Control-wise, Most Wanted follows in the footsteps of the other Need for Speed games. Personally, I find the Burnout games more responsive, but that's not to say that Most Wanted controls poorly by any stretch of the imagination. What is neat, and new (though, again, not exactly the pinnacle of creativity) is the Speedbreaker function. While you hold down the X button (Xbox) or square (PS2) you'll launch into a slowed-down, bullet-time mode. This allows you to take tight turns and is absolutely crucial for avoiding the cops when they're hot on your tail or successfully navigating through traffic. You can find little shortcuts and side streets that you'd never otherwise notice using this feature, too, which may just add the little edge that the game requires to make it stand out after countless racing games have assailed us this generation.


No, Most Wanted doesn't do anything truly new, but nobody was really expecting it to. The shift to a grittier look adds flavor to the series, and the addition of the cop chases adds a real sense of urgency and danger to the gameplay. After two successful Underground games, there's no doubt that there's room for change, and Most Wanted mixes things up just enough to keep them interesting. There's little doubt whether or not most gamers will find it their racer of choice for 2005 -- of course they will. It's easy to understand, slick, and fast. Whether the new features will make it truly compelling and fresh in the long run is still too hard to call.