Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

About Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted is a single player and multiplayer open world racing game. It was developed by Criterion Games and was released on June 18, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

The player arrives in Rockport City, driving a racing version of the BMW M3 GTR (E46). Following Mia Townsend (played by Josie Maran), the player proves his driving prowess as he is pursued by a veteran police officer named Sergeant Cross (played by Dean McKenzie), who vows to take down the player and end street racing in Rockport. Races seem to be in the player's favor until a particular grou…

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Reviews

74%Audience ScoreBased on 9,834 reviews

graphics438 positive mentions

story273 negative mentions

Strong arcade racing gameplay with a satisfying sense of speed and momentum.
Large open world of Fairhaven to explore with many cars scattered around to find and drive.
Intense and exciting police chases that add adrenaline and challenge to races.
Good graphics and detailed car models that have aged well for a 2012 game.
Excellent soundtrack featuring rock and electronic music that fits the high-speed atmosphere.
Easy to pick up with responsive handling that balances arcade fun and skill.

No meaningful story or character-driven narrative; very shallow progression system.
Crash cams and slow crash animations frequently disrupt gameplay and cause frustration.
Car customization limited to performance upgrades; no visual customization and paint colors random.
Many cars and some content locked behind expensive DLC, increasing overall cost.
Controls and UI issues on PC, including poor default keyboard layouts and lack of native controller support.
Rubberbanding AI causing unfair difficulty spikes and inconsistent racing experience.
Forced EA App launcher required, causing technical issues and inconvenience for players.

graphics
786 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56% positive mentions, 41% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions
The graphics of Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) are widely praised for their impressive aging, still holding up well and looking beautiful even years after release. The game features detailed car models, realistic lighting, and a visually appealing open-world environment that runs smoothly on both high and low-end systems. While not cutting-edge by modern standards, its visuals remain a strong highlight that enhances the racing experience, despite some technical and control issues noted by users.
- “The graphics hold up insanely well for a 2012 game, and the cars just feel, sound and look amazing.”
- “Visually speaking, "Most Wanted" delivers an atmospheric and gritty aesthetic that complements its theme of illicit street racing. Although the graphics may seem dated by today’s standards, the stylized visuals have a timeless quality that still resonates with players.”
- “The visuals look gorgeous for a game this old (it's as old as GTA 5). The game's graphics still hold up today, not quite ray-tracing level but still fairly attractive, and the sound design is truly incredible, each car having a distinct engine noise and wheel sound.”
- “Graphics are ok, but some effects like photoradar flashing make you wish to be born blind or at least wear sunglasses to play this.”
- “The settings... not only is there no easy option to optimize graphic settings so you have to modify them manually, the game lacks a default controller setup, forcing keyboard use to configure controls, and also misses windowed/borderless/fullscreen display settings.”
- “Graphical settings are outdated and don't allow fullscreen, and controller bindings are absolute garbage.”
story
729 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11% positive mentions, 52% neutral mentions, 37% negative mentions
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) is widely criticized for its lack of a compelling story, with many users noting it has no real narrative, characters, or progression beyond racing to climb a simple "most wanted" leaderboard. Unlike the original 2005 version, which featured story-driven gameplay with memorable rivals and plot, this iteration feels hollow and more like an arcade sandbox focused on racing and police chases without meaningful motivation or depth. While some players don't mind or even appreciate the absence of story for pure racing fun, fans of narrative and immersion generally find it disappointing and soulless.
- “The game's plot centers around the player working their way up the “blacklist,” a group of 15 infamous racers, in an effort to reclaim their stolen car and reputation.”
- “The story is simple but effective: climb the ranks, defeat the "most wanted" racers, and prove you're the king (or queen) of the streets.”
- “The story gave me a sense of actual rivalry and need to beat the best!”
- “This game is utterly trash, no customization, no story, full of DLCs and microtransactions that lock away most of the content.”
- “Such a load of trash... bought it thinking it was the 2005 version, I mean it's called exactly the same thing, not in any way even remotely like the original, police are almost impossible to escape, and the story is almost non-existent, not even worth the $3 I paid for it.”
- “The story to this is nonexistent as I recall, the huge shift was a big reason for my own distrust in EA back when it happened, but even then I decided to give it a try.”
gameplay
552 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34% positive mentions, 57% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions
Gameplay in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) offers fast-paced, arcade-style racing with polished driving mechanics, intense police chases, and a mix of exploration and event-based progression reminiscent of Burnout Paradise. While many praise its smooth, fun driving and dynamic open world, criticisms include repetitive race structures, grind-heavy progression, intrusive crash cutscenes, limited customization, and divergence from the original 2005 Most Wanted’s gameplay and story, leading to mixed reactions among fans. Overall, it remains an enjoyable, adrenaline-fueled racing experience, especially for those favoring arcade-style mechanics over realism.
- “The gameplay emphasizes as little downtime as possible, which is a good thing as it's an absolute blast whether or not cops are involved.”
- “Driving mechanics in Most Wanted strike a fine balance between arcade and simulation, offering tight, responsive handling with a healthy dose of over-the-top physics.”
- “It places heavy emphasis on freedom, high-stakes police pursuits, and fluid, fast-paced gameplay, capturing the essence of rebellious street racing while modernizing the experience with the developer's signature flair, previously seen in the Burnout series.”
- “Gameplay is more grindy than Burnout's system; some tracks will be burned into your eyes because to get basic parts like nitro, you have to play the same tracks over and over again.”
- “The cars handle like bricks, the brakes are awful, and the drifting mechanics are just frustrating.”
- “This becomes frustrating because every crash triggers an unskippable cinematic, meaning a significant portion of gameplay is spent watching crash scenes instead of actually driving.”
music
514 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47% positive mentions, 47% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The game's music is widely praised for its energetic and well-curated soundtrack, blending rock, electronic, and hip-hop tracks that perfectly complement high-speed racing and police chases. Many players consider the soundtrack a standout feature that enhances the overall atmosphere and nostalgia, though some note a limited variety and occasional repetitive tracks. While a few criticize it as less iconic than earlier titles or find certain songs out of place, the consensus is that the music significantly adds to the game's fun and replay value.
- “Nfs: most wanted (2012) is a beautiful game with an amazing selection of cars and a great soundtrack.”
- “The graphics still look impressive, the soundtrack fits the high-speed action perfectly, and the online multiplayer seamlessly blends with single-player for endless fun.”
- “The soundtrack is peak as well, I can't stop listening to some of the songs on repeat in my playlist.”
- “Things go from bad to worse with the soundtrack.”
- “This NFS in particular is very meh, not good but not entirely bad either, one that you'll pick up, drive for 10-20 minutes then quit and play something else. My main gripes with it are... two, I think the game soundtrack is buns and I am either skipping tracks or turning music completely off, because at least the car sounds... sound good, and as they should.”
- “The music sucks which is really unfortunate since that is usually one of the things NFS gets right.”
optimization
132 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15% positive mentions, 71% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions
Reviews of the game's optimization are mixed, with many praising its generally smooth performance on older or mid-range PCs and stable frame rates even at high settings. However, there are frequent complaints about poor optimization on high-end systems, issues with input and controller support, stuttering, crashes, and a lack of polish in PC controls. Overall, while performance tuning and upgrade systems are simple and functional, the game suffers from outdated or inconsistent optimization and limited customization options.
- “Extremely well optimized.”
- “Performance-wise, the game is very well optimized and runs smoothly on max settings without putting too much strain on the CPU or GPU.”
- “[✔️] ⚙️ Smooth performance: Most Wanted maintains a smooth and consistent performance, even during high-speed races and intense police pursuits.”
- “Decent Need for Speed game in general but sadly the game optimization for PC port is a nightmare and broken!”
- “My only complaint is the lack of optimizations, I can see lots of people being frustrated by how inconvenient it is to set up and optimize this game for PC controls.”
- “This is an 8-year-old game now yet it still suffers graphic stuttering and performance issues even when played on a system that handles modern titles with ease.”
monetization
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 51% negative mentions
The game's monetization is widely criticized as an excessive and intrusive cash grab, with numerous microtransactions and DLC paywalls locking much of the content, including many desirable cars. Players feel this undermines the nostalgic appeal and gameplay experience, making it feel more like an advertising platform than a true remake. Despite the fun driving and map design, the heavy monetization deters many from recommending or fully enjoying the game.
- “The game itself is fantastic if you ignore the microtransactions everywhere, but it force installs Origin to play, so... y'know.”
- “Now this port has a lot more monetization than what I played on originally (Xbox 360), but it is still an enjoyable experience.”
- “It's a short and sweet little racing game I love and also hate because of what EA marketed it as and the microtransactions, but still love.”
- “Some DLC packs basically give you just a handful of additional events, sometimes only one or two races, which makes the whole thing feel like a cheap cash grab.”
- “Awful lot of in-game purchases, to the point where you can't even get supercars (apart from the Gallardo) in a NFS game without paying, which is a disappointment; apart from that, driving is fun, good map design, and I think it's quite a neat system to unlock cars.”
- “Honestly a disgrace to NFS like all the new ones are, I got this with the false hope of perhaps reliving one of my favorite childhood games and instead it's another paywall cash grab with actually garbage AI, like you can drive straight and get out of a police chase, no vehicle customization, no winning cars, no buying cars, just find them around the map.”
grinding
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6% positive mentions, 38% neutral mentions, 56% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and excessive, often requiring significant time investment to level up or unlock content. Some players appreciate the progression loop of upgrading cars, but many find the repeated races and challenges monotonous and frustrating, with multiplayer also impacted by grinding demands. Use of DLC or timesavers is commonly recommended to alleviate grind-related boredom.
- “No grinding for cars, see it on the road (if you have all the DLC) it's yours.”
- “Fun game but no progression, no customization other than changing colors really. No upgrades, it's just a fun-to-drive game but not hard. Again, no progression, so cars are on the streets and money is useless. Sounds are good on some cars, graphics are very good for 2012, fun game but no grinding.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The multiplayer sucks if you're not high level, as you keep getting wrecked by other players. Also, lots of grinding is needed to get your speed level up or wanted level up to unlock more items and cars.”
- “You will pretty quickly obtain all of the cars freely available in the world and then are essentially just grinding out the same repetitive racing events until you level up enough to challenge the next car.”
- “A lot of the challenges will be completed through regular play, but quite a few of them take dedicated grinding to do, especially due to how races work.”
humor
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions
The game's humor largely stems from its absurd and exaggerated police chases, strange controller warnings, and quirky glitches, which many players find entertaining despite occasional annoyance. Cutscenes and certain gameplay moments are described as hilarious, though some repetitive or poorly designed elements dampen the comedic impact. Overall, the humor is a mix of intentional fun and unintentional comedy from bugs and gameplay quirks.
- “Also getting chased by level 5 cops in this game is a total joyride to experience, I would recommend you try to achieve that at least once in your playthrough for the funny!”
- “The first hour was fun - I got like 3 races completed and it was funny to watch a dozen SUV cops launching themselves like missiles into walls just to kill me.”
- “It's like they spent most of the budget on licensing a Muse song and then had to pick what was left—screw that, that intro with the cop cars turning into a huge pinwheel and chasing the player is just hilarious!”
stability
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15% positive mentions, 3% neutral mentions, 82% negative mentions
The game's stability is inconsistent, with many users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, crashes, and control issues requiring troubleshooting to run smoothly. While some players experience stable gameplay with minimal problems, others find it frustratingly buggy and unpolished, especially on certain platforms or configurations. Overall, stability varies widely depending on hardware and setup, preventing a universally smooth experience.
- “Game still runs great as of April 2024.”
- “Runs great on the Steam Deck too.”
- “The game runs great on my GTX 1660 and my laptop with GTX 1650. I love how this game combines modern graphics with an older style of racing games.”
- “Literally all of the remaining 34 hours have been spent in settings trying to get the game running better, trying to start the game, sitting on an infinite loading screen, and even more time has been spent outside of that troubleshooting and looking for fixes that'll make the game function as I'd hoped.”
- “Gyro cannot be turned off; glitches in the game constantly make it unplayable.”
- “The settings are extremely buggy and it's just all around janky; it should only be played on console.”
atmosphere
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its intense police chases, memorable soundtrack, and gritty, nostalgic street racing vibe enhanced by dynamic lighting and day-night cycles. While some note the lack of original features and narrative depth compared to its predecessor, the combination of detailed cars, atmospheric city design, and smooth driving mechanics creates an engaging and unique racing experience that resonates with longtime fans. Overall, the atmosphere is seen as a key strength, delivering a fun, immersive, and timeless street racing mood.
- “Starting again with this game feels amazing: the thrill of racing, the intensity of police chases, and the atmospheric shifts from day to night all make it feel so alive.”
- “The open-world design, smooth controls, and memorable soundtrack create the perfect street racing atmosphere.”
- “After more than 1,000 hours spent in this game on Xbox 360 and after a break of almost 7 years, this game still gives me the same vibe and atmosphere as it did then.”
- “Its decent but it lacks some original features and its atmosphere.”
- “Nothing new, they just threw out the atmosphere, plot and interest from the original - and completely removed the accumulation system and purchase and sale operations with local speed points.”
- “They removed the campaign, characters, and atmosphere that were present in the original NFSMW on the PS2.”
replayability
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions
Replayability opinions on the game are mixed: many praise its fast-paced gameplay, multiplayer modes, and diverse vehicle selection as offering substantial replay value, especially for arcade racing fans. However, others criticize the lack of a challenging damage system, limited customization, and minimal story content, which they feel reduce long-term engagement. Overall, replayability largely depends on player preference for racing mechanics and multiplayer features.
- “For anyone who enjoys arcade racers, it delivers exactly what it promises — fast cars, open-world exploration, intense police chases, and a lot of replay value.”
- “The replayability is off the charts.”
- “With addictive multiplayer modes adding replay value, Most Wanted is a thrilling ride from start to finish, making it a must-play for fans of high-stakes street racing.”
- “Good game but lacks replay value.”
- “Lacks a lot of replayability, to be honest.”
- “It literally has no story, zero replay value, and no customization.”
emotional
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 10% negative mentions
The game lacks a meaningful emotional core, with many players finding the story unengaging and the overall experience emotionally hollow. While some appreciate the car selection and immersive environment, frustrations with inconsistent handling, frequent crashes, and a repetitive progression system diminish emotional investment. Overall, the game fails to evoke strong emotional connections, leaving many players feeling disappointed or indifferent.
- “The car selection and car audio I genuinely really enjoyed, as the more posh sports cars over tuner cars approach fit the environment of this map very well and made me feel like I was playing a more mature Need for Speed that doesn't let the player deviate from the overall aesthetic and immersion.”
- “Fire made my younger years very wholesome.”
- “Very touching for me.”
- “Boring story”
- “I don't desire a boring story line.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Character development is minimal and superficial, focused mainly on gameplay elements like driving style recognition rather than meaningful narrative or personal growth.

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Play Times

12h Median play time

328h Average play time

6-30h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 35 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted is a open world racing game. Common tags for Need for Speed™ Most Wanted include first-person, driving, trading, third person, soundtrack and others.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted is available on PC, Windows, Cloud and NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

On average players spend around 328 hours playing Need for Speed™ Most Wanted.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted was released on June 18, 2020.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted was developed by Criterion Games.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Need for Speed™ Most Wanted for its graphics but disliked it for its story.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, Need for Speed Heat, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed, Need for Speed Rivals and others.

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

Platforms

Games Like Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered

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Reviews

graphics

story

gameplay

music

optimization

monetization

grinding

humor

stability

atmosphere

replayability

emotional

character development

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