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 lacking 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 a multitude of 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.

Most Wanted takes place in the fictional city of Rockport, divided into three districts: the entertainment district, the port-industrial area, and the 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, scaffolding—successfully destroying them 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 SUVs 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 who cannot be caught by cars are tracked down and stopped using helicopters.

In the street racing scene 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 esteem.

In Most Wanted, there is no invented hero; the protagonist is the player himself, and all dialogues are addressed to him and are from the first-person perspective. The plot 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 looking for opponents for races and, after some time, meets Razor, who is in 15th place on the "Blacklist."

Razor somehow damages the player's car and wins the race. After losing everything and barely escaping from the police, the player is forced to start his career over, while Razor quickly rises in the "Blacklist," reaches the top, and turns notorious traffic offenders into a gang. The player must not only take Razor down from the top but also reclaim their BMW, with the help of their friend Mia and old buddy Rog. Sometimes, Cross gets involved.

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

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

This means the gameplay is divided into two parts. One continues the Underground tradition, offering sprint races, time trials with checkpoints, circuit races, drag racing, elimination races until the last one, and speed runs through radar traps. The other, new part, focuses on the confrontation with the police, during which you need to complete tasks — smash cars, avoid spike strips, spend some time in a chase, achieve a new chase status, or escape from it within a certain time.

When the rating is sufficient, you 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 the majority of the races.

Currently, you can only play Most Wanted online in LAN mode. Up to four players can participate in sprints, circuit races, "Elimination," and "Hunter" modes. The official game servers were shut down on August 11, 2011.