Need for Speed Most Wanted [Limited Edition] - Boxed - PS3

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is an open-world racing game that returns to the concept of the 2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted and, following 2010's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, is the second title in the long-running series developed by Criterion Studios. The game is set in the fictional city of Fairhaven, which the player can freely explore by car. It's a busy, urban setting with a city centre surrounded by port areas and industrial parks – a departure from the scenic routes of Need for Speed: The Run the year before. The game focuses on an aggressive racing style in which you weave through traffic at high speed, but retains many simulation elements compared to the more arcade-heavy Burnout series with its takedowns.

Unlike the original game, there is no story. The player simply races to become the Most Wanted on the Speed Wall. The blacklist from the original Most Wanted (renamed the "Most Wanted List") returns with ten rivals to beat in order to get their car. Taking part in races earns SpeedPoints, which can be used to upgrade vehicles through modifications for boosts, gearbox, engine, bodywork (also for breaking through roadblocks), suspension and tyres. They are also collected by hitting obstacles such as billboards (with distance records), speed cameras (also with records), security gates and other obstacles. SpeedPoints lead to a SpeedLevel with over 70 different rankings, based on the number of points collected. Reaching a new SpeedLevel is rewarded with new cars, licence plates, and the unlocking of Most Wanted races. Licence plates are also earned as a kind of "achievement" through various challenges. They allow players to customise a licence plate with a custom 8-character inscription, and each plate has a different design and frame. There are also Knocking Brothers repair shops the car can drive through to be repaired, repainted and have its nitrous refilled. Vehicles can also be earned by finding jack spots. Many locations have parked cars that can be swapped for the current vehicle. Almost all cars are available from the start (as soon as they are found in the city) and come from licensed manufacturers, including muscle cars, sports cars and more exotic prototypes. Car configurations can be saved in profiles, which can be changed in-game (and on Xbox 360 also via Kinect voice recognition) to suit specific situations. Many options can be activated directly while driving without opening a menu, such as entering multiplayer mode, selecting races, or switching vehicles. This system is called EasyDrive mode and is similar to the one in Burnout Paradise.

The three main race types are sprint races, where the goal is to reach a destination first by taking shortcuts and ramming other cars, circuit races with several laps, and speed runs, where a route must be completed at the highest possible speed. Pursuit mode is triggered by ramming or overtaking an FCPD police unit at high speed, either during a race or in normal free-roam play. Each pursuit is rated with a dynamic heat level system from one to six, which determines the number and type of vehicles, roadblocks and tactics used by the police units. To shake them off, you must lose visual contact, shown on the minimap by a large circle. The cooldown must be maintained until the heat level drops to zero. If spotted again, the pursuit continues. Police vehicles can be shaken off or disabled. Ambush is a similar game mode in which the police must be evaded within a set time. Events are limited to five per car to encourage players to explore the entire garage of vehicles. Winning an event always offers two reward tiers – one for second place and one for winning.

Autolog, originally introduced in Hot Pursuit and used in every NFS game since, returns as a social system for comparing save data, progress, achievements and records with friends and other players. Progress is tracked on a Speed Wall, where other players can leave comments. The system can also be used to share photos and is integrated into gameplay rather than being an external menu. This game also introduces CloudCompete as a cross-platform system that lets you transfer data from one platform version to another, for example to import Speed Points.

Multiplayer offers various game modes such as solo and team races with additional rewards and modifications. There is a persistent scoring system and a global leaderboard. The available game modes can cycle randomly to keep things varied. Switching from single-player to multiplayer mode and back is seamless and can happen while driving, without needing to open a menu. The number of simultaneous players is 12 for PC, 8 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and 4 for PS Vita. Apart from the lower number of players in multiplayer mode and a slight downgrade in graphics, the Vita version is identical to the other platforms.