Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) — the legendary third-person racing arcade game in the Need for Speed series. The game's action takes place in the fictional city of Rockport, where you are given complete freedom of movement. The main character wins races and climbs up the "Blacklist" of racers to reclaim his BMW M3 GTR, which was deceitfully taken by Razor. In the game, you will see dozens of licensed cars, a huge open city, and the police, which was so lacking in previous games.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a racing arcade game with free city roaming, developed in 2005 by EA Black Box for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and other platforms. The game combines thrilling police chases, various types of races with regular street racers and bosses, high difficulty, long playthrough, and many licensed cars.

According to many players and critics, Most Wanted is the best in the Need for Speed series, thanks to the development of ideas from Underground 2 and the introduction of tense rivalry mechanics between street racers and the police. The game has many fan modifications.

The action of Most Wanted takes place in the fictional city of Rockport, divided into three districts: educational-entertainment, port-industrial, and business center. They are connected by a network of highways. Each district has its own building and street design. Scattered throughout are destructible objects—gas stations, signs, communication stations, scaffolding—whose successful destruction will slow down rivals and wreck police cars.

In Rockport, street racers are not welcome and are fought with six different levels of cars, from regular "Fords" to nitro-charged jeeps and fast Corvette C6s. The police are commanded by Sergeant Cross in a car with a distinctive paint job, improving and coordinating the tactics of all cars. Those who cars cannot catch are tracked and stopped using a helicopter.

In Rockport's street racing scene, the "Blacklist" of the most notorious offenders, who have gained a rating in numerous successful chases with the police, is highly respected.

In Most Wanted, there is no fictional hero; the protagonist is the player themselves, all dialogues are addressed to them and are in the first person. The plot is presented through live-action cutscenes, numerous calls, and SMS. In the prologue, the player arrives in Rockport in their BMW M3 GTR looking for racing rivals and, after some time, meets Razor, who occupies the 15th spot on the "Blacklist."

Razor somehow breaks the player's car and wins the race. Having lost everything and narrowly escaping the police, the player is forced to start their career anew, while Razor quickly climbs the "Blacklist," reaches the top, and turns the notorious traffic offenders into a gang. The player has to not only dethrone Razor but also reclaim their BMW, and they will be helped with advice from girlfriend Mia and old friend Rog. Occasionally, Cross intervenes.

The plot is not groundbreaking, but it is not straightforward either. Towards the end, plot twists begin, and the atmosphere of confrontation between the player, the police, and other racers intensifies.

Один из самых увлекательных режимов Most Wanted получился таковым благодаря целой серии испытаний, которые нужно пройти, чтобы добраться до первого места в «Черном списке». Чтобы вызвать каждого из 15 боссов, сначала нужно выиграть ряд гонок и пари, а также заработать рейтинг в полицейских погонях.

То есть игровой процесс разделен на две части. Одна продолжает традицию Underground, предлагая спринт, гонку на время с чек-поинтами, кольцевой заезд, разгон в дрэг-рейсинге, заезд на выбывание до последнего и гонку с набором скорости по радарам. Другая, новая, фокусируется на противостоянии с полицией, во время которого нужно выполнять задания — разбивать машины, уклонятся от шипов, провести какое-то время в погоне, достигнуть нового статуса погони или уйти от неё за какое-то время.

Когда рейтинга достаточно, можно вызвать босса на поединок. Это отдельное событие с несколькими заездами (от двух до пяти), собранное из гонок и погонь. Игроку нужно выиграть в большинстве заездов.

В настоящее время играть в Most Wanted по сети можно только в LAN-режиме. До четырех игроков могут участвовать в спринте, кольцевом заезде, режимах «Выбывание» и «Истребитель». Официальные серверы игры были закрыты 11 августа 2011 года.