After the less than good Carbon and the complete flop that was ProStreet, things were looking bad for the NFS series... Being a complete fan of the early games such as Hot Pursuit and Porsche 2000, I've always had high hopes and they were all realised in Underground 2. Things got even better with Most Wanted, and that, to my mind was the last proper NFS title.
Reading all the hype before the game came out, it was easy to see that EA had learned their lesson from ProStreet, no more legal street racing with no world to roam in; it was time to get back out on the streets with cops and women. Lovely.
With this in mind, I pre-ordered my copy from Play.com and steadily grew more expectant as the release date came, but was I disappointed? Was i hell. Play.com being the legends they are got the game to me the day before the official release so everything was installed and ready to go.
First impressions were brilliant, good movies and trailer clips and then straight into the action trying to lose the cops and the biggest smile broke on my face, outrunning the cops in a 240SX, could life get any better? Another reason behind my delight was that the new game engine WORKS!!! yes, as one person so ably put it 'you don't have to drive through a vat of treacle like you had to in ProStreet.'
Although totally unrealistic (who cares) the handling is fantastic, as you can now be a complete pratt and drift everywhere, put it in reverse when your doing 180 on the highway and generally burn a lot of rubber; whilst listening to a great soundtrack. Drum and bass is the order of the day with Pendulum providing the backdrop to my burning tyres as I outrun the cops, who I might as well add now are viscous! Until the very end of Most Wanted, you were generally safe if you drove down the highway, but in Undercover they'll pit manoevure you, ram you, block you right from the word go. Fantastic.
Last thing to mention therefore is the cars. Great wide choice of usual NFS suspects, from the 240SX to the now standard Escort Cosworth (my car!) with loads of Audi's, BMW's, Pontiac's and Ford's thrown in too. Classic field of Japanese stuff too including the new GTR and top editions of the Skyline and EVO series. Good looks on the exotic front too as NFS says hello to the Veyron and the Murcielago LP640 which again, makes me smile. Good few classic muscle cars too, Shelby GT500, Pontiac GTO etc.
In conclusion, i personally think the game is awesome - a couple of holes in the graphics but im sure an update patch will get released to fix the small niggles - but a superb drive, mod and cop chase title, and for £25, why not!!!!!
Over and out, TheMez