Otherwise known as Need for Speed Most Wanted U
PlatformOVERALL
Wii U9.10
Overall 9.10
This game is Burnout, forget about this NFS brand it's Burnout in an open world GTA like city with GTA like cop chase sequences added.

So you cruise about this city to earn speed points, which unlock races and upgrades. You can earn these points by crashing through billboards, breaking through gates into secret areas and by having extended cop chases, smashing other cars etc.

When not doing this you can go to the map and choose one of the races to do. There are normal races and then there are 10 racees to beat the top 10 most wanted cars, which is the aim of the game.

I completed the game, saw the credits that is in about 15 hours but there is lots more to do and discover in the game.

You can upgrade every car on many levels, the tires, chassis, body, boost, gears etc and they all have an effect on the speed, handling or toughness of the cars.

At first, the handling seems like WHOA WHOA THERE COWBOY as you expect it to handle like an old SEGA racer by the look of the game and the somewhat heavier more realistic almost sim-like handling will throw you. But as with most racing games you quickly learn that the many cars handle differently and that you have to earn upgrades to make your car handle better.

Still there is a learning curve, probably about 3 hours of you totally sucking before you feel fully comfortable. But picking the correct car is very important.

The Wii U lacks analogue triggers, some people have assigned throttle and braking to the right stick and they say that completely fixed any issue they were having with steering. My advice is to pick the right car, try the Mercedes SL 65 or the McClaren, or the Most Wanted Pagini. They are like butter to handle most of the time.

The much vaunted improved Wii U visuals are in effect here and it's sparkling, detailed and gorgeously lit. Playing on the right TV helps, a 720P set, preferrably 30 inches or less. On some larger 108p sets there is some ugly aliasing here and there. Also when you are at super speed its hard to appreciate the graphics, but cruise along at sunset just admiring the city and you should be well impressed.

Other Wii U features are some hidden green warp pipes to discover and when you go down them you have access to Mario, Princess Peach and Yoshi versions of supercars. The other functionality is pretty great too, they take your Mii and plaster them across the city on billboards as being Most Wanted. The pad functionality is well throught out and great to use. You have large instant access buttons to cars, changing the day and night cycle, removing or adding traffic, disrupting the asshole cops and a large and every useful realtime map. Unlike the other versions this map also has realtime info on the secret gates and billboards, speed camers and more if you want to explore the city fully.

It also has a seamless switch to off screen play which works very well. It seems to have that extra gamma pass thing going which washes out the colours a tad - wish more devs would read about what Frozenbyte did with Trine 2.

The music is the game can be horrendous, so irritating but some people like this sort of music so... whatever.

Throughout 80% of this game I thought it was a 8.5 game but towards the end the challenge and butt clenching seat of your pants last rush towards the finish line thrills pushed it over and above to a 9.0, perhaps even a 9.2

Criterion have done a steller job here, taking an already great game and enhancing it visually and with an intelligent set of exclusive features. If only all Wii U ports were like this.
Posted by gamingeek Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:40:35
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:55:57
OMG GG wrote a review!

Nice.
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:24:49
McClaren? Pagini? Coudln't EA afford the originals? Nyaa
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:35:34
Did I spell them incorrectly? Man I switched to the BAC mono, great F1 CAR but they rachet the difficulty up big time, the cops are able to overtake me in this car? WTF?
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:38:28
Yep. they're McLaren and Pagani Zonda.
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:59:11
Ah yeah, they are all official cars, don't mind my spelling.
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:14:05
I might give the PC version a try if it's cheap. I've been wanting an arcade racer for a bit. That reminds me I never got to finish the courses in PGR4.

I used to think the PGR games were boring, but in time I have come to appreciate them a lot more.
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:40:45
I hear Burnout Paradise is great too.
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:51:38
I have it also on Steam, but with my previous videocard my framerates were all over the place. I should be able to give it another go again now, but I can't stand listening to more than one minute of GnR song EVERY SINGLE TIME i boot the game. LOL

maybe I can mod it out?
 
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:11:38
Or just mute it for a few seconds LOL
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