Monday 17 September 2012

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012 racing game)


Need for Speed: Most Wanted is back! With a bang! The original was a classic, and the new one promises to continue that legacy. To be released across Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as the PlayStation Vita, it will be first released on 30th October 2012 in North America. EA also produced the much loved Forza Motorsport 4.





Need for Speed: Most Wanted (commonly abbreviated to as NFS: MW) is an upcoming 2012 racing video game, developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. Announced on 4 June 2012, during EA's E3 press conference, Most Wanted is the nineteenth title in the long-running Need for Speed series and will be released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as the PlayStation Vita, beginning in North America on 30 October 2012. The game will pick up on the Most Wanted IP, as opposed to the Hot Pursuit reboot that Criterion developed previously. 


BMW M3



Gameplay


The player's car is in pursuit by police cars during a racing session.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers to reach a destination. Cops are integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police deploy vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like the original Most Wanted. The single-player section will feature a Blacklist of 10 racers, similar to the single-player section of the original Most Wanted, which featured 15 Blacklist racers. This time, however, the setting is not Rockport with the cop cars being from the "RPD"; instead, it is now set in a place called Fairhaven City with the cops being FCPD.



Most Wanted has been likened to Criterion's Burnout series, and has a large open world. Like Burnout Paradise, races have a start and end point but players can choose their own route to the finish line, a departure from the original Most Wanted, but similar to "crew challenges" from the sequel, Carbon.

Ford Raptor

Ford GT40

The game will use Autolog, the competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series. Autolog in Most Wanted plays a larger role and gives more information to players. Activities in-game allow players to earn Speed Points which can boost players up on the Most Wanted list. Autolog recommendations have now been integrated into the game world, rather than sit externally on the menu system.



Most Wanted features a new social system called Cloudcompete, which strings together Most Wanted across all platforms in an inspired example of cross-compatibility. One profile will be used for all versions of the game, allowing the player to rank up on one format and continue progress on another.
Porche Cayman


Merc SL65 AMG Black Edition

The driving model of the game has been described as "deep, physical and fun", not as arcade-styled as the Burnoutseries and Hot Pursuit, but far from a simulator. Most Wanted has a range of real-world vehicles, a mix of muscle cars, street racers and exotics, described as "the wildest selection of cars yet". The cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades, such as paint colors, wheels, suspensions, engine, nitrous, and bodywork (body kits). All of the game's cars will be open from the start, hidden in different locations.

Development

"We looked through the entire history of Need for Speed, and we came across the game. We really loved the premise of being the 'Most Wanted' amongst your friends, which is a really powerful idea. We really liked that. This game is all about being the Most Wanted among your friends."
—Hamish Young from Criterion Games
In November 2011, it was revealed that Criterion Games was developing another Need for Speed game, according to a job advertisement. According to the job listing, the studio was "looking for talented Cinematic Artists to work on the world’s number one, multi award winning, arcade racing franchise." According to the listing, players should expect "entertaining, compelling in-game cinematic action sequences" from the racer, as well as "intense car action sequences, terrifying jumps, insane crashes and epic car chases." Earlier in the year, another job advert revealed that Criterion was developing a game with "believable, open world AI racing drivers." On 11 January 2012, British retailer Game revealed that EA plans to release Medal of Honor: Warfighter and a new entry in the Need for Speed series later that year, which was shown by EA during a confidential presentation. However, the developer and what direction the racing series takes in 2012 was not revealed. On 23 January 2012, Criterion's creative director, Craig Sullivan, said on Twitter that the Guildford-based studio has "lots to share over the coming months". Sullivan didn't provide any further details, except to say the upcoming announcement/s are "going to be BIG". On 8 April 2012, South African-based online retailer BTGames listed Dead Space 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 for pre-order.

The first promotional image of Most Wanted, posted by the official Need for Speed Facebook page.
On 7 May 2012, EA confirmed that new entries in both the Dead Space and Need for Speed franchises will be on shelves by March 2013. The then unnamed and unannounced Need for Speed game was slated for a Q3 2013 release, which would have been any time between October and Christmas 2012. On 25 May 2012, a booth schedule sent out by TwitchTV revealed that EA is showing off Need for Speed: Most Wanted at E3. While EA previously confirmed that a newNeed for Speed is on the way, this was the first time its title had been confirmed. On 1 June 2012, EA officially confirmed the existence of the Criterion-developed Need for Speed: Most Wanted as part of the publisher's E3 line-up.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted was officially revealed at EA's Media Briefing during E3 2012, with a trailer which showed a police chase involving a street race. The trailer was followed by a live demo of the game on stage by creative director Craig Sullivan. When asked about that Criterion Games would only be focused on Need for Speed, meaning no more Burnout. Sullivan stated "It's more a case of wanting to get Need for Speed back on its feet after last year," referring to the poorly-received Need for Speed: The Run. Producer Matt Webster stated that Most Wanted is "everything we know about open-world driving, just piling it together. All the best stuff about Burnout and everything we did in Hot Pursuit, we're just smashing them together."
On 30 July 2012, it was reported that Most Wanted will include some form of Kinect functionality on Xbox 360. The "Better with Kinect" banner was seen emblazoned on the game's Xbox 360 cover during the game latest gameplay trailer. At gamescom 2012, it was confirmed the game will support Kinect with a range of support-oriented voice commands that allow players to keep watching the road in front of them. Many of the commands will be tied to the game's "easy drive" menus.
Porche 918 Spyder

At gamescom 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced Cross Buy, which offers the Vita version of a game for free to customers who purchase it on PlayStation 3. When asked by IGN about Cross Buy for Most Wanted, an EA spokesperson told "We're taking it under consideration, but we have no specific plans to announce at this time."
The old game -- which I loved, it was the first game I ever played on 360 -- that was of the time, right? That was how games were, they were more offline than online. There was more single-player than say, multiplayer. So with this game, like I said, we’ve tried to shake that up. We’ve built multiplayer first; we have to do it very online. We didn’t want to make a sequel to that, because we can’t make a sequel to somebody else’s game; it’s incredibly hard.
— Alex Ward, Criterion Games' Vice President

Marketing and release

System requirements
MinimumRecommended
Microsoft Windows
Operating systemWindows Vista (SP2) 32-bit (Windows XP is not supported)Windows 7 64-bit (Windows XP and Vista 64-Bit are not supported)
CPU2 GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ or Althon X2 2.7 GHz)Quad-Core CPU
Memory2 GB4 GB
Hard drive space
20 GB of free hard disk space
Graphics hardwareDirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON HD 3870 or higher performance / NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT or higher performance)DirectX 11 compatible with 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 / ATI RADEON HD 6570/6950)
Sound hardware
DirectX compatible
NetworkInternet connection required for activation and multiplayer
Input device(s)keyboard, optional controllerXbox 360 Controller for Windows
In addition to the trailer shown at the official reveal during E3 2012, several other game trailers have been released, each revealing new aspects of the game. An episode of PWND featured new, unseen footage of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and covered information on the single and multiplayer mode of the game, and the latest generation of Autolog, the Autolog 2.0.Some trailers revealed some of the new cars from the game. One trailer revealed the multiplayer aspect of the game One trailer showcased how players will be able to drive any car they find in the open world location of the game.
In addition to the standard edition, a Limited Edition version of the game, will be only available through pre-order at the same price as the regular game. The Limited Edition features numerous bonuses over the standard edition, including "four hours double Speed Points, custom liveries, pre-customized rollouts and two vehicles: the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale." EA has collaborated with several retail outlets on pre-order incentives through several store chains throughout the world. Each retailers will be offering one of three "special edition extra pack", which consists of multiplayer cars with unique modifications that fit different play styles. Which of the "special edition extra pack" the player received depended upon where they pre-order the game. The "special edition extra packs" on offer are the Speed Pack, Strike Pack and Power Pack. Watch the trailers here.

Reception




Porche 911

Most Wanted was well received by critics at E3 2012 and was awarded with "Best Racing Game" as well as a nomination for "Best Online Multiplayer Game" fromGame Critics Awards.

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