Need for Speed Lets You Become the Most Wanted
posted Tuesday Jun 5, 2012 by Nicholas DiMeo
Another EA press event means another Need for Speed game. This time, developer studio Criterion takes a shot at progressing the series from the ground-breaking addition of Autolog found in Hot Pursuit with Need for Speed: Most Wanted. EA says you can now "outdrive your friends, outrace your rivals and take down a city full of cops" in the most intense edition of the game to date.
The focus? Open world action where freedom is everything. No more scripted chases and sequences when trying to outrun the police. Now, you can do it however you want. If your car is of the off-road type, take the car into the mountain-side. Got a Porsche? Head down the interstate and blow past those roadblocks with ease. Drive where ever you want, go anywhere your car takes you, race your friends down the streets or mess with the cops. The choice is yours.
It wouldn't be a complete Need for Speed game without multiplayer, though. We talk about that and a lot more after the break.
For multiplayer, Criterion has taken a whole new direction on how you interact with your friends and enemies. In this world, there's no menus, lobbies or any other restriction that stops you from just playing the game. Pick your vehicle, invite your friends and begin a never-ending list of races. You can help decide what race you play by voting with you car. How? You gain influence points by winning races, taking out rivals and gaining a position on your friends.
Speaking of racing against your friends, Most Wanted takes the amazing Autolog feature and makes it even better. Autolog 2.0 now records absolutely everything you do in the game and then posts the important times, scores and stats to your friends to challenge them to do one better. You can also tell Autolog 2.0 which friends you want to beat and the engine will make custom challenges for those players. You then have all your accomplishments tallied into Speed Points which rank your score against all of your friends' scores. The final goal is to become the Most Wanted player in points and then let Autolog 2.0 rub it in the faces of your foes.
In the races, there's no limit to what you can do. Once the flag drops and the race begins, the choice is up to you on how you want to complete it. Use skill, speed or simply smash your opponents into oblivion. It all depends on your playing style and the car you choose. All the Autolog wants to do is put your friends at the top of the priority list of your playing time.
Lastly, EA introduced Dreamshots. The Dreamshot system is awesome because it lets you take pictures of your scenes in-game and then share them with your friends. Got a great jump with the sunset in the background? Share it. Beat your friends by a whole car length? Send it to them. You did it, show it off!
I'm looking forward to seeing this hit stores in October on the PS3, 360 and PC, with special editions on Vita and iOS.
