Cop Evasion 101

Need for Speed: Most Wanted for PC comes in two versions.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Most Wanted:Black Edition.

In this review, I will discuss both versions, so you can decide which version for PC you prefer.

The only differences between the two versions is that Need for Speed:Most Wanted:Black Edition includes 2 exclusive cars: a '67 Camaro SS and a BMW M3 GTR street machine right at the start of the game, three bonus races, an exclusive Black Edition challenge, 8 unlockable custom rides, 3 dozen exclusive vinyls for even more customization, and a Bonus DVD with interviews, videos, and concept art. Other than these bonus extras, the two versions are exactly the same.

Both versions of Need for Speed: Most Wanted offer a total of 6 main modes, which include: Career, Challenge Series, Quick Play, Custom Race, LAN, and Online.

Career mode, which is my favorite, takes you through a story-type adventure on a quest to reclaim your lost car, which you lose in a fixed pink slip race at the start of the game. You are arrested for illegal street racing, but are released two weeks later because of lack of evidence, since you lost your car, how could you be street racing without a car? You're released and a friend of yours, Josie Maran, helps you obtain a new ride. Now your ready for your revenge!

Your goal is to climb the blacklist consisting of 15 street racers who are most wanted by the police. To be allowed to challenge one of them, you must complete various events, milestone competitions, challenges, cop pursuits and increase your bounty level.

Which is not a very easy task. The police are extremely difficult to evade a lot of the time and they will stop you at any cost. They'll use spike strips, helicopters, roadblocks, heavy Suvs, and they will throw literally dozens of police cruisers at you. I once experienced 52 police cruisers on my tail. It was so crazy and intense to see that much action on my computer screen! I loved it!

The police pursuits are a blast and a lot of fun to play.
They never get old and are always random and completely different. The police pursuits are definitely the best parts of the game. You'll spend many, many hours involved in pursuits and love every minute of it!

You can also free roam the city in career mode looking for challenges, pursuits, car shops and secrets, instead of selecting events from the menu.

The career mode becomes almost impossibly difficult once you reach number 6 on the black list, so be prepared for a challenge, this is not an easy game.

The Challenge Series mode consists of 66 challenges (67 challenges in the Black Edition Version). There are two types of challenges including pursuit challenges and tollbooth challenges.

Pursuit challenges have you trying to evade the police with certain goals in mind. Such as evade the police within 2 minutes or acquire a bounty of so much and then evade the police.

Tollbooth challenges have you trying to race from checkpoint to checkpoint within the allowed time limit.
As the challenge progresses, the allowed time to hit the next checkpoint decreases. I've found a lot of the tollbooth challenges quite difficult. In most tollbooth challenges, you'll have to race almost perfectly to reach the finish line.

Challenge mode offers a nice diversion, especially if you're having trouble succeeding in the career mode.

Quick play mode randomly picks your event type, track, and car for you. It's nice if you want a quick start-up, but I much prefer custom race mode.

Custom Race mode lets you pick your car, track, and event.

There are five events you can choose from: Circuit, Drag, Lap Knockout, Speed Trap Race, Sprint, and Tollbooth.

Circuit is a traditional lap-style race. Finish first and win!

Drag is a speed-shifting racing to the finish line.

Lap knockout eliminates the last place driver at the end of each lap. The driver in first place at the end of the last lap wins.

Speed Trap Race has the player trying to blow through each posted speed trap as fast as possible. The driver that earns the highest score wins.

Sprint is a race from point A to point B.

Tollbooth challenges you to race from checkpoint to checkpoint in the allowed time. Just like the Tollbooth challenges in Challenge mode.

LAN mode allows you to challenge friends over a LAN connection in multiplayer races consisting of 2 to 4 players.

Online mode lets you race against other players over the Internet. While playing online, I've unfortunely already experienced several races against cheaters. It really ruins the experience and I haven't played online mode in a while due to cheating. You'll have fun with online mode, if each racer plays fairly.

The graphics are the best I've ever seen in a racing game.
The cars are very slick and look realistic. The weather effects, such as the rain is pretty neat too. I am really blown away by how good the graphics really are.

The soundtrack is awesome too! It includes some great heavy-metal tracks that really add to the pursuits overall.
You'll also find some cool hip-hop and rap tracks too.
The music fits with the game perfectly!

The sound effects and voice acting is all well done. It is all very realistic and it really brings you into the pursuits even more.

I recommend that you get the Black Edition version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, due to all of the bonus extras you get. The Black Edition does cost $10 dollars more, but believe me, it is so worth it!

The Need for Speed series has always been an excellent racing series, in my opinion. This version of Need for Speed still proves how good of a series this still is.
If you love racing games for the PC, you have to own this game. Don't overlook this amazing racing game!