Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a port of the 2012 PlayStation 3 version of the game by Criterion Games for the PlayStation Vita. It is an arcade racer set in an open world. First off, this is an impressive port of the game since it is the whole console version fit into a handheld. No content was cut (except that the DLC wasn’t released for this version) and includes all the online integration. Granted, the graphics had to be taken down quite a notch in order to allow it to run at a respectable frame-rate.
The most noticeable downgrade has to be the headlights of oncoming traffic and taillights, both of which look like pixilated circles in the distance. Once they get closer, the detail shows up. Traffic density is also lower which makes the game easier as you are less likely to hit oncoming traffic (which only serves to take you out of the moment). There is a day / night cycle but disappointingly, the detail of the car models are not up to scratch. It’s hard to appreciate their cool looks when you can’t make out much detail.
In the game’s single player mode you play as a driver in Fairhaven City, where there are ten most wanted cars. You drive a variety of vehicles to gain speed points in order to race against them. Win and then smash their car in order to gain access to the vehicle for your own driving pleasure as well as rise up the ranks. It gives you a clear objective while you play around in the open world.
Cops will pursue you if you hit them or drive too fast. In certain races the cops will also permanently chase you. There are various Heat Levels and the higher the level, the more aggressive they will be. Police cars will smash into you, drop road spikes and organize blockades in order to disable you. The cops can be a bit trigger happy at times and the last thing you want is to drive towards a race and then have to shake off a pursuit, wasting your time. Police chases quickly loses their novelty, they serve to be more of an annoyance towards the end of the game. On the higher Heat Levels, it is near impossible to escape as they pop up right in front of you.
Your car can be damaged, including having all four tires blown. During a race, you can take down other racers and police through a variety of ways. The most common by forcing them to smash onto the side of the road. While satisfying, it doesn’t slow down the other racers that much. Your car is also fragile and when you crash, there is a short unskippable cutscene which allows time for other racers to catch up. Actually, it is guaranteed you will lose your current spot thanks to the absurd rubberbanding. Like police chases, the crashes can be overly sensitive at times and just one nick near the end of a race can cost you your position and go from first to last. There are repair garages scattered around that will give you a fresh coat of paint and repair your car if need be.
You start off with only one car but as you drive again, there will be “jack spots” which is represented by an unattended car. Once you find one, you gain access to the car that was in that spot. The best thing is that you can swap cars at any time. Each car has its own set of races. There are various types of races including laps against other racers, escaping police in the least amount of time and targeting a top average speed for a lap. Coming first or second in each race will unlock much needed mods. These mods will improve the performance of that specific car. They can vary the car’s handling, off-road capability, acceleration, top speed and more. The handling takes a very short time to get used to in the beginning. Before too long, you’ll be drifting and taking turns like a natural.
The open world is big and great to drive through. There are some odd elements such as sharp corners or protruding obstacles. As expected, there are a lot of collectibles including smashing through billboards that advertise various EA developers, smashing gates, and speeding by speed cameras.
Autolog is the menu system, which is situated on the top left corner. It is easy to use with the directional pad. It allows you to retry races immediately, change cars, equip mods and enter into multiplayer. The online multiplayer allows you to race with friends. However, the more addictive element is allowing you to beat their times during races, length of jumps or the speed at which the passed the speed cameras via a leaderboard system. The Vita version has some glitches such as lag when pulling the menu up, clipping through the road and dropping into a bottomless pit, and events not starting correctly. These are minor glitches but from time to time, you may have to close and reopen the game.
Overall, Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the Vita is an excellent game. It is as fun as its console versions. It runs remarkably well and it is impressive that the whole game was packed into here. This is the best racer available on the Vita showcasing the handheld’s potential and it’s a shame that no more was ported.
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