Why is Need for Speed Most Wanted (2012) fun to play?

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes (ish)

Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012) is a popular racing game from EA. In the first week of its release, it was the fifth best selling game in the UK. It also won multiple awards stating that it is the best racing game of the year. Why is that? Let’s find out.

Racing games traditionally contain extrinsic game mechanics. Do this race. Get to first. Unlock some credits. Upgrade levels. Use the credits to buy that car or performance modifications etc. However Need for Speed Most Wanted have successfully managed to blend in intrinsic mechanics as well.

First of all the car unlocking system is quite unique. While in most racing games, best cars are locked and are very expensive to buy, this game is completely different. All cars, slow or fast, SUVs or sports are unlocked since the beginning. However they are hidden throughout the brilliantly designed city. You just have to find them. As a result, this feature allows the instinct of exploration to surface which also helps the player to understand the layout and shortcuts of the city. Players spend hours exploring the city without doing any races just to find every car in the game because the journey of exploration is fun in itself.

Then there is the ‘Autolog’ which is the social networking feature of the game. Autolog constantly compare your times, speed and milestones with everyone in your friend list who also play the game. It intelligently recommends you to beat your friends' best racing times. The reason why Autolog works very well is because it encourages a low risk form of competition that is always happening in the background. Of course the game has multiplayer modes as well that gathers tens of racers together and randomly activate different events to compete. This randomness keep everyone in tow. It’s exciting not knowing what comes next.

In addition, the game has breathtaking long distance jumps you can perform at specific points on the map. There are lots of them scattered throughout the city. The cool social mechanic of it is that you jump through a billboard that has your friend’s face on it. Whoever did the highest jump get to put their face on the billboard. It’s very tempting to keep jumping the same spot in order to get your face on it. Plus it is also very satisfying to destroy your friend’s face.

When you find a car, each one has their own performance modification upgrades. You have to unlock them by doing different challenges with the same car. The game is quite hard without the upgrades, so you have to do these challenges. Even though you have unlocked every upgrades for, let’s say, an Audi, when you find a Lamborghini, you have to do the same challenges all over again to get the upgrades for that car. It is frustrating and time consuming. However the game provides ‘Time Saver Pack’ that instantly unlocks all upgrades for every car. It sounds greedy, but Time Saver Packs are a great way to make additional money beyond the game. Admittedly, the pack is well worth it because the game becomes easier and much more enjoyable as a result.

There are a lot more game mechanics like trophies, fear of being busted by the police, leaderboards that make the game more engaging. Nonetheless, I believe the ones mentioned above provide the strongest motivations that keep many players racing through the city for hours on end.