Not That Good
I think this is a step in the wrong direction for this series, it actually feels like a step backwards.
The series has had some awful games recently, no question about that. And this is an improvement over those games for sure, but it also isn't what it should have been. Given the title, I expected a game a lot more like NFS: Most Wanted. But this game is far too stripped down to fit the bill.
There is no car customization, no upgrades for the cars, and the "open world" is not very open. It is nothing more than a series of mostly linear tracks that feel very bland.
The cars themselves are also just plain boring. Some feel faster than others, but that is about the only difference. When you compare this to a game like Forza it just feels so backwards and primitive. It reminds me of an old Super Nintendo game, that is how poor the variation is.
The graphics are also just plain bad for this point in the console's life cycle. They look 3rd rate compared to other games that are out there, and for a series with this big of a name there is no excuse for that.
Worse yet are some of the choices made by EA. In their ongoing anit-consumer war against used games and rentals, they force you to enter a code to play online. That alone is unforgivable in my book, and earns this game an automatic 1 star. To add insult to injury, you are forced to watch an unskippable trailer for NFW:Shift when you first start your game.
Avoid this typical EA game, soulless and lackluster are the best ways to describe it.
