It’s a familiar conundrum for any car lover looking make their purchase, do I get the model that’s already been well received now, or do I wait for the new hotness? EA and Criterion are hoping that Wii U owners have put the decision off long enough to be enticed by this new special edition of Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, and unlike their previous ports a lot of love and care seems to have been put into it. The result is probably the first multiplatform game in which you could credibly describe the Wii U version as the definitive edition.
Those familiar with Criterion’s previous open world sandbox racer, Burnout Paradise, will immediately have a firm grasp on the gameplay that Need for Speed: Most Wanted offers, which is a large city full of ramps, hidden shortcuts, and billboards to smash along with a smorgasbord of racing opportunities taking place on a multitude of long routes and short multiple lap circuits set along the fictional city of Fairhaven’s many highways and byways. You’re not necessarily limited to the path dictated on the former type of races, by the way, but you definitely better know where you’re going, making any deviations a gamble. Not only do you get a gas and brake pedal, but there is also a nitrous boost ability powered by a bar that is charged by performing stunts, driving into oncoming traffic, drafting, and drifting among other things. Using the nitrous, you can not only pass your opponents at excessive speeds, but bump then and send them careening into obstacles and other cars, resulting in a “takedown” which temporarily delays their progress. That’s pretty much the gist of what makes this type of game different from other arcade racers.
That’s not to say there aren’t some notable differences from Most Wanted’s spiritual predecessor, however. For instance, you now have the cops to deal with whenever you break the law, or during the special Ambush racing events. This really ratchets up the intensity of races by pitting you not just against your opponents, but officers looking to disrupt the fun through any means possible including devious spike strips, roadblocks, and even relatively indestructible SUVs to total your ride. Also, new cars can be acquired simply by discovering where they’re parked throughout the city instead of only through hunting and taking them down. You’ll notice them from the manufacturer’s decal floating above them. Being a Need for Speed game, the selection emphasizes licensed modern and exotic sports cars (think Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc.) with only a handful of more pedestrian, offroad oriented choices, whereas Burnout would feature random beaters and classic looking automobiles. Your car is upgradable through completing the various race challenges specific to each model. Upgrades include different types of nitrous (some emphasizing speed, others the ability to push other cars), gear changes (acceleration vs. top speed), chassis (control vs. durability), and tires (track, offroad, or reinflatable to deal with those pesky spike strips!).
Ultimately these are all just tools to achieve your true objective, which is to top Fairhaven’s Top 10 Most Wanted list. You do this by accumulating Speed Points which increase your level and position in the standings whenever you win races, perform stunts, or escape the cops. Once you pass another driver on the list, you can take them on in a one on one ambush race with the cops, where after defeating them you can takedown their car to add it to your collection. Making all of these tasks more efficient than in Burnout is the addition of the EasyDrive feature, which lets you switch cars and initiate races at a click of the directional pad in case you’re tired of navigating the city and its traffic to your next destination each time. However, I would suggest you’re missing out on a lot of the magic of the gameplay by eschewing the open world elements. Every encounter with the police in this game or attempt at a trick jump along the way is like starring in your own car chase movie non-stop and can lead to lots of unexpected hilarity. Yes, you will crash a lot but you will have fun doing it for sure!
There is an argument though that the core Burnout gameplay has lost some of its irreverence and arcadeyness in its transition to the more straight laced Need For Speed franchise. One thing I most certainly miss is the lack of cutaways to show the graphic accidents of your takedown victims, and there’s no events which emphasize racking up takedowns themselves. You’ll only really get to revel in your own crashes in this game as a result. It definitely saps the life out of the multiplayer element of the game, which mostly consists of getting a posse together and racing from meet up to meet up to engage in spontaneous races and drift competitions, some with restrictions like SUVs only. The only thrill you’ll get out of it is winning the races, as wrecking each other just kind happens as a matter of playing the game, rather than a focus.
So what does the Wii U version of Most Wanted get you over the other consoles and PC? Well for one it comes with the Ultimate Speed Pack DLC for free which gives you five new cars and a new Most Wanted event, so that’s a nice bonus. Like most Wii U ports now it also offers the ability to play just on your GamePad. Now this is great feature until you realize that the screen size really does tend to hamper your ability to make out the road ahead of you. At least when I played, I had a hard time avoiding medians and seeing traffic in the distance, as well as judging when to make sharp turns. Perhaps some more time with it would even that out, though I wish some tweaking to the graphics were done maybe to accommodate the lower resolution. There’s also a new mode called Co-Driver, which allows someone to play the game with a WiiMote (Nunchuk recommended but not required) while a friend manipulates the proceedings with the touchscreen, either switching the day/night cycle manually, turning the traffic on and off, or disrupting the nearest cop if you’re being chased, which can be hilarious to watch sometimes. You can also play with these abilities if you’re playing alone with the GamePad, but it almost feels like cheating in this instance. Changing your car and upgrades can also be accomplished through the touchscreen but I didn’t find it all that more intuitive than the EasyDrive. All in all it is kind of gimmicky from the control end, and one thing that caused me aggravation to no end at first is the Wii U’s complete lack of analog triggers, which robs you of some of the finer control of your car. While Most Wanted is no Forza or Gran Turismo, it does demand more attentiveness than your average arcade racer, which means you’ll need to learn to pump the brakes and let off the gas more often rather than being able to ease yourself into either pedal.
The small sacrifice in control is well worth it for the visuals, fortunately. Criterion went all out to push this port to take advantage of the Wii U’s strengths over its current competition, including most of the effects you’ll find in the technologically superior PC version, like improved night time lighting. Even better, they used PC assets like higher resolution textures. The framerate also doesn’t suffer one bit even during the most active sequences. This is definitely the best looking Wii U game out there yet and the best looking console version of the title as well, showing that Nintendo’s hardware doesn’t necessarily have to be an also-ran or afterthought when it comes to multiplatform releases, at least until the next generation truly begins. Like many recent EA games, the licensed soundtrack started to get a bit on my nerves, but that’s easily remedied by turning it off. It’s getting to be old hat now, but it is again a nice touch to hear the cop chatter piped through the GamePad’s speakers, giving it that police scanner feel.
If you are looking to round out the slim pickings in your Wii U library, Need For Speed Most Wanted U is a must buy, no matter what level of racing enthusiast you are. The only version of this game you might consider over this one is the PC version if you simply must have it in 1080p. Otherwise, I wouldn’t hesitate. Unlike some of the other Wii U games I’ve played it is already popular enough that public matchmaking is viable, making it one of the best multiplayer options out there. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and burn some rubber, and let’s hope this isn’t just a last hurrah for more than competent third party support on the Wii U.
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