Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) is a legendary racing arcade game with a third-person view in the Need for Speed series. The game takes place in the fictional city of Rockport, where you have complete freedom of movement. The main character wins races and climbs up the "Blacklist" of racers to get back 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 police, which was sorely missed in previous games.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a racing arcade game with free movement around the city, 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 gameplay, 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 intense competition mechanics between street racers and the police. The game has many fan-made modifications.

The action of Most Wanted takes place in the fictional city of Rockport, divided into three districts: entertainment, port-industrial, and business center. They are connected by a network of highways. Each district has its own design of buildings and streets. Destructible objects are scattered everywhere—gas stations, signs, communication stations, construction scaffolding, and their successful destruction will slow down opponents and wreck police cars.

In Rockport, street racers are not liked and are fought against using cars of six different levels, 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 vehicles. Those whom the cars cannot catch are tracked down and stopped with the help of helicopters.

In the street racing community of Rockport, the "Blacklist" of the most notorious offenders, who have gained a rating in numerous successful chases with the police, is held in special regard.

In Most Wanted, there is no invented hero; the protagonist is the player himself, all dialogues are addressed to him and are from the first-person perspective. The story is presented through video clips with live actors, numerous calls, and SMS. In the prologue, the player arrives in Rockport in his BMW M3 GTR in search of opponents for racing and, after a while, meets Razor, who is ranked 15th on the "Blacklist."

The latter somehow breaks the player's car and wins the race. Having lost everything and barely escaping from the police, the player is forced to start his career anew, while Razor quickly rises in the "Blacklist," reaches the top, and turns notorious traffic offenders into a gang. The player will not only have to take Razor down from the top but also reclaim their BMW, with advice from friend Mia and old buddy Rog. Sometimes Cross gets involved.

The plot may not be groundbreaking, but it can't be called straightforward either. As the game progresses, twists begin to unfold, and the atmosphere of the player's confrontation with the police and other racers intensifies.

One of the most exciting modes of Most Wanted is so engaging due to a series of challenges that must be completed to reach the top of the "Blacklist." To challenge each of the 15 bosses, players must first win a series of races and bets, as well as earn a reputation in police chases.

This means that the gameplay is divided into two parts. One continues the Underground tradition, offering sprint races, time trials with checkpoints, circuit races, drag racing, knockout races, and speed trap challenges. The other, new part, focuses on the confrontation with the police, during which players must complete tasks—crash cars, avoid spike strips, spend time in a chase, achieve a new chase status, or escape within a certain time.

When the rating is high enough, players can challenge a boss to a duel. This is a separate event with several races (from two to five), made up of races and chases. The player needs to win most of the races.

Currently, playing Most Wanted online is only possible in LAN mode. Up to four players can participate in sprints, circuit races, "Knockout," and "Eliminator" modes. The official game servers were shut down on August 11, 2011.