Game: Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PS2)

I have a love of racing games that could best be described as obsessive compulsive. I have favorites in each category of racing. Yes, there are more than one.

There are the simulation racing games, which try to make the driving experience as close to the real thing as possible (think Gran Turismo, or Forza Motorsports); then, there are arcade racers, which are far more interested in creating the illusion of speed (Midnight Club); there are rally racers (Colin McRae) and Sport Racers (Nascar, Grand Prix Challenge) the genre I like to call the Crash racer (Burnout, or Flatout), where your goal is actually to demolish your car or other objects; there are even the futuristic racers, or anti-grav racers (a personal favorite).

This brings me to the latest in a long line of arcade racing games I have briskly enjoyed and inevitably retired after a few short months of feverish play. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PS2 - because my XBox is still broken). Now, I love the Need For Speed series. Don't get me wrong. When it comes to furious, arcade-style racing, with an excellent illusion of breakneck speed, it's really difficult to beat. This particular release, however, is nowhere near the masterpieces that were its recent predecessors.

Graphics have taken a step down, it would seem. Buildings look painfully 2-dimensional, even compared to the recent Need For Speed: Underground series. The illusion of speed has been reduced to comic-like draft effects that hang off the back of your car in the form of a few simple lines. And lastly, the views seem to be less effective. When it comes to racing games, being able to see the road and oncoming obstacles is key, but I found myself constantly having my view of the road obscured by the car itself! A shift in camera would have gone a long way to improving this game tenfold. Oh, but the maps have drastically improved, actually making it possible to know where you're going! That's a plus.

Another kudo: the actual video cutscenes are well-done, with decent acting. The marriage between games and films seem to be happening faster in Racing games, for some reason (SRS actually included cutscenes featuring unlockable girls). I don't know why the porn industry hasn't figured this out yet, because merging with a gaming company would revolutionize their product. Imagine a game where your goal would be to seduce different people, culminating in unlockable film clips. Astonishing.

Gameplay is fair. The controls seem more jumpy and the racing seems to have taken on a more arcade feel, ala the Burnout series. The problem here is that crashes have no effect on car performance (even head-on collisions leave nothing but scratches and a few measly dents). I know, it's an arcade racer, but there's simply nothing intriguing about accelerating the entire way through a race without having to worry about the outcome of a wreck. In addition to this peculiar oversight by the developers is the inclusion of cop cars and annoying police chases. It's not enough that they're present, but now they actually have become part of the gameplay! In order to increase your reputation, you have to engage and evade the cops (time and again). This, of course, gets old after the third time, if you're easily entertained, like I can be. Lower levels are way too easy, while the higher levels are too difficult. I could swear the game was cheating when a slight smack against a wall sent my car reeling. The AI is punishingly gamed. You can cause a semi to wreck and lose its payload, yet cars on your trail will not be slowed at all. You can walk away from the game, come back, and still catch up to your competition on the final lap. I'm sorry, but that just sucks.

Sound effects are solid, but the soundtrack is weak. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition and the Remix version have Need For Speed beat when it comes to music.

What made the Need for Speed franchise stand out from the rest was the ability to customize your car beyond belief. You could trick out your Hyundai until it actually looked fast. Imagine that. Indeed, that was one of the major parts of the fun of this game. But now, every other game out there is doing it too, and some are even doing it just as well (Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition).

Need For Speed: Most Wanted seems like it's trying to straddle the fence between arcade and simulation and doing a poor job at both. Car customization was what made NFS such a good game to begin with. And while cop car chases make for interesting races, they shouldn't be part and parcel to a game of this calibre. It's like a copout on their quest to be innovative. In a world that's now oversaturated with racing games, Need For Speed needs to churn out something better or run the risk of being left behind.

Sifted: 6/10