wheels after a jump, as shown in the trailer.

The post Need For Speed Most Wanted launch trailer is elec??tric appeared first on Destructoid.

I want all of these cars

They've done a really nice job with this live-action Need for Speed Most Wanted television commercial. It really captures the feeling of the game with its high-flying middle finger. You'll see what I mean. There's some incredible driving here, too. And I'd love to hear what the total value of all the cars in this commercial comes out to. Probably bazillions. 

I'm currently playing Most Wanted for our official review. I can't wait to run some of you of??f the road.

The post Nice: L?ive-action Need for Speed Most Wanted commercial appeared first on Destructoid.

Be still, my heart!

Speaking to The Guardian, Need for Speed Most Wanted creative director Craig Sullivan divulged what many of us were hoping: "There's still a lot of stuff we want to do with driving. We will make another Burnout game at some point," he says of Criterion.

"Obviously, as we're working on NFS we're thinking of really good ideas that aren't right for this series; there are ideas that we're going to explore with Burnout. And we wouldn't be making NFS or Burnout games if we didn't think the driving genre had a long shelf l??ife and that we could push the boundaries."

But it wouldn't be a discussion about Criterion's future without the mention of a certain motorcycle game. "When we did Burnout Paradise we did some motorbike DLC and now everyone thinks that we're going to do Road Rash at some point," explained Sullivan. "I had a lot of fun playing that game, we think bikes are fun. We might make a Road Rash game…. But then we might make a game without vehicles in it. I mean, we made Black, I was the lead designer -- we might make a game about blowing the cra?p out of each other!"

Sullivan then continued: "but Road Rash seems like a good fit for Criterion..." Oh, you. There's also an explanation -- a long one, at that -- for why there isn't traditional vehicle progression in Most Wanted. Worth reading, if you aren't feeling the open-access ?approach Criterion is t??aking.

Criterio?n, Most Want??ed and the art of racing game design [The Guardian]

The post Burnout and possibly Road Rash are in Criterion’s future appeared first on Destructoid.

Vroom vroom

Look, I could give you a rundown of everything that's said in this new Need for Speed Most Wanted trailer. Or, you know, you can just watch it. You really should watch it, as it shows off just how awesome and frantic ??the multiplayer is looking.

And if this video is not enough, then you should go check out our latest giant preview on Most Wanted by Dale North. He's the biggest car gu?y on staff so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to the vroom vroom machines.

The post Here’s some sweet NFS Most Wanted multiplayer footage appeared first on Destructoid.

It's what you Wanted

Criterion says that they pulled some of the best bits from several of their racing creations to make their latest, Need for Speed Most Wanted. They also gath?ered inspiration from the classic franchise title of the same name. Put all together, they've made one crazy open-world racer.

I spent a good amount of time with both the single-player and multiplayer sides of Most Wanted at a press???? event last week, where plenty of crashing, bashing, passing, and cussing took place. I'm sure it looked like I was having a bad time with how animated I became, but good racing games bring out my road rage. I tried to assure others there that my screaming meant I was having fun. 

Need for Speed Most Wanted (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, PlayStation Vita)
Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release: October 30, 2012 (North America) / November 2, 2012 (Europe)

The fictional city? of Fairhaven takes all of Criterion's favorite American cities and mashes them up into one big locale, so you'll feel like you're in San Francisco one moment, and in New York the next. It's ??quite large, and pretty varied as far as backdrops and set pieces are concerned, but it's a city that you quickly get a feel for, which comes in handy when you're up against several other batshit crazy drivers in a multiplayer match. Criterion did a great job with the city, packing it full of obstacles, ramps, tricky turns and satisfying straightaways to go nuts on. 

This big racing sandbox is completely open to exploration in the game's single-player mode, and is structured so that you can jump into a race or challenge at any time. A tap on the d-pad lets you operate a quick menu that has several challenges to pick from. Choose one and you're given a waypoint to drive t??oward to start the next race.  

You'll want to keep your eyes peeled during your drive, as the parked cars of Most Wanted are free for the taking. Instead of racing to earn or unlock new vehicles, anything you find is yours to drive and add to your collection. By simply pulling up next to one and pressing a button, you'll transfer cars in?stantly. With this new ride comes a brand new set of races to choose from, tailored specifically to the vehicle type. And that's basically how it works -- drive, find something new, race, earn experience, upgrade your car, repeat. It's a rules-free automotive playhouse to get lost in, and there's really nothing in the way of a? storyline or ending, save for the Most Wanted racers.

The Most Wanted is the name given to the group of ten elite drivers and their cars. These are special races centered around high-end cars that you'll have to take on in a head-to-head race to move up the ranks. Defeating the car/driver lets you add that vehicle to your garage as well as opens the ?door to being able to take on the next highest-ranked Most Wanted.

These rac?es are the type where the AI is tweaked so that they're just a little bit faster than you. They always know the road better, corner better, and accelerate faster. And they get progressively more annoying as you work up the ranks. I found that the game's many standard races and challenges were much more fun, as they seemed ??more natural and less scripted. Of course, you're free to skip over these Most Wanted events and continue exploring and racing at your leisure, but if you've already initiated a match with one of them, you'll randomly see them spawn nearby, zip past, and taunt you back into a race. 

You are also 'wanted'...by the cops. Speeding about town is going to catch the attention of Fairhaven's finest, which will have them trailing you around town to pull you over. At their least aggressive, they'll tail you with a single car, and you'll probably be able to evade them by speeding off or pulling over. But at the higher levels of "heat," you'll find that dozens of cars ?are out to smash you to pieces, driving at you with full ramming intent. When the tire strips come out, you know you're screwed.

In one session, I spent more than 25 minutes trying to get away from th??e fuzz, with the pressure escalating to a point where my heart rate had increased not??iceably. I was actually sweating! The cops are overbearing, and you'll want to punch your television when you get busted, but breaking away feels like a victory. Working your way out of a high-level heat is exhilarating.  

Thankfully, Need for Speed Most Wanted's multiplayer is free of pesky AI challengers. Instead, rage at real people as they circle around you, slingshot by you, and plow into you. It's a crazy free-for-all that is so much fun, I still can't stop thinking about it. In fact, after one full day of multiplayer sessions at this press event, I dreamed that night of racing, ramping, and wrecking. For those who played Burnout Paradise and were hoping for more of this kind of madness, I can confirm that you're going to love Most Wanted. 

The racing action lies firmly in the arcade-y camp, with going fast being your only real priority. While you're out there with friends, you're best off never slowing down, or you'll be left behind. Feel free to bulldoze lamp posts, signage, and even other racers and pedestrians -- no one will fault yo??u for it. See a friend? T-bone him in half -- and get points! Everything about how the multiplayer is built encourages you to be a fast-driving, car-clipping asshole, and t??hat's what makes it great. 

Our multiplayer session had the game randomly throwing out race challenges somewhere in the city at irregular intervals, breaking up?? free-cruising bouts. From the moment that the waypoint is set, all players race to that point to meet and begin the next event, with the first one there earning bonus points. The large, clear waypoints are nice, as they're easily visible in the sky ??above the city, but the on-screen mini map is practically useless for navigating the city, so you shouldn't take it too hard if you end up being last to the meeting point. 

From that meeting point, anything can happen. You could all be thrown into a point-to-point race, or a top-speed competition. I re?ally enjoyed the ramp/jump contests, which had us driving to areas where you could use the landscape to figure out how to jump over bridges and other obstacles. These are also party games that have less to do with racing and more to do with being a crazy stunt driver in a really expensive car. 

But for as much fun as Multiplayer is, I couldn't shake that matches never felt fully competitive. Maybe that was because no one was ever on a level playing field with all ??the different vehicle types available. And with matches starting spontaneously, vehicles at the starting point may not?? even be facing the same direction. Cars that happen to be pointed in the right direction -- or ones that are closer to the waypoint -- had a head start.  

I think the lack of an official starting line is a good thing. When you're really just out to drive like a maniac with your friends, it seems silly to nitpick over small details like this. Leave the details to the racing sims. Need for Speed Most Wanted is best enjoyed in the way you would a Mario Kart match; it's sufficie???ntly competitive, but in a very relaxed way. 

Again, if you wanted an arcade racer along the lines of Burnout Paradise, this is it. Criterion has focused on pure fun for this open-world driving sandbox, ditching simulations??, realism, and even story lines. The single-player mode is enjoyable, but multiplayer is where it's at.

The post Preview: Need for Speed Most Wanted appeared first on Destructoid.

The headline says it all, but allow me to reiterate because there's little else for me to do: Electronic Arts has sent out the first official screenshot of Need for Speed Most Wanted?. It's being developed by the beloved Criterio??n Games. Are you not entertained?

Naturally, there will be more to go off next week during E3; EA's conference is scheduled for 1:00pm Pacific on Monday. It's a little sad to admit this so soon, but I'm pretty much on board with the game already and I say that as someone who doesn't particularly care about Need for Speed as a brand one way or the other.

The post Our first look at Criterion’s Need for Speed Most Wanted appeared first on Destructoid.