The Avatar
22-04-2006, 10:09 PM
Developed by: Electronic Arts (http://www.square-enix-usa.com)
Reference Site: Nintendo NFS Page (http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=a8c43b1b-4462-4f67-becb-f087d09444db&)
Genre: Racing
Memory Blocks: 9
Players: 1 to 2
Release Date: Nov 15, 2005
My history with the Need For Speed series has been a rocky one at best. Though I loved the original, and the Hot Pursuit series, the Underground series has left me feeling jaded and ripped off, much like a hooker getting done for solicitation right after giving the undercover cop a blowjob.
The latest effort from EA titled Most Wanted seems to take off where Hot Pursuit 2 left off, with a touch of the Underground's series customisation on it. A story line has been added that you can play through, and it is the usual fare. A street racer looking to get into the action gets cheated and loses his car. Queue in hot female actor to save guys reputation and give him a chance. Blah, blah, blah, get to the racing already.
You start the game off with a BMW that is fully "tricked out". I've been told it's the best car in the game, but you lose it straight away. Basically, you not must climb the ranking ladder to earn back your car from the dick that stole it off you.
GRAPHICS Score:92%
The graphics are good on the GameCube. Don't get me wrong though, they are nothing fantastic. Due to the quick conversion effort, EA most certainly do not utilise the graphic capabilities of the GameCube. UnderGround 2 looks better and more realistic on medium graphic settings on my PC (yeah, yeah, I know, I can ONLY run it on medium cause my computer is crap, happy now?).
Still, I have never advocated that graphics are the only thing that makes up a game. The cars all look good, and the world around it also looks realistic enough. At high speeds, you get no motion blur, which is great, as I absolutely hate that stupid effect. But, the developers have really under utilised the GameCubes capabilities for this game. I can only assume it's because of time being the main constraint in any conversion process.
[b]SOUND/MUSIC Score:58%
Ooooh, I can hear you screaming at the screen now, "How the hell can you justify such a low score for the sound and music, you bastard?!" Well, just shut up for a second and let me explain. It actually gets only 9% for the music in the game, and another 50% for the sound effects. Stay with me here, as the reason music got such a long score will take another paragraph to explain.
Now, I admit, I am very biased in this regard. Ever since I played RollCage on PS1, I've had a very high standard of musical expectation in the games I purchase. RollCage had the best racing theme I have ever experienced. Ever. Full Stop. The End. NFS: Most Wanted has a few okay tracks. Nothing more. Heavy metal makes me grind my teeth. It is not driving music, it is noise. Bad noise, like a dentist drill. My dentist is an utter sadist. He put heavy metal music on once, while drilling my tooth. He laughed as I sat there and cried. Why? Because he is a bastard.
So, Not only were the majority of the musical track heavy metal crap, the selection of music was woeful. There was only one song by the Prodigy, and it had been cut to shreds, so it only lasts for a minute. What the hell? Where is FatBoy Slim? Where is Gomez? Where are the good bands? Where are the good driving songs? Half the time I crashed has been because of the freaking shitty music making me wince. Assholes.
Let's just disregard the music for a second. The saving grace of this game lies in the police chatter. You have an onboard police band and it informs you about upcoming roadblocks and even what the cops are about to do. This is ONLY reason that the sound/music score hasn't gone into negative numbers. Honestly, I'm actually really pissed that EA could smear this game by skimping on the music budget.
MULTIPLAYER Score:88%
Meh. And you can quote me on that one.
(RE)PLAYABILITY Score:97%
Picking this game up is easy as hell. After only five minutes of play, I was going great. The learning curve is really gentle, and each type of race has a description movie that gives you a heads up on what's going on.
The inclusion of multiplayer racing also helps to extend the life of this little pearl. And let's not forget the mute button. Once you get rid of the woeful music, the game really begins to pick up!
CONTROLS Score:93%
Controlling your racer is easy as pie in this game. I always use an automatic transmission because I'm a lazy gamer, and in NFS: Most Wanted, the computer shifts gears very well. The only problem I encountered with gear shifting was in Drag racing mode, but that is because you must use manual transmission for some bizarre reason. Weirdos.
Hammering against the cops can also be fun, but once they trap you, that's it. You cannot escape when cops surround you, even if you try to boost your way out of danger. This really pisses me off because sometimes, you stuff up, at they are all over you like flies on a dogs butt. There should be a way to get out of cop jams, maybe by throwing fire crackers out the window or something.
ATMOSPHERE Score:100%
Beside the music, the atmosphere in the game is intense. There are a few gimmicks that EA use to keep you in the mood for the game. The first one is "Bullet Time". For those who have no idea what "Bullet Time" is, it's a slow down effect of time, like in the matrix, where time is so slow that you can now see bullets moving through the air. EA give you a few seconds of bullet time that recharges once used, to make minute adjustments to your path to avoid cops or hit "Pursuit Breakers".
This brings me to the next item, "Pursuit Breakers". Though they don't always work, NFS: Most Wanted gives you obstacles that you can hit. These obstacles will sometimes stop the cops dead, so they can deal with the accident you have just caused. Regardless of whether they stop or not, the effects are pretty fun to watch. Nothing is more satisfying then knocking over a water tower and watching the cops hit it!
And finally, let me touch upon the idiot upgrade system. This tended to ruin the cars and even intruded into the campaign section because of the imbalance. Now, I don't care how low to the ground your little GOLF hatchback is, or how much NOS it packs, it will never be able to out perform a Dodge Viper. Never. Except in NFS: Hot Pursuit. Prepare yourself for the reality of unlocking a new car, purchasing it, and then not being able to upgrade it because you need to unlock more upgrades. Now you're stuck with an expensive car that looks great, but gets killed by shitty little cars that can be upgraded all the way. Hissssss!
[b]ScreenShots
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_01_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17664&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_02_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17665&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_03_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17666&c=209)
Screenshots are not from the GameCube version. Trust me, it doesn't look that good!
PROBLEMS
Ooooh, besides music? Hehe, don't worry, there are a few things to annoy you in this game. Firstly, it suffers from the staple GameCube idiot programmer problem. When your memory card hasn't got enough room to save a game when you boot up, the game tells you and asks you if you want to continue without saving. It does this even if you already have a NFS: Most Wanted savegame sitting on the card. So, each time you boot up, you get asked the same stupid question over and over again. I ask you, how hard is it to put in a simple savegame check? Shit, I could do one right now:
Boot up.
Check for savegame.
If "No" then check for savegame space.
If "No" then say idiot message.
How hard was that? Apparently, too freaking hard for the morons working for EA.
There is another problem that I touched on a little in the Controls section. It was about stuffing up and getting reamed by the cops. Now, I didn't elaborate on the stuffing up part, but sometimes, its not the players fault if they stop dead for no reason. This is an error in the game, and a bloody awful one if you encounter it. Sometimes, when you're on the edge of the track, and your car is scraping against the side of something, you can hit something invisible and come to a complete stop. This little bug is frustrating as all hell because it usually means one of two things. One, the cops now own your ass. And two, you have just lost the race. Its random and it weirds me out kinda like a french kiss from my aunty. It just shouldn't happen.
OVERALL Score:94%
Despite the woeful music, I still give this game a 94%. It's a killer racing game that keeps on delivering with the cops thrown in for extra fun. The unlocking feature can annoy you, but its easy to get rid of it, and for the few cars you still cannot unlock, the game actually tells you what you need to do to unlock it.
Don't expect to have any drift racing in NFS: Most Wanted, as they have cut that from the game. This made me sad, as drift racing, though full of shit, was very fun to play. They should have kept the Drift racing and eliminated the craptacular Drag races. Drag racing shits me as I always manage to hit traffic, and can only win once I memorised exactly what traffic is coming up and which direction its coming in.
I also miss the unlocking feature they used in Hot Pursuit 2. Everything cost money to unlock. You made money by racing. It was that simple. If you wanted a specific car, you could just save up for in and a couple of races down the track, it was yours. Sigh! I know, I Know, I'm living in the past. Shut up.
Reference Site: Nintendo NFS Page (http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=a8c43b1b-4462-4f67-becb-f087d09444db&)
Genre: Racing
Memory Blocks: 9
Players: 1 to 2
Release Date: Nov 15, 2005
My history with the Need For Speed series has been a rocky one at best. Though I loved the original, and the Hot Pursuit series, the Underground series has left me feeling jaded and ripped off, much like a hooker getting done for solicitation right after giving the undercover cop a blowjob.
The latest effort from EA titled Most Wanted seems to take off where Hot Pursuit 2 left off, with a touch of the Underground's series customisation on it. A story line has been added that you can play through, and it is the usual fare. A street racer looking to get into the action gets cheated and loses his car. Queue in hot female actor to save guys reputation and give him a chance. Blah, blah, blah, get to the racing already.
You start the game off with a BMW that is fully "tricked out". I've been told it's the best car in the game, but you lose it straight away. Basically, you not must climb the ranking ladder to earn back your car from the dick that stole it off you.
GRAPHICS Score:92%
The graphics are good on the GameCube. Don't get me wrong though, they are nothing fantastic. Due to the quick conversion effort, EA most certainly do not utilise the graphic capabilities of the GameCube. UnderGround 2 looks better and more realistic on medium graphic settings on my PC (yeah, yeah, I know, I can ONLY run it on medium cause my computer is crap, happy now?).
Still, I have never advocated that graphics are the only thing that makes up a game. The cars all look good, and the world around it also looks realistic enough. At high speeds, you get no motion blur, which is great, as I absolutely hate that stupid effect. But, the developers have really under utilised the GameCubes capabilities for this game. I can only assume it's because of time being the main constraint in any conversion process.
[b]SOUND/MUSIC Score:58%
Ooooh, I can hear you screaming at the screen now, "How the hell can you justify such a low score for the sound and music, you bastard?!" Well, just shut up for a second and let me explain. It actually gets only 9% for the music in the game, and another 50% for the sound effects. Stay with me here, as the reason music got such a long score will take another paragraph to explain.
Now, I admit, I am very biased in this regard. Ever since I played RollCage on PS1, I've had a very high standard of musical expectation in the games I purchase. RollCage had the best racing theme I have ever experienced. Ever. Full Stop. The End. NFS: Most Wanted has a few okay tracks. Nothing more. Heavy metal makes me grind my teeth. It is not driving music, it is noise. Bad noise, like a dentist drill. My dentist is an utter sadist. He put heavy metal music on once, while drilling my tooth. He laughed as I sat there and cried. Why? Because he is a bastard.
So, Not only were the majority of the musical track heavy metal crap, the selection of music was woeful. There was only one song by the Prodigy, and it had been cut to shreds, so it only lasts for a minute. What the hell? Where is FatBoy Slim? Where is Gomez? Where are the good bands? Where are the good driving songs? Half the time I crashed has been because of the freaking shitty music making me wince. Assholes.
Let's just disregard the music for a second. The saving grace of this game lies in the police chatter. You have an onboard police band and it informs you about upcoming roadblocks and even what the cops are about to do. This is ONLY reason that the sound/music score hasn't gone into negative numbers. Honestly, I'm actually really pissed that EA could smear this game by skimping on the music budget.
MULTIPLAYER Score:88%
Meh. And you can quote me on that one.
(RE)PLAYABILITY Score:97%
Picking this game up is easy as hell. After only five minutes of play, I was going great. The learning curve is really gentle, and each type of race has a description movie that gives you a heads up on what's going on.
The inclusion of multiplayer racing also helps to extend the life of this little pearl. And let's not forget the mute button. Once you get rid of the woeful music, the game really begins to pick up!
CONTROLS Score:93%
Controlling your racer is easy as pie in this game. I always use an automatic transmission because I'm a lazy gamer, and in NFS: Most Wanted, the computer shifts gears very well. The only problem I encountered with gear shifting was in Drag racing mode, but that is because you must use manual transmission for some bizarre reason. Weirdos.
Hammering against the cops can also be fun, but once they trap you, that's it. You cannot escape when cops surround you, even if you try to boost your way out of danger. This really pisses me off because sometimes, you stuff up, at they are all over you like flies on a dogs butt. There should be a way to get out of cop jams, maybe by throwing fire crackers out the window or something.
ATMOSPHERE Score:100%
Beside the music, the atmosphere in the game is intense. There are a few gimmicks that EA use to keep you in the mood for the game. The first one is "Bullet Time". For those who have no idea what "Bullet Time" is, it's a slow down effect of time, like in the matrix, where time is so slow that you can now see bullets moving through the air. EA give you a few seconds of bullet time that recharges once used, to make minute adjustments to your path to avoid cops or hit "Pursuit Breakers".
This brings me to the next item, "Pursuit Breakers". Though they don't always work, NFS: Most Wanted gives you obstacles that you can hit. These obstacles will sometimes stop the cops dead, so they can deal with the accident you have just caused. Regardless of whether they stop or not, the effects are pretty fun to watch. Nothing is more satisfying then knocking over a water tower and watching the cops hit it!
And finally, let me touch upon the idiot upgrade system. This tended to ruin the cars and even intruded into the campaign section because of the imbalance. Now, I don't care how low to the ground your little GOLF hatchback is, or how much NOS it packs, it will never be able to out perform a Dodge Viper. Never. Except in NFS: Hot Pursuit. Prepare yourself for the reality of unlocking a new car, purchasing it, and then not being able to upgrade it because you need to unlock more upgrades. Now you're stuck with an expensive car that looks great, but gets killed by shitty little cars that can be upgraded all the way. Hissssss!
[b]ScreenShots
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_01_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17664&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_02_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17665&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/need_for_speed__most_wanted_03_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17666&c=209)
Screenshots are not from the GameCube version. Trust me, it doesn't look that good!
PROBLEMS
Ooooh, besides music? Hehe, don't worry, there are a few things to annoy you in this game. Firstly, it suffers from the staple GameCube idiot programmer problem. When your memory card hasn't got enough room to save a game when you boot up, the game tells you and asks you if you want to continue without saving. It does this even if you already have a NFS: Most Wanted savegame sitting on the card. So, each time you boot up, you get asked the same stupid question over and over again. I ask you, how hard is it to put in a simple savegame check? Shit, I could do one right now:
Boot up.
Check for savegame.
If "No" then check for savegame space.
If "No" then say idiot message.
How hard was that? Apparently, too freaking hard for the morons working for EA.
There is another problem that I touched on a little in the Controls section. It was about stuffing up and getting reamed by the cops. Now, I didn't elaborate on the stuffing up part, but sometimes, its not the players fault if they stop dead for no reason. This is an error in the game, and a bloody awful one if you encounter it. Sometimes, when you're on the edge of the track, and your car is scraping against the side of something, you can hit something invisible and come to a complete stop. This little bug is frustrating as all hell because it usually means one of two things. One, the cops now own your ass. And two, you have just lost the race. Its random and it weirds me out kinda like a french kiss from my aunty. It just shouldn't happen.
OVERALL Score:94%
Despite the woeful music, I still give this game a 94%. It's a killer racing game that keeps on delivering with the cops thrown in for extra fun. The unlocking feature can annoy you, but its easy to get rid of it, and for the few cars you still cannot unlock, the game actually tells you what you need to do to unlock it.
Don't expect to have any drift racing in NFS: Most Wanted, as they have cut that from the game. This made me sad, as drift racing, though full of shit, was very fun to play. They should have kept the Drift racing and eliminated the craptacular Drag races. Drag racing shits me as I always manage to hit traffic, and can only win once I memorised exactly what traffic is coming up and which direction its coming in.
I also miss the unlocking feature they used in Hot Pursuit 2. Everything cost money to unlock. You made money by racing. It was that simple. If you wanted a specific car, you could just save up for in and a couple of races down the track, it was yours. Sigh! I know, I Know, I'm living in the past. Shut up.