Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) is a street racing video game developed by the Electronic Arts Black Box Studio and published by EA Games. The game features several elements of street racing, with customizable cars, high speed police pursuits, and different kinds of racing events, such as speed traps, checkpoint races, drag races, elimination and finally the normal races. There is also a bounty system, wherein you are supposed to earn a certain amount of street cred before you can advance in the game. There are various modes in the game: Story Mode, Challenge Mode, Quick Race Mode and LAN Play.

Gameplay Video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ2tYcIvzXk

Analysis

Lens 1: Elemental Tetrad

Story: The game has a good story, which is relatable and gives the players a clear motivation to finish the game – a motive of revenge – which is one of the strongest. One place where it lacks is that the game kind of loses touch with the story in between and it becomes somewhat dreary and repetitive.
Mechanics: The racing experience, although enjoyable, is not very realistic in terms of the consequences of a wrong move – which I must say is one of the key selling factors – as it does not make the game too difficult for the average gamer.
Technology: The game is now old and can run on any of the current generation laptops/computers – all it needs is a decent processor, about 1 GB of RAM, any graphics cards and a keyboard/joystick/steering wheel accessory.
Aesthetics: The game was designed beautifully at the time of release, and even though the standards have reached higher and higher, it is still not considered jarring and old age, which is quite commendable. The world is beautifully designed and the cars are even better to look at.
Overall, I would say that it is a well-balanced game, which performs decently on all fronts, without compromising on any of the aspects.

Lens 2: Essential Experience

The essential experience of the game is racing – going as fast as you can without banging into stuff – except when you want to (during police chases). The game delivers well on the racing experience of speed. The experience is fun, sometimes challenging, but always rewarding. It might not be a very good adaptation of the real world driving experience, but as a fun video game, it delivers.

Lens 3: Goals

As mentioned above, the game sets clear goals for the player to accomplish to progress in the game. For each level, you must finish a specified number of races, get a specified amount of bounty and cause enough trouble to the city through various “milestone” events. After accomplishing this, each level has a boss that you must defeat in order to proceed to the next level.

Lens 4: Beauty

As mentioned in the aesthetics section, the world of the game has been beautifully created. It has highways, industrial areas, residential areas, and even some mountains – a typical city. Even more beautiful are the cars, with every attention being paid to the details of the various parts. One of the most beautiful things in the game is the nitrous flame, coming out of the exhaust. Also, the various customization of the cars make every car personalized and beautiful. And that is very important – since it gives you something to show off to everyone else, especially when playing with friends.

Lens 5: Skill

The game requires a lot of skill, in terms of reflexes and hand eye coordination. The learning curve is very lenient and you get used to the controls as you progress and get faster cars. There is also the “speed-breaker” mode, which slows down time and allows you to turn more accurately, which requires a lot of practice.

DISCLAIMER:  I do not own any of the images presented above. They are screenshots of the game and belong to the game publishers.