Need for Speed Most Wanted Preview

Need for Speed Most Wanted is EA's latest entry in its long-running Need for Speed series. The game aims to marry the cool street vibe from the last two games in the franchise--the first two Need for Speed Underground titles--with the more classic cop-chasing vibe that had been a key part of the series until the recent change in direction. Though we've had the chance to get a hands-on of the game over the past few months, we've been curious to see how the above coupling would turn out. Fortunately, we recently got our hands on work-in-progress versions of the current-gen incarnations of the game and had the opportunity to put the game through its paces, to see if EA managed to pull off the latest evolution of the venerable series.

Quick race events let you climb into awesome rides right off the bat.

The game will feature three main game modes that are pretty much in line with what the franchise has offered before. You'll be able to try your hands at career, challenge series, and quick race. The career mode is the now-standard story-style mode that casts you as a new street racer in the town of Rockport, hankering to make the local "blacklist" a numbered collection of the top 15 street racers in the city. When the game starts, it appears that you're going about your business the right way, by challenging the 15th driver on the list to a race. Unfortunately, he tampers with your car, and you lose. To add insult to injury, the miscreant takes your tricked-out car and challenges the other racers on the blacklist...and makes it to the top position! Meanwhile, you're relegated to obscurity--and stuck with a crappy car, to boot. Your goal is simple: revenge! To get even with your car-stealing, top-ranked nemesis, you'll have to work your way up the blacklist and take on the other 14 drivers before squaring off against your foe and your old set of wheels. As with the previous entries in the NFS series, you'll participate in various race types to work your way up the ladder. The big wrinkle this time out is that besides improving your standing by winning races, you'll have to improve your rep by performing such notorious acts as running away from the police.

The challenge series mode requires you to race your way through 68 challenge events that alternate between pursuit challenges, which require you to avoid hazards such as roadblocks and police, and tollbooth time trials, which simply require you to make it to assorted tollbooth checkpoints to extend your time so you can make it to the end of a race. This may sound straightforward, but the challenge is wicked at later levels; be prepared to work your skills. Finally, the quick race lets you hop in to a randomly generated competition after a few button presses.

In addition to playing the aforementioned game modes, you'll be able to check out the fleet of vehicles you've amassed over the course of the game in the "my cars" mode. Xbox and PC owners will have the additional perk of online multiplayer modes that let you compete against friends online. Though the online modes haven't seen any radical changes and have added some of the Most Wanted-specific race types to the rotation, the development team has worked to make sure the online experience is improved over last year's game. As a result, you can expect to find races faster and more efficiently. You'll also be able to set up private races that will bar players with a high "did not finish" rating, which should help make online games less annoying.

Your high-speed antics will invariably make you a target for local law enforcement.

As far as gameplay goes, NFS Most Wanted lives up to the NFS heritage by offering fast-paced arcade-style racing with some perks. The big addition is the "speedbreaker," a bullet-time effect that lets you slow the action down and better take some of the hairpin turns that will come up on you like lightning during a race. Outside of that new mechanic, you'll find a new set of elements tied to the police presence in the game. As you're racing, you may find yourself in the unfortunate position of being targeted by local law enforcement for your speeding ways. While you could just pull over when you hear the police siren, the game is called "Most Wanted," not " Most Compliant"--so you can plan on trying to lose the fuzz often and with impunity. Not only is this a blast, but it feeds into your rep--so it's all good. The trick to making the most of this new aspect of the NFS experience is managing your "heat" in the game, which is basically affected by the time and effort the police put into nabbing you. Too much heat makes it extremely tough to get anything done; not enough, and you get no respect and can't progress. You'll be able to figure out the right level of heat by keeping a stash of different cars or tweaking your existing vehicle with the now-standard assortment of upgrades seen in the NFS games. If all your cars are hot, you'll just have to hide out for a while and let yourself cool down, tracked via a handy onscreen gauge. If you're ever curious about the specifics of your rep, you can do a bit of computer hacking and have a gander at your rap sheet, which tracks your notoriety.