Gamer Chicks- Episode 12: Need for Speed: Most Wanted

I’ve got a need: a need – for speed.

Oh lord – yes, I know: cliché. However, it has been acknowledged that clichés are in existence for a reason. And in this case, the cliché is appropriate for the situation.

For over a decade, “Need for Speed” has long been one of the forerunners in racing games. It has churned out many different titles and storylines, but one thing has stayed true and consistent throughout each new title: the cars.

“Need for Speed: Most Wanted” has not only lived up to its predecessors in this right, but it has also furthered the legend in its own right.

While I am a self confessed RPG fanatic, once in a while, I have been known to take a step back and try other games out for size. “Need for Speed” scratched the itch of resting my mind from complex strategy and tactics and let me enjoy a game, while keeping my attention sufficiently engaged.

The basic premise of the storyline is that you, as the player, have vowed to take down a group of 15 racers in the “city” of Rockport that have made the “Blacklist.” This is the list onto which the most notorious racers of the city have made their way.

The number one inhabitant of the list happens to be the one that is wanted the most (of course-clichés are just popping up all over aren’t they?), as he is the reason that you lose your original car and get arrested by the cops. While you are held, you eventually are released as there isn’t enough evidence to convict you. All this does is put you in the cross hairs of the local police force, who have sworn to put a stop to the racing in the area.

The game utilizes three different modes of play: Quick Race, Career and Challenge. Of the three, Challenge (yes, yes I know no originality to be found) can be considered the hardest, as in this mode, you will have to complete different sets of tasks, ranging from timed challenges to the taunt and evasion of the police in the area.

This is a revamped version that was included in a previous incarnation of “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2.” The difference between the two is focused mainly on the heat system. The more destruction and time that it takes for the police to catch you, the more your “heat” goes up. The higher the heat, the more aggressive the police become in catching you.

Any person that would turn their back on outrunning a police force and destroying police cars and getting away with it is seriously lacking in the intelligence… or creative department.

Or, you know – boring.

But what would I know? I just play games.