Just played the NFS: Most Wanted demo...

...And I'm impressed! Wow, what a great game! Here are my thoughts:

- Fun-factor: At least based on the demo, the game is fun as heck. Arcade racing at its finest if you ask me, and I've played Burnout, Flatout, PGR and NFSU & NFSU2...

- Gameplay: The car handling is great IMO. Of course it differs from car to car (something that isn't always self-explanatory in all games...) but overall, the feel is very nice. Some reviews I've read in the internet have said that the cars feel too 'heavy', and while the cars aren't Midtown Madness 3 light, they certainly aren't overly heavy, and feel very balanced overall IMO.

- Graphics: Fabulous. Absolutely fantastic across the board. The textures aren't as sharp as in some other games, but this only becomes apparent when looking at screenshots. In a race, you rarely have enough time to admire the surroundings, aside from the odd glance at the windmills decorating your country-side road. The exaggerated HDR is gorgeous, and the blur effect is like the icing on a cake.

- Performance: I first tried the game at 1600*1200 res, 4xAA, 16xHQAF, and all settings maxed (or simply, "on", depending on the variable) and experienced a few slow-downs. The game was playable, but not as smooth as I would have liked. I then proceeded to bump down the shadow filtering to medium (as this had a noticeable impact on performance, but didn't degrade IQ much at all), and I also bumped down the AA from the ludicrous 4x to 2x (I can't tell the difference in car games ). I then tried the game again and it was smooth. No slow-downs and everything was just smooth. Just for the sake of tinkering, I decided to try 1280*1024 res, and because I noticed absolutely no image quality degration from this, and the performance went up to the point where the game was, what I'd call "butter-smooth" (meaning >50 fps), I decided to leave it at 1280*1024 res, 2xAA, 16xHQAF, all settings maxed except shadows which were at medium.

- Sound: Ok engine sounds, and an appropriate selection of music. Nothing that'll persist playing in your head for the rest of the day (for better or worse) but good, solid sounds nevertheless.

Demo verdict: 9

Game verdict (based on the demo): I'm getting this once I find it for roughly 20€. I heard that the single-player portion of the game is approximately 15+ hours long, which IMO isn't enough to justify a full price tag of 45€.

BTW: Any comments welcome!

 

so late? 1/2 years old game.But anyway it's better then Carbon

 

Yeah well, I played the NSF Carbon demo as well, and was not impressed. It certainly didn't feel as fun as this, and on top of that, the graphics were worse than Most Wanted's! WTF!?

 

yeah most wanted definetely played out a lot better than carbon did

 

a picture is worth 1000 words

 

where are the neons ?
where are all the uselessa audio upgrades ?
where are the spinners ?

Underground 2 is the best.

Cars move like soapboxes... But I had fun playing em all trough.

 

The police chases are better in 'Most Wanted' than in 'Carbon'.

I think 'Carbon' and 'Most Wanted' still use the 3D engines from the 'Underground series', just upgraded with more special and post-processing effects. Still no widescreen support! Why do the console versions got widescreen support (PS2 and Xbox360)?

It's time for a new 3D engine, right? Using upgraded old 3d Engines just give poor performance? Just like constantly upgrading the F-16 fighterjet instead building a replacement like the Joint Strike Fighter? Or not?

 

yea most wanted was heaps fun havent tried carbon though

 

One thing that would make the NFS series better to me is...

Having a view inside the car, like so you can see steering wheel and crap...

 

I like the game

Also use low Visual Treatment and the game would look better,

 

I'd definitely like to see a NFS Underground 3. NFSU2 was very, very good. I still sing "Riders in the Storm" from time to time . They need to catch that spirit again, with the hidden shops, city lights and drifts. Yes I know Carbon looks alike but the truth is that Carbon is plain s**t, no spirit at all.

 

I like Most Wanted the most of the whole NFS serie This game still looks really awesome

And IMO, Carbon is utterly cr*p!, it looks really ugly! Graphics should improve, not become worse

 

I have played the demo. I do not like night racing. THis game is much better compared to other NFs games

 

No way! My friend just got this game last week and it looked horrible with low (compared to high) visual treatment. In that particular shot it looks ok with low, still better with high, but try low in a forest.
BTW guys, we also found out that Car Reflection Detail is the performance eater. No matter what update rate he had, but if detail was set to low instead of high, he got 2x better fps, really. He can have all other settings on max and he gets +35 fps all the time. But with that on high, he sometimes hits 10 fps. So try to use it on low, maybe it's just his rig or it really is the weak point.
His rig: AM2 X2 3800+, 7900GT, 2048mb DDR2-800, no OC.

Nice review Arzek.

 

I just ordered NFS:MW for a grand total of 14€, and it should be here by Saturday at the latest, I hope it's as addictive as the demo! BTW, how's the multiplayer (online)? Are there enough servers, and is it fun to race?

PS: Patch 1.3 is the only one I'll need right?

 

I also just played the demo, and thought it was great.

Have any of you played this game with a wheel? I don't know how, but I've somehow won races on hard by tapping keys.

I think first person would be great, but widescreen would be pretty much necessary for it. Maybe they can throw in realistic traffic and car damage options, just to make it more like you're really racing.

 

Yeah, I'd like inside-the-car view too, just like in NFS2. Most Wanted is just such a great game, I was disappointed in Carbon, I finished it in 6 hours. *sigh* The graphics were a little better than in MW, at least the car details, but nothing else. I found that the game is better without motion blur too. Something that I would like in Most Wanted is drifting, I found it as a great enjoyment in Carbon.

As for playing MW with a wheel, I recommend not to. It's way too chunky, you have to wave from side to side to keep the car steady. But it could just be me and my old wheel though. I think it's much better to be played with the keyboard.

PS: Oh yeah, Visual treatment also eats performance, but I'd recommend to keep it on in MW, but in Carbon, you won't even notice the difference.

 

yes patch 1.3 is the only one u needs
did u order the black edition?

 

Mmm.. Not that I know of. No point paying extra for some behind-the-scenes footage that I'll never even watch. The game cost 11€, but shipping costs bumped the grand total up to 14€. Dirt cheap still if you ask me.

 

not only that u also get a couple of new souped up cars and new tracks

thats the black edition challenge
im sorry for that lame fps but i set the opty back to 1.8ghz for unknown purposes