I Played NFS: Most Wanted ‘05 for the FIRST TIME in 2022 | Here’s What I Thought

There has always been one game missing in my NFS history...some would say it's the best Need for Speed ever made, and now I finally got a chance to play it, 17 years after its release. These are my thoughts on the 2005 release of Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

This video contains major story spoilers.

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[HokiHoshi]

I'm getting a lot of similar comments about speedbreaker, fast travel, etc so I figured I would make a pinned reply!

I did use speedbreaker plenty during pursuits/roadblocks, it was helpful! Just not during races, the footage you see in the video is *not* how I used it at all, that was filmed just for the video to show off the feature while I was talking about it, it's intentionally awkward driving to try and use the feature as much as possible in one clip. Speedbreaker feels more awkward when you play on manual instead of auto, but ultimately it just came down to not needing it in the first place. I didn't find the races overly difficult so I never felt "pushed" to use speedbreaker - so it didn't add much to my game experience personally.

Fast Travel.
I want to repeat a sentence I said in the video, "fast travel **as it's implemented in Most Wanted** was a mistake."
U2 had (almost) no fast travel which is *also* bad in its own way, and I think they just overcorrected in MW. There's a middleground between no FT, and instant FT to everything. You obviously don't need to use it but the problem is more so that you're never encouraged to just drive around and explore/experience the world, in fact you're encouraged not to because you could get into a pursuit you don't want to be in. This is in stark contrast to U2 which had hidden races, outrun racing, money finds, "hidden" shops, photoshoots, and more in the open world, which helped break up the pace and added a stronger immersion to the game. The open world experience just isn't there as much in MW which is unfortunate because it's a cool world! I just wish the game encouraged players to use it more!

[dansullivan]

I miss how big getting a new car was in these older titles.

[xavierpatel]

Driving really fast not hitting anything with avenged sevenfold on the back playing was pure heaven on this game

[wickstorm_records]

The mid 2000s have a special place in my heart. It´s a shame it went by so fast. Golden age of the internet and gaming.

[ethan]

The intro to that first race lives rent free in my head. "Let's see how you do in the daylight" is such a simple and good way to tie back in to underground

[Vi_XXiV]

This game didn't age. It's still very playable, enjoyable and if we're talking modern standards, this actually smashes a lot of new racing games.

[pasteghost]

I had just survived hurricane Katrina when I played this about a month and half later when we finally had power and water and a shiny new FEMA camper. Me and Mama would play this constantly and it really helped take out minds off the tragedy. It was a very traumatic time and everyone was becoming an alcoholic just to deal with it. But we're gamers and gearheads and that helps. Good game

[Gatitasecsii]

Getting the notification of destroying cross during a pursuit was the greatest feeling I could've had as a teen playing this game.

[sammyificationable]

Fun fact : Cross knew EXACTLY who you were and what mias plan was the second time you meet him. Cross was using you as an inside man with the intent of using you as a fall guy the entire time

[herosshade]

Something I’m impressed with to this day is the radio chatter from the cops.
The chatter in 2015 and heat feels completely generic and uninteresting, 2012 was okay but still didn’t compare to 2005.

I remember being in a race in most wanted, the cops came in. Through some series of events, one of the racers crashed the the police actually radioed for emergency response to get medical attention.
Well either that or I’m remembering completely wrong, but it’s still a very impressive and immersive part of the game.

[ZaThrint]

Not a lot of people talk about the dynamic pursuit music that reacts and changes depending on what's immediately happening in the pursuit. If you take a look into the game files, the pursuit music is segmented into hundreds of 1 second sections per song track. Just shows how much work goes into the game monitoring and understanding the situation and being able to change the music tension on the fly. This system was continued in Carbon and applied to the city and canyon racing soundtrack, albeit to a lesser extent. Still impressive

[rainz]

I’m 18 years old. my dad still owns a copy of this game in black edition on disc for PC. we used to play it when he built me my first PC, around the age of 4/5. this game is honestly the reason i am a mechanic 14 years later, and a big help in building a solid friendship with my father. love this game to death

[LaZarusXtnct]

You could wipe everyones minds of this game, re-release it today exactly the way it was in 2005 and it would still be recognized as the greatest of all time.

[BeerDone]

My favorite part about MW2005's pursuit system is the radio chatter. It goes through so many ranges of emotion, from laid back disinterested Heat 1 "donut eaters, " to proactive and engaged "Let's try something different" out of Heat 3 and up units, to the dead-short adrenaline rush of "BLOCK HIM, NOW, NOW" and "BOX HIM IN, BOX HIM IN" as the trap snaps shut, to the utter rage and downright hostile demeanor of Cross and his "Personal Guard" at Heat 5 or 6, it really conveyed more than just what the cops are doing right now. It gave you a sense of being hunted, by a truly commited police force that works with the professionalism and confidence only decades of experience can give, making it all the more satisfying when you finally outwit them.
And Paul Linford's soundtrack just took it to the next level, with its recognizable "Breaking News" tune and samples, dynamic shifts in tone corresponding to your state in the pursuit, and its perfect blend with the sirens and loudspeaker orders coming from the PC's themselves.

MW's pursuits are a master-class in designing a Unique Selling Point. I hardly need the actual races to be sold on it.

[garylai]

Can't believe it's been almost 20 years. I worked on this game and a few other NFS games as a track artist.

[niklasgraff]

I think the Fast travel is very good.
If you just want to race you can do that and if you want to drive to the races manually you can also do that, just check the map.

[corriec]

NFS:MW also had 13000 voice lines for indicating every little car paint scheme and vehicle you used so it always seemed like they knew what they were doing.

[ChrisSaur]

The soundtracks shaped my taste in music. Disturbed, Bullet or my valentine, Avenged sevenfold and many more are the best songs to get into flow state while driving. Underground 1 and underground 2 had some nice tracks aswell but most wanted tracks are on another level.

[DMSBrian]

Back when I played it, we used to make homebrew rules whenever a game felt too easy (or when we got too good) and do a lot of roleplay around it too, so we'd never fast travel. And sometimes we'd also just drive around with the traffic at normal speeds trying to avoid the cops when going between the races etc. i feel like doing stuff like this as kids is what truly made those games so much fun

[thicboibigsmoke]

Even if you’re not personally a fan of the handling model and driving, I LOVE it. I wish need for speed would go back to this feel, the cars could go round corners at insanely fast speeds, but they still felt like they had weight to them.