Need For Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0

Written by Adam Woolcott  on December 13, 2005

Review: Here's the 4-1-1 on 5-1-0 - drive like this for real though, and you'll need to call 9-1-1

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It must be some sort of record that the PSP has now seen two Need for Speed games within 9 months. A launch title, Need for Speed Underground: Rivals, was a solid game with some pesky technological issues, much of which were excused due to the newness of the hardware Ц after all, you have to start somewhere. However, Rivals was not a dumbed-down port from NFSU2; it was its own game. Here we are though, with yet another NFS game, in a portable rendition of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, with a special 5-1-0 (police code for chase) subtitle to signify that this version is unique to the platform Ц just like Rivals was. On the surface, the word unique could be a fancy way of saying this version has been heavily altered due to technical limitations, but that's not true, as you'll soon discover. All of the technical flaws of NFSU Rivals have been eliminated, leaving a much smoother game, though in its wake are a few new 'issues' that may not even bother some. The class of PSP racers is still a 2 horse battle with Ridge Racer and Burnout Legends, but Most Wanted 5-1-0 is definitely an excellent alternative to either one, and even those with a console version of MW should check it out.

Upon booting up NFS for the first time, you might be surprised to see that this version of the game is far different than the one you'd find on consoles, in the same fashion that Rivals was far different from Need for Speed Underground 2, making it a far more acceptable version of double-dipping. The main career mode is fundamentally the same Ц you have to rise up the blacklist by beating each of the 15 top racers Ц but there's no open city to traverse (even if Rockstar proved it could be done with GTA), no Revenge-fueled storyline, or hot racer girl assisting you, though you can catch glimpses of Mia on loading screens. In other words, 5-1-0 strips the console version down to the basics, which may feel like a blessing in disguise to many. Your main goal is to earn enough respect to get the attention of your current Blacklist target, done through winning races, naturally. Most of the familiar race modes are here, such as knockouts, time trials, and whatnot, with one new addition, being heat challenges where you have to get as high a police heat as possible within a certain time limit. Surprisingly drag races are nowhere to be found. Beating each Blacklist racer and finishing all their events unlocks a bonus part event and eventually starts unlocking faster vehicles, which is a slimmed-down version of the car list from the console version of Most Wanted, though you can find plenty of tuners and exotics to tinker with.

Aside from the Career setup, there's a couple new events to tackle. Tuner Takedown is one of them Ц absent from the consoles, Tuner Takedown lets you play the cops and chase down racers. Each one you successfully take out adds more time to a constantly ticking clock; if you take out the required amount of racers, you advance to the next stage. It plays basically like a neutered version of Pursuit from Burnout Legends, but it can be pretty fun. There's also Outrun, where the goal is to get as far away from the pesky police as possible until they lose you, which usually requires dirty tricks since the cop AI has annoying magical abilities, which we'll get into later. Of course, if you want to race single events or time trials, that can be done and it's fully customizable. The tracks do need to be unlocked in Career though Ц all of which are exclusive to PSP, and not recycled or dumbed down from the console versions. Multiplayer can be done in traditional Ad Hoc wireless, and most importantly, via Infrastructure as well. Unfortunately there's not many people online playing, unless I log on at strange hours. It's good to see EA supporting the PSP's online capabilities though.

If you played NFSU Rivals, you probably remember a couple issues with the racing, such as the wild-handling cars and jittery camera. These things have been rectified with Most Wanted. Some of the cars are a tad loose, but others move like they were on rails, especially around turns when they gracefully take easy corners. It all depends on your upgrades really, as they make profound differences in handling & performance. The jittery camera also has been repaired, and manages to hold up well even when you have a fast car that absolutely flies across the screen. Frustratingly, EA didn't move the Nitrous button, so again you have to awkwardly press Circle to trigger it rather than reverse it with the L button which functions as the look-back, which you likely won't use as much. But that's just small potatoes when so much has been fixed and the game is far more polished than the hurried Rivals. The more wide-open tracks of this version of NFSMW are a bit simpler than those found in the console version, but they're littered (and I mean littered) with shortcuts and alternate routes Ц some are on the map, while others aren't. And in old-school fashion, there's no real markings either, leaving it up to quick reflexes when you spot one. Things do run a bit on the easy side, and it's pretty easy to outrun opponents Ц especially since they rarely use the really good shortcuts. Actually, it would be easy without The Law trying to put you out of commission.

Like its console cousins, 5-1-0 features police all over the place, but unlike the big boys, the cops are far, far more prevalent (only Blacklist races are spared). And annoying. They're far more aggressive and hope to clip you, trap you in trickily-placed roadblocks, and eventually throw out the spike strips. In other words, they're little bastards like you'd expect. But they have a cheap side. Apparently these police have the ability to travel at warp speed, as even if you clip them, ram them into traffic, or send them careening into their own roadblocks, they manage to get right back on your tail within 5 seconds. It'd be amazing if it wasn't so blatantly ridiculous. Even worse, sometimes they will completely bypass opponents and target you exclusively, though on one occasion I saw them bust all 3 opponents in a race. Just once. They never go away Ц even if all the cops get taken out by your trickery, they'll just send more and more until you finish or get busted. Heat level also dictates pressure, as it rises when top speed is reached, when you slam into traffic, take out squad cars, or simply be caught speeding. If in a Career race you get the maximum heat level of 10, you are given the option to 'Double Down' where you earn more respect and cash by Outrunning the cops. If you fail, you lose everything and have to do it again. Most of the time though, this risk isn't worth the reward since it's easy to get money and you'll always get enough respect to battle a Blacklist racer.

Visually, MW suffers from the same sort of things that hampered the console versions. Since the game has moved to the daytime, there's no cool lighting effects, neon, and whatnot that made Rivals look really nice earlier this year even with that choppy framerate. In its place is a bright area with plenty of sun...but the whole thing is pretty plain. Car models are nice, track designs are sharp thanks to all the alternate routes, shortcuts, and crazy turns in places, the sense of speed is really good, and the framerate is solid...but the whole thing screams dull technologically speaking. There's not even the same sort of gritty feel that Most Wanted has on PS2. Perhaps next time around, EA will mix in the day and night for a more varied experience. The audio end takes a hit too, since there's none of the voice acting and cutscenes from the console version, leaving simply the same uninspired, boring, and forgettable set of EA Trax straight from the consoles. Oh, for a custom soundtrack option with this game. All you have is the sounds of engines, brakes, skidding, and the annoying as hell wail of police sirens Ц magnified when there's 3 or 4 squad cars chasing you around.