Customer Reviews:
 not the best Need For Speed November 23, 2008
Sam (York, UK)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was counting the minutes to get this game, so here it arrives, delivered on release day by Amazon. Into the PS2 it goes, and oh dear. First thing i did, was to look again at the DVD box to check whether this is really the new Need for Speed.
First, Graphics: the opening scene looks like it has been drawn by a 5 year old, and then animated. Does not look like anything you would expect from a need for speed. The tracks all look like water and oil have been spelled on them, always shiny, and not proper black as you would normally expect tarmac to be. Besides, it is quite hard to know where the corners and short cuts are sometimes, unless you look at the map. Why all this brightness as well? where ever you look there is very bright colors, which sometimes are just proper ugly. I mean some traffic cars where in a kind of bluish-greenish color like nothing I have seen before, what is that all about????
Even the cars themselves look horrid sometimes, look at the Porsche in the main menu, it looks like it came out of a comic book.
Second, the controls: the most awful thing about this game. Why am I forced to use the left analog stick to steer is beyond me. Even worse, you cannot change it, so you got it, and you have to use it, no options at all. If you choose manual gear, you would have to use R1 and L1 instead of the one we got used to in previous NFS games. You do get used to this kind of controls, but it is bad, and I was not amused by that at all. At least give us the option to choose. I mean what if someone's PS2 control pad did not have a working analog stick??? he would not be able to play the game.
Third: open world and cops are back, which is very good, and brings back the fun element about this game. But events are not that good, and I could swear while playing this game that some of the roads are the exact copy of those in Most Wanted, except the addition of new trees...
Car choice is OK, quite a good variety of cars, but all have been used extensively before: the Mazda RX7, 8, the Elise, the Mitsubishi, etc, etc. all the same, it just feels like putting Most Wanted in, with different color schemes.
The audio is fine, did not really like the choice of songs, but normally i turn the in-game music off, so no big deal. The police chatter is better and clearer than in previous titles, and the police though they seem to appear in bigger numbers, they are a bit easier to defeat, if they were't flying in front of you that is.
The traffic is not that good either, you have traffic that just appears in front of you without a warning, blink for a second, and you are sure to hit something.
The game play did improve a bit, the car handling is similar to Carbon, though here you have damage system, but it does not really affect performance. You have the Safe House, and You could jump to events from the Map, or drive to them.
The game is fun in some aspects, like you do get a proper sense of speed when driving on highways, and this is great.
So far I did not come across big Boss battles, I mean there were a few where you just race them, or outrun to be more accurate, and that is it. The race is over, and you would expect to have something like a pink-slip or some other kind of reward, but NO, it is just like a normal race. So you would not have the sense of achievement that I used to get from Most Wanted for instance when moving up the Blacklist.
The cut-videos are nice, but there are so many of them, it does get irritating sometimes. I mean just make them in big chunks, and get over with it.
I feel this game should have been done two years ago, and Most Wanted should come now. This does not compare to MW, in any element. MW is far superior in game-play, graphics (specifically), and the fun element.
This is not a bad game, but it is not brilliant, and not satisfying enough. I was quite disappointed with it really, my expectations were very high, especially that it had a longer development cycle that other NFS games. It is still a bit fun, and enjoyable at some points. The storyline is not really convincing as well, and it is a bit rubbish, I mean the driving job for instance, is totally unnecessary and out of place. You get nothing from it, just some cash maybe and that is it.
If you forget for a minute that this is a NFS game, and just a new racing game, then it is good, but I think you would not be able not to compare it to Most Wanted and Carbon, and that is where you will be disappointed.
Not the best of NFS games, graphics are not up to the standard, gameplay is ok, and at some points enjoyable and fun. Is it better than MW? NO
would I recommend that you buy it? only if you like NFS games, and you like racing games. Otherwise, Not really. Buy Most Wanted, and you would not need this one.
 An upgraded and even more polished version of MW!!! November 22, 2008
Mrs. Lisa Brown (UK)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This game is awesome. Races, and missions to do like take a car from a dealers and get it to the drop off without scratching it. And the graphics, even for a PS2 are out of this world. Cars are brilliant as well, Porsche's, Bugatti's, and everything else!!! Wow!
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