Need for Speed: Most Wanted - A Criterion Joint (Catch-all)

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So everyone is going PC? Excellent if so as were I to get this it would be on PC. When I finish getting my PC setup tweaked I'm done with console racing other than Forza. Can anyone tell me if it supports wheels and has a cockpit view?

LiquidMantis wrote:

So everyone is going PC? Excellent if so as were I to get this it would be on PC. When I finish getting my PC setup tweaked I'm done with console racing other than Forza. Can anyone tell me if it supports wheels and has a cockpit view?

You wouldn't want to use a wheel with this model and no cockpit view.

I've had a chance to play this both on PC and 360 and while I only have the 360 version as a rental right now, I'll be picking up the PC version when the funds avail themselves. This game really is Burnout Paradise 2. While I'm primarily a cockpit player myself, anybody that is making a racing game needs to talk to the Criterion team because I don't think it's possible to improve upon what they've done. It's mostly subtle stuff like the way the camera pitches forward slightly during braking, giving the illusion of time slowing down just long enough for you to nail that drift. Or when you hit the handbrake for a quick 180 and the camera floats for a second over your locked up rear wheels before whooshing behind your car.

Regarding the difference, this game really shows how far ahead the PC is compared to the consoles. The 360 version feels fine, but it's much harder to see upcoming turns and traffic thanks to the muddy ass resolution and poor lighting. Still great fun though, looking forward to beating more of DrJekl's times!

Finally installed on the 360 - man, I dunno. Better than Criterion's Hot Pursuit (reminder: I loathed it), but I need to give it more time to see how it shakes out for me. Just spent about an hour in single player getting familiar with stuff.

Between this and AC3, I really am starting to yearn for the next-gen consoles. Both seem like they could benefit so much from a beefier system.

trueheart78 wrote:

I really am starting to yearn for the next-gen consoles.

Amen, it truly is time.

I dounloaded the android game and even playing that (i'll likely get the ps3 or pc version after i get my tablet on the 13th) i can see that it is a lot like Need for Speed World.
can anyone attest to this? Is it much like that? The mobile game makes me feel that it is. Open world, events you unlock and race as you progress. cars you buy and improve on.

I've played a lot of NFSW and really enjoy it, when you don't have pricks that start the race of by goign in reverse and stalling you at the start. That's been a real peeve of mine.

anyways, i'll wait a bit and see what the general consensus is for platform (seems the PC is winning at the moment) and make a decision then. Too bad, I really like racing with a wheel. Maybe I'll invest in one for my PC.

Thin_J wrote:
Certis wrote:

Come shame me!

Never has so short a phrase made me reconsider a game purchase to such a great degree.

Knocking Certis's times down the list in Hot Pursuit was strangely satisfying.

I've heard the rubber banding in this is especially egregious. Someone on Twitter was complaining about being dropped before the line by an Evoque when they were in a GTR. Is it that bad?

Completely addicted to this game on both the PS3 and the Vita, the only annoying thing is the constant issue with Autolog disconnecting

They did nail the feel of racing but it seems like the game is too easy and they added difficulty in dickish ways. For example, sun blind, smoke screen, cops spawn out of nowhere, soda cans in the road can cause a ten flip rollover but blast through light poles all you want...

Then sometimes the AI can cheat. When I did the first MW race against the alfa 4c, he was kicking my butt, then when I got my hands on it, it didn't perform nearly as well.

And using the dpad for "easydrive"... groan.

I think the race difficulty ratings are about right, at least for me. It seems like winning the "normal" races requires good driving while winning the "hard" races requires great driving plus car mods. And if the AI has to cheat to give me a challenge, that's really fine. I don't recall seeing cars drift in Hot Pursuit or Burnout: Paradise either, even though it was absolutely necessary to manage some corners. I would like to see a longer list of races per car, but that's not a huge thing really.

I really want to buy this. But, being this close to Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 coming out, I know it will be in my best interest to wait for a sale on this one sometime next year once I've had my fill of the other games. Still, I really, really, really want to buy this.

I'm playing this on the PS3. I've been sending out friend requests, so feel free to send me ones as well. What's really great is that even though I've been playing several other things, this game is not rated M (like AC3, Dishonored, XCOm, etc), so it's safe to play in front of the kiddos (especially since they are not of driving age).

The single-player "evade the cops" missions are stumping me, I mean, they're relentless - any advice?

trueheart78 wrote:

The single-player "evade the cops" missions are stumping me, I mean, they're relentless - any advice?

The best advice I can give is to find the closest massive jump, as the police often won't follow you or they'll crash trying to make it. Following the jump, you have 2 priorities: get into cool down, then keep moving, hitting whatever garages that pop up. The cops in the missions seem to be able to zero in on you regardless of where you are, so the 'run & hide' tactic that works in easy drive doesn't seem to apply.

The Ambush events are ridiculously hard. My only tip for those is that when the event starts you usually have a few police cars behind you and possibly a roadblock ahead, so as soon as you get control of the car, do a 180. The cops behind you will blow past and you'll have an immediate chance to lose them. The trick then is staying out of distance for the cooldown to complete, which is something I still haven't been able to accomplish in the 2 minutes required for a gold medal. I think the best shot at that is getting far off road somewhere, but finding a good place in 60 seconds is tough.

The other "evade the cops" event is easier. I think that one's more like a speed run and doesn't have zillions of police spawning all over the place. I can't remember what that event type is called though.

I spent more time with it tonight, don't have the patience for it. It's just not fun. Look me up in the trading thread if you want it, I'll gladly part with it.

trueheart78 wrote:

I spent more time with it tonight, don't have the patience for it. It's just not fun. Look me up in the trading thread if you want it, I'll gladly part with it.

This is where I'm really happy as a Vita owner. This is a side benefit of their portability, to be sure, but I love that I get to try these games out for $35 - $40 and if I don't like them I don't bother with the "big brother" versions.

trueheart78 wrote:

I spent more time with it tonight, don't have the patience for it. It's just not fun. Look me up in the trading thread if you want it, I'll gladly part with it.

Can you actually trade it? Doesn't the key get put into origin?

Bought the 360 version, so yeah, I can trade it

Ah! Yeah, I was thinking PC. Nuts. I probably would have bought it off you if it was PC and it could be traded.

I've been enjoying the hell out of this game on PS3. It's basically a perfect arcade racer for me. I'd like some people on my leaderboards, though - I'm on PS3 and my tag is von_dion

Picked this up on PC.
Origin ID: BeanFuzz

I can't decide how I feel about it. I certainly like it, but there's a lack of character to it. Especially to the city, as I'm not really feeling the different areas as being all that different.

So I have enjoyed this game, but I'm at about 11 hours now and I've beaten all of the Most Wanted cars, I've done about 70% of the courses, found most of the cars and explored most of the world.

That's not a lot of content for a $60 game. It seems like there is a lot more at first because ever car has different races associated with it - what you only realize later is that some of these races repeat, drastically reducing the unique content. The simple driving model doesn't help things, either. Once you've driven on car in a category you've driven them all.

If you're wondering, should I buy this game? I'd say rent it or wait for the price to go down. The exception might be multiplayer, which is fun....but I've put about 4 hours into it and I'm probably done with it. It suffers from the same lack of content as the single-player game.

That's impressive. I've put in 6 hours and I've only shut down 3 most wanted drivers. In my last session I found a new car which I really liked, so I spent time winning races with it to get upgrades, and then upgrading the upgrades. For me, this is the best racing game I've played in the last few years.

Zenistar wrote:

I have this on the ps3 and vita, was so engrossed in a race on the train I very nearly missed my stop :)

Cool - I saw you in my potential friends list, but wasn't sure if you were GWJ. I'll send an invite next time I'm on!

jollyeskimo wrote:

I find it extremely hard to give these guys a pass on making Nitrous an option the Tesla =_=;

Well, it doesn't have any tail-flame effects, so my justification is that it's some kind of overcharged capacitor, that's just called 'Nitrous' for fun.

complexmath wrote:

EasyDrive is impossible to negotiate while driving, since it uses the D-pad. You really have to either stop or hit a straightaway and let go of the gas to have any hope of using it.

I've managed to do it a little. It mostly involves a quick tap, drive a bit more, tap, drive, tap, drive, until I get what I want. I think the way to do it is really just to memorize key codes, like right-right-up-right to equip reinflating tires.

Is anyone using the Kinect features? Yelling "Equip Reinflating Tires!" sounds like it would be much easier to manage, if I didn't feel like a total tool for yelling at the TV.

Aristophan wrote:

That's impressive. I've put in 6 hours and I've only shut down 3 most wanted drivers. In my last session I found a new car which I really liked, so I spent time winning races with it to get upgrades, and then upgrading the upgrades. For me, this is the best racing game I've played in the last few years.

I'm having a lot of fun 'playing' with you, seeing your times in my city. It's really opened up a whole new game.

I ran into the problem, when playing the recent Hot Pursuit, that I was the only one on my friends list who had picked up the game. So every race was "You're at the top of your speedwall!" to which I'd reply "Yeah, great, thanks."

Having a few people in Fairhaven makes things interesting. I'm finding myself repeating races or doubling back to blow by speed cameras, just because I think I can eke out another two or three yards or MPH.