This reviewer happens to be on the fan side of the Hot Pursuit series personally, and when I heard that EA was making the switch, I was ecstatic…that is until I played it. Don’t get me wrong, the game is far from bad, but it is also far from the caliber and quality we expect from the people who have brought us some of the best racing experiences over the past decade. The mixture of the two games I will have to say is a great idea, but the game itself is where the flaws lie, even on the Xbox 360.

What’s worse for EA is that they had to out do not one, but two racers to get to the top of the “most wanted” list on the Xbox 360, and in this reviewers eyes, they came in third. While the single player experience is very solid, the online play is weak and for any racer who wants a real challenge, i.e. real life opponents, NFS:MW does not cut the mustard.

Visually the game is very attractive with gorgeous lighting, great sense of speed, wonderfully designed car models, and even interestingly designed tracks. I’m not going to lie, when I booted this up and my car was at the starting line with my back end shaking, smoke coming from my tires as I was spinning out of control, and the look of what was ahead impressing me, I was impressed with the look of the game. The problem came when the race started. For some odd reason there is a reoccurring hiccup problem in the game that when compared to the other racers on the 360 becomes even more noticeable. The framerate isn’t the most consistent, and it is almost as if the game is loading the information during the race. Now if this was something that happened seldom, I would not really care too much, but it is very constant, which makes it a distraction more than anything. If you can get past this little distraction, then you will be playing a very pretty game indeed. Alas, EA has succeeded in one thing for the Xbox 360 launch, which is having frame rate issues somewhere in every game that they have launched…congratulations!

Audio is loud, abrasive, and crude…and I love it! Yes, NFS: MW does get kudos for an incredible sounding game. From the accurate engine sounds, to the wreckage you leave behind in your races, to even the insane amount of police chatter and sirens, Most Wanted will have you turning up your speakers, and pissing off your neighbors. I’m sure that EA has selected a nice group of EA Trax stars for this racing title, but honestly, with the handy dandy custom soundtrack option, I no longer care.

Controls in Need for Speed: Most Wanted are very arcade like, but are also very touchy. Cars seem to turn too sharp too quick, and I am not talking just about your heavy ended vehicles either. This forces you to have to anticipate turns sooner than expected, which also means to be very successful, you may need to memorize the track layouts as well. The A.I. is, how can I say this, cheap. Hello rubber-band A.I., I know you well. Yes, folks, the computer opponents here, especially on harder levels, will NOT race like human opponents with errors, lack of track knowledge, etc. Even if you are racing the best game of your life expect it to be a close one, and not because the CPU is good, but because they are programmed not to loose gracefully.

This dirty A.I. makes what is a cool idea in a story mode, become severe bouts in frustration and near controller throwing anger. You will easily find yourself inches from obtaining your next goal, only to have the CPU come out of nowhere to blindside you, nick your tail end, leaving you spinning out to finish a second to his undeserving first. What is worse is the online play is so poor, from the lobby set up to the incredible lag, that you will have a hard time finding racers after a while. No one seems to want to race a few laps, only to be introduced to severe lag or worse, kicked off.

Now with all my complaining, it is obvious that I am not a fan of this game. Why? I guess I expect, need I say demand more from my racers. If Gotham and Ridge Racer did not already exist, I may not have noticed such flaws, but they do and are far superior racing titles that deserves your money more so than NFS:MW. On the other hand, if you are into customizing your vehicle and have the itch to run from the cops, this is the only title you should consider as the other two do not offer anything similar. There is a fan base for this game, and at times, I can see why, but this reviewer is not a fan. If you are going to dangle hopes of the Hot Pursuit series in my face, do me a favor and deliver what made it so wonderful; the speed and the controls. Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes Underground’s control scheme and slaps it into the Hot Pursuit series, which in the end, does not work.