I finally got around to picking this up last night. I can't tell if its just the game or not, but I'm really not feeling this one.

I've only put in about 3 hours between SP and MP, but my excitement for this title went like the air out of a balloon.

In trying to put my finger on it, I'm starting to think the Horizon just came and really stole all my excitement for a new racing title in 2012.

Am I the only one who feels like Jeff's 4/5 is a little generous, considering the shadow it stands in when next to Horizon? The MP seems kinda cool, but simple things like waiting 5 minutes for a meetup really tank it for me.

Furthermore, has anyone who has not played Horizon love this new Criterion NFS?

you're not the only one.

I'm with you on this one, Horizon is just a better game than this. While the MP is kinda fun and unique all the waiting that takes place between events is a huge bummer, especially when i just want to have a few quick races before i have to go somewhere.

I am about 5+ hours into the NFSMW SP, and in those hours I havent once had as much fun as I did playing the Horizon demo... I picked the wrong racing game I think. NFSMW isn't bad, but its just not Burnout Paradise 2. Which is what I stupidly allowed myself to believe it would be... also the cops ...ugh.. the cops...

This game is just bad. Forza really doesn't have anything to do with it.

I think its just the first Criterion racing game that doesn't focus on crashing... and maybe that's the problem..?

@Blur_Fan said:

I think its just the first Criterion racing game that doesn't focus on crashing... and maybe that's the problem..?

Hot Pursuit wasn't really about crashing. In fact, it's more difficult to crash in Hot Pursuit, you have to really belt fools in that game to knock them out. In Most Wanted any multiplayer race just becomes an endless series of uninspiring, light wrecks.

@Blur_Fan said:

I think its just the first Criterion racing game that doesn't focus on crashing... and maybe that's the problem..?

Hot Pursuit wasn't really about crashing. In fact, it's more difficult to crash in Hot Pursuit, you have to really belt fools in that game to knock them out. In Most Wanted any multiplayer race just becomes an endless series of uninspiring, light wrecks.

Man... I really didn't want to go back to 360 gaming except for Halo 4 but it looks like Forza Horizon is also on my want list now.

I picked up Forza today this is the first Forza game I have picked up.

@Brodehouse said:

@Blur_Fan said:

I think its just the first Criterion racing game that doesn't focus on crashing... and maybe that's the problem..?

Hot Pursuit wasn't really about crashing. In fact, it's more difficult to crash in Hot Pursuit, you have to really belt fools in that game to knock them out. In Most Wanted any multiplayer race just becomes an endless series of uninspiring, light wrecks.

Really? The main enjoyment i got out of HP was deceiving the cops and making them wreck/focus on the other racers. It became like a fighting game for me at some point, with parries and counters to the drivers and their loadouts.

Most Wanted just really feels neutered when it comes to driver interactions. I fear the traffic and hairpin turns more than my opponents in MW. Which is ultimately how Forza plays, but they convey the driving better.

@Blur_Fan said:

I finally got around to picking this up last night. I can't tell if its just the game or not, but I'm really not feeling this one.

I've only put in about 3 hours between SP and MP, but my excitement for this title went like the air out of a balloon.

In trying to put my finger on it, I'm starting to think the Horizon just came and really stole all my excitement for a new racing title in 2012.

Am I the only one who feels like Jeff's 4/5 is a little generous, considering the shadow it stands in when next to Horizon? The MP seems kinda cool, but simple things like waiting 5 minutes for a meetup really tank it for me.

Furthermore, has anyone who has not played Horizon love this new Criterion NFS?

I love this new NFS, and while I've only played the demo for Horizon, it didn't feel anywhere near as fun, it might be a better made game, or at least more sound in terms of mechanics, but damn it, Most Wanted is the most fun I've had with a racing game since Burnout Paradise, and I haven't even tried multi player yet.

So I'm someone who loved the Burnout games and don't really play many other racing games. Should I get Forza or NFS?

@Heltom92: Probably Need For Speed. It's basically a Burnout game. Forza is much more about actual racing.

@Heltom92 said:

So I'm someone who loved the Burnout games and don't really play many other racing games. Should I get Forza or NFS?

I've only played Forza. But a bad framerate is unforgivable for a racing game, especially a Criterion release.

@Heltom92: I was a huge fan of the Burnout series but I say get Forza Horizon. It's glorious and so much fun.

@Blur_Fan said:

I fear the traffic and hairpin turns more than my opponents in MW. Which is ultimately how Forza plays, but they convey the driving better.

Ironically, I think Forza Horizon has way less of those moments who break the flow of the game than NFS:MW. If you crash into traffic or bump into a corner you merely lose a little bit of speed instead of having to sit through a few seconds of crashing. And considering how annoying the police in NFS:WM becomes, I highly appreciate the complete absence of police in Forza Horizon. To me it really seems the design philosophy behind Forza Horizon was to make the game as much fun as possible and to punish the player as little as possible. That's not to say the game is not challenging... it's as challenging as you want it to be but it also makes for an excellent "zen" game if you just want to cruise Colorado.

@CptBedlam said:

@Heltom92: I was a huge fan of the Burnout series but I say get Forza Horizon. It's glorious and so much fun.

@Blur_Fan said:

I fear the traffic and hairpin turns more than my opponents in MW. Which is ultimately how Forza plays, but they convey the driving better.

Ironically, I think Forza Horizon has way less of those moments who break the flow of the game than NFS:MW. If you crash into traffic or bump into a corner you merely lose a little bit of speed instead of having to sit through a few seconds of crashing. And considering how annoying the police in NFS:WM becomes, I highly appreciate the complete absence of police in Forza Horizon. To me it really seems the design philosophy behind Forza Horizon was to make the game as much fun as possible and to punish the player as little as possible. That's not to say the game is not challenging... it's as challenging as you want it to be but it also makes an excellent "zen" game if you just want to cruise Colorado.

To add to this point, which I think is 100% correct, Forza goes out of its way to do the little things in order to be considerate of the player.

Like, you know how, in 99% of driving games with traffic, whenever there's a blind corner you have to take tightly the developers always script an NPC car in that lane just around the bend? Forza doesn't do that shit. Forza wants you to drive well and it wants you to enjoy yourself. It doesn't get off on punishing you for shit you have no idea is coming, or would have no way of counteracting.

I have fun playing both games actually.

It certainly has for me. I prefer single player and Forza has more then enough for me. I'll wait for some black friday deals for NFS

Poor uni student here: should I even open Need for Speed? Or just keep it sealed, sell it on eBay and get Forza instead?

@EVO said:

Poor uni student here: should I even open Need for Speed? Or just keep it sealed, sell it on eBay and get Forza instead?

Do you have a receipt? If so, just bring it back and get FH. But even if not, get FH. ;)

@EVO said:

@CptBedlam bought it on eBay.

I see, then just sell it and invest your valuable time in FH.

FH has no online pass btw. (ripoff dlc instead). So you could just get a used copy.

@CptBedlam said:

@EVO said:

@CptBedlam bought it on eBay.

I see, then just sell it and invest your valuable time in FH.

FH has no online pass btw. (ripoff dlc instead). So you could just get a used copy.

The onlinepass for NFS: Most Wanted is a weird thing. You can play online without it but you don't get the speed points online unless you enter the code..

FUCK IT! Original Most Wanted is where it's at. I just installed it on my PC and it holds up amazingly well. Especially after I installed a lighting mod it looks really good. There's even some really good looking texture mods but I feel like the game doesn't really even need that even if the textures can be a bit blurry sometimes. 
 
And the FMV is so goooooooood.

I loved NFS hot pursuit, thought it was an excellent game. I got the 1 hour trial with my PSN + and didn't even finish that. By about 30 minutes in of doing a little single player and multiplayer it just wasn't clicking for me. Pretty happy I got that trial to help make my decision of not buying it.

Another weird thing is how the online competition stacks up. I don't mind the unlock/reward system, but I amazed that it makes as much of a difference as it does.

I'm only Speed Level like 17 for online or something with a SLS, and I was playing with against someone who was 35 with a Lambo Avedendor. This guy was simply crushing me on both speed and toughness. I played about 4 rounds in the "room" and he came up #1 every time. He would speed/smash his way to the front. It makes me think that high-level online play could be the game I was hoping for - but damn, way to punish the low level players early on. It was almost deterring how OP that guy's "loadout" was.

I'll give it some more time, but I'm already itching to put Horizon back in.

It's hard to say. I don't even know if they are after the same audiences. As someone who plays a number of racing games these are two very different games. Plus, I don't know how much the general Need for Speed or arcade racing fan even cares or knows about Forza or is even aware that Forza Horizon is a different product from the normal Forza game.

I don't think it has anything to do with Forza. It's a combination of coming out during a busy week (if anything stole the spotlight this week, it was AC3), and most people being underwhelmed. I think this would've been the case regardless of Forza's existence.

oh god! why didn't i buy Horizon instead! damn it all!!!

@Blur_Fan said:

Am I the only one who feels like Jeff's 4/5 is a little generous, considering the shadow it stands in when next to Horizon?

Everyone has their thing, and i get the feeling that NFSMW's Multiplayer is a somewhat better experience on consoles (i got it on PC) but yeah, i was surprised by Jeffs review especially when you listen to him in the quicklook. The previews i've seen beforehand seemed the same, as if people weren't really enjoying themselves but trying to remain hopeful about it.

No, you're not alone as you can see by my 2 star review here.

I'm kinda of the opposite of the OP. It took some time for me to get the feel of this game but now that I have, I haven't played Horizon in days.

I know this is some real tin-foil hat shit but I can't help but wonder if Criterion was forced to gimp NFSMW, reducing its value to create a heavier DLC strategy and a more rapid sequel schedule.

I have really been enjoying single player, will probably do everyrace for every car. Online really sucks, it's not Burnout Paradise at all, BP was about chilling out online doing some co-op objectives. This is competitive every aspect, I hate how you get XP for ramming a parked "Opponent" who is probably checking their upgrades or changing car. I hate how I have to do races, I just want to find some cool people to do online challenges co-op with, that was so easy to do in Burnout Paradise. Now I would be lucky if we get some kind of co-op challenge on one of those stupid play lists, racing is terrible online too as it doesnt line you up ready for a race, you could be facing the wrong way when the race starts...Ugh I don't know if the media or the publishers are guilty for marketing this as Burnout Paradise 2 because it is not.

They could fix this by putting in a competitve\co-op filter. Competitive is what it is now, Co-Op is just challenges and takes away getting XP for TAKEDOWNS unless the challenge specifys takedowns. Nothing about this feels like a criterion game, how can they choose textures over framerate, I had to to turn on the frame smoothing feature that I usually turn off on my TV, you know the one that makes every show on TV look like a soap opera, but it seems to make games with bad framerate look way smoother.

I played a bit of this new Most Wanted over the weekend and I think that the game is garbage. I simply was not having fun. Every car I found handled like a boat on stilts which means avoiding traffic and obstacles is impossible. And the lighting effect are just silly - too many times there was such a damn glare in my view that I literally couldn't see where the upcoming corners were, let alone traffic.

Really disappointed since this was one of my most anticipated games this year because I enjoyed Burnout Paradise and Hot Pursuit 2010 so much.

Forza Horizon's demo is far more entertaining.

There are some super weird things in multiplayer that I've been noticing as I keep playing:

• Skill challenges that encourage takedowns. This is a neat idea, but I want a cooldown before people can just totally take drivers out of the race. 3 different times, I was taken out by someone mere seconds after the challenge started, just by speeding around the start area and slamming into people as it started. So now my only hope is to grief the other players for less points for the next 5+ minutes : \
• Not locking in people before the race officially starts. Ever single race now becomes a guessing game on which direction the race will be in. So you can either sit still and wait...although, someone will likely slam into you, or you can risk driving in the wrong direction for a few seconds. The people who guess right have always come in the top 3.
• Random Autolog disconnects

@Bourbon_Warrior: What is it that you like about singleplayer? Do the cops' persistence not bother you? Do you like more arcade racers/have you ever played something like Forza?

I've put probably about 5 hours into MW so far. The singleplayer feels like such a slog still. I have no desire to go search for cars, because I know its just going to end with a long drive to a race, only to be interrupted by an annoying pursuit. I enjoy aspects of the multiplayer, and it has a stronger mp bite than Horizon. However, I really don't see MW making out of November alive for me.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

Ugh I don't know if the media or the publishers are guilty for marketing this as Burnout Paradise 2 because it is not.

I'd put that completely on the media. They were the ones claiming Burnout: Paradise 2.

I never played Forza Horizons and I'm still having a mostly bad time with Most Wanted. The single-player is terrible. I hate it.

@Blur_Fan: I don't like racers where you can rewind, that only applies the first time. If you are retrying or going to a race you have completed in a different car just select start race or retry last event and it teleports you there with no cops.

Jeff overrates the multiplayer in this to a ridiculous level. All you spend your time doing is waiting to get back into the game after some prick crashed into you for the umpteenth time. Seriously, how could you watch that TNT and think it looks fun?

Both are different enough for them to be recommended for different reasons. I'm loving the multiplayer for Most Wanted so far.

NFS Most Wanted: Xbox 360, PC, PS3, PS Vita.

Forza Horizon: Xbox 360.

Yeah, i don't think so.

Sucks. I had Horizon pre-ordered, then all these trailers for Most Wanted started coming out convincing me it was the next Burnout Paradise and I switched. Now Most Wanted is being traded in for Halo 4, while I likely would have kept Horizon for a long time.

I'm kind of down on the fact that the single player is lacking. MP looms fun and Hot Pursuit had great online, but if I play a racing game I want the single player stuff to be more engaging.

Well I don't know about consoles but on PC, the amount of 'outside of the US' people blaring their music over their mics has really hurt this game for me. Jeff Gerstmann pointed out that he was running into russians doing it but I've had russians, middle eastern people, polish, german, french people blaring music in their native languages extremely loud over mic.

The mute system is fucked also. Takes so long to find out who's blaring the music.

I only have good memories from the original most wanted. It was packed in with my xbox360 around launch. Loved the newest hot pursuit, but this most wanted fails in almost every way to appeal to me. I've had an awesome time with Forza Horizon, and it sure will last for a while so i'm gonna skip this one.

@Blur_Fan: I agree, it makes a really underwhelming impression.

There was a time when Criterion were the masters of 60FPS arcade racing magic, but they seem to have really struggled to some to terms with what a racing game in 2012 should be. I never thought I'd see them put out a game this framey, this unpolished, with such an unwieldy set of play systems.

They used to be the masters of the number one thing a video game should be: fun. Between the endless cop chases, trying to manage those damn menus whilst driving, and the empty, repetitive open world, this game just isn't.

Don't get me wrong, the effects are super-pretty, and the online integration continues to be a leader in its class, but remember Burnout 3: Takedown? That thing was a truly unmissable entertainment experience. This just feels like Criterion coasting. Damn, even that title smacks of a team that has lost its mojo: "Fuck it, let's just call it 'Most Wanted' again..."

Forza is $15.00 At The MS Store (ONLINE) have not played a racing game in so long

Forza is $15.00 At The MS Store (ONLINE) have not played a racing game in so long

For me, no. Granted: I'm not normally a racing guy, so perhaps my perspective is different. But I played about 5 minutes of the Forza Horizon demo and the driving, while more accessible than the normal Forza games, still felt too Forza-like (that is to say, realistic) for me to enjoy.

In contrast, I tried the full game trial for Most Wanted on PSN, and fell in love. Yeah, there are parts which are complete bullshit (nothing is quite so infuriating as to have a cop wreck by hitting you, then get stuck in front of your car, slowing you to almost a complete stop until you can get out from behind the wreck). But ultimately, the driving itself is just so much more fun than Horizon that I could never consider that game.

@bigstrat2003 said:

For me, no. Granted: I'm not normally a racing guy, so perhaps my perspective is different. But I played about 5 minutes of the Forza Horizon demo and the driving, while more accessible than the normal Forza games, still felt too Forza-like (that is to say, realistic) for me to enjoy.

In contrast, I tried the full game trial for Most Wanted on PSN, and fell in love. Yeah, there are parts which are complete bullshit (nothing is quite so infuriating as to have a cop wreck by hitting you, then get stuck in front of your car, slowing you to almost a complete stop until you can get out from behind the wreck). But ultimately, the driving itself is just so much more fun than Horizon that I could never consider that game.

I agree with your assessment of the driving in Most Wanted (not in Forza, but that's purely a personal preference), however my biggest problem with the game is that I only agree about how great the driving in Most Wanted is when you've managed to unlock all of the upgrades for your car. Before then, especially before you get any boost, I just find the cars too sluggish, and when you've finally unlocked all of the upgrades, you have no more races to use that car in (aside from the Most Wanted races, of which there are relatively few).