I don't think any of our Coop Gamers played Need for Speed 1994, yes yes, it was in this promising year that the first part of the best series of racing games was released - The Need for Speed. And already the very first release influenced the future of the game, because the implementation and graphics for this year were gorgeous. Since the 20th century, it has gone around the world as one of the best series. And it was not for nothing that it “went”, everyone began to buy it: both children and adults. Okay, that's enough history.

Today I invite you to choose the best part of the game, the best implementation of arcade racing. Let's forget about the graphics, because the horse understands that every year the graphics in games are improving, and therefore in our franchise too, let's choose according to other criteria, the plot there, or the part where the coolest fleet of vehicles in the entire series. Although, if the main thing for you is the image quality on your 40-inch monitor, then go ahead, but I will evaluate these games based on other characteristics...

And yes, I won’t list all the parts Need for Speed, you understand, there are a lot of them, but I’ll present the best releases from the series in my opinion worldwide network. So, let's begin!

Need for Speed: Underground

Olympic City is a fictional city in which events take place. Underground. Racer Ryan Cooper moves to a new, but completely unfamiliar crowd, Samantha sees him as a good driver and decides to raise her reputation on his skills. She helps him get comfortable in the city and explains the situation on the streets, talking about the Eastsiders and their leader Eddie. Ryan Cooper decides to take the lead in street racing, he has to defeat every member of the gang and meet his main rival on Nissan Skyline GT-R 34.

At all Need for Speed: Underground became popular mainly thanks to the film on which it was based - Fast and Furious. This is the first NFS series where car tuning appeared. The game has 6 types of races and 20 cars, among which are: Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Eclipse And Toyota Supra, these are the cars that were used in the first part of the film The Fast and the Furious.

And the next masterpiece of the series was:

Need for Speed: Underground 2

was released after a successful debut Underground and became a continuation of a wonderful series Need for Speed. The action also takes place with the participation of cool and expensive spare parts, but the plot is completely redone, but is a sequel to the previous part.

New city - new cool cars and no less cool girls. Ryan Cooper is coming to new town- Bayview. The "unbeaten" city is divided into five districts, where each has its own king. Rachel, the hero's new girlfriend, introduces him to the city, in which Ryan will have to try and become the leader of all parts of Bayview, while simultaneously investigating the events of the accident of the contender for the place of the best street racer in the city.

IN There are 7 types of races, and the interior has been replenished with 11 cars; in the collection you can count 31 mind-blowing cars.

Continuing to remember our favorite street racing series, we move on to the 9th issue:

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

The “Black List” is the most prestigious table on the streets for illegal racers, which cannot be said about the other side. The police compile this list, including the city's most wanted crippled racers. The hero loses his BMW in a rigged race, but Mia gives the player a chance by giving him money for new car. Now the racer strives to get into the TOP 15, escaping from the cops and winning “battles” against street racers.

45 exclusive units are in the showroom, and hundreds of spare parts and paint jobs are waiting for you in the garage. was the NFS revival of the chase game and was one of the first games to hit the Xbox 360.

Skipping the sequel M.W. - Carbon, we remember:

Need for Speed: ProStreet

Honestly, my favorite car simulator game... A damage system has appeared, which is divided into 3 stages.

The plot tells about the same Ryan Cooper, about that glorious street racer. But the guy is tired of wandering the streets, beating everyone, he decides to become a professional driver and therefore makes his way to official closed races in order to join the ranks of the best racers in the whole world. But to do this, he will have to compete with 5 race kings in his class and eventually come face to face with the king of the finals who dislikes him - Ryo Watanabe.

10 various types Racing is nothing but pleasing to the eye, and in addition with 76 cars there is nothing to talk about. Though ProStreet and does not give us free driving and a chase with the police, the game is certainly good.

The first representative of NFS, which was published in the store, is the 12th part of the famous series:

Need for Speed: Undercover

Events Undercover take place in the Tri-Cities. The main character is taken to work undercover with the police. The task is as simple as a drop of water: expose international criminals by quietly infiltrating a gang of street racers.

Need for Speed: Undercover the criticism was not considered successful, since the previous part of ProStreet gave a lot to the players, and Undercover didn't live up to expectations. And there are fewer cars compared to last game, but the players liked the series, despite the opinion of the professionals.

The next part of our duel becomes:

Need for Speed: Shift

The game, which essentially has no plot, has become quite popular. Well, yes, not everyone is interested in an exciting plot, someone just wants to compete in sports cars with other racers, feeling the roar of the engine and the movement of the car, albeit virtual, and that’s exactly what and provides it to us.

The developers immediately said that they would be focused on implementing the behavior of the car rather than on anything else. 19 tracks and 93 luxury cars are waiting for their players, they will do everything possible to make him feel the beauty of racing.

Don’t blame me, but I’ll let you out of the selection, since it was primarily developed for the PS3, and was not successful in the opinion of many players, although the graphics were excellent, the terrible tuning and unfinished plot “overwhelmed” the quality of the picture.

Well, the last one in the series and in our battle is:

Need for Speed: Rivals

Anniversary issue Need for Speed, became popular thanks to its network process and the game, both as a police officer and as a racer, and the graphics were also the reason for this. Since the developers were completely busy assembling the game, they didn’t have enough imagination for the name of the city and they simply changed two letters of the city from Need for Speed: Underground 2, naming the location - Redview.

Competition between friends, a realistic weather system, as well as a smooth transition from single player they make themselves known online, Thanks to this, it makes an impression on the players, but the tuning of the car again leaves much to be desired.

So, let's sum it up! The right to name the best race in the series Need for Speed is provided specifically to you, if there is still a series better than those listed above, write in the comments, place your favorites, until the new battle!

Almost every year a series Need For Speed ​​pleases us with a new game. And 2017 was no exception, the shelves were attacked by a new part under the title Payback, which again promised to restart the series and become one of the most important milestones in the development of the franchise.

Whether she succeeded in the end or not, let everyone decide for themselves (no!). Should we expect a new NFS in 2018? It's not clear yet. So I decided to indulge a little nostalgia and remember what I consider to be the five best parts of the most recognizable racing series in the gaming industry.

5th place – Need for Speed: Shift series (2009 – 2011)

After the release of the absolutely disastrous Need for Speed: Undercover (2008), Electronic Arts began to think that the series needed a radical reboot. Ultimately, the new authors of future games were Slightly Mad Studios, known to the gaming community for the GT Legends and GTR 2 projects.

The new team's first attempt to turn NFS into a serious driving simulator turned out to be controversial. Despite the rather exciting gameplay with races on real tracks, the game was criticized for strange physics and a boring career mode.

The chic design of car dealerships was one of the main features of the game.

Nevertheless, Shift sold well and two years later its improved version, Need For Speed: Shift 2: Unleashed, was released. Where the developers tried to take into account the mistakes of its predecessor and focus on innovations.

It was already difficult to criticize the second part for the career mode, because the developers added licensed championships.

True, the shortcomings of the first part still scared off the audience and Shift 2 sold very poorly. As a result, EA decided to abandon the further development of the series towards serious motorsport and severed ties with Slightly Mad.

Revolutionary at that time, the Autolog system turned the usual multiplayer into a real multiplayer challenge.

But despite the sad ending, these games turned out to be one of the most original and unusual in the series. That's why they take fifth place in my top list.

4th place – Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed / Porsche 2000 (2000)

In 2000, EA suddenly decided to conduct a small experiment on the series. In place of adrenaline-pumping chases came a unique trip along autumn European tracks, and hot sports cars were replaced by a journey into history and testing of production Porsche cars produced from 1950 to 2000. Moreover, for a detailed acquaintance, the developers built into the game an entire interactive encyclopedia, which allowed you to examine and “touch” each car in detail.

No drive or excitement, only mental satisfaction from driving a beautiful car.

To enhance the aesthetic pleasure of the gameplay, the developers slightly complicated the physics of the cars' behavior, due to which the game finely balanced between arcade style and a serious simulator.

But despite all the great features of the game and a fairly large number of devoted fans, Porsche Unleashed turned out to be a commercial failure. After which Electronic Arts even decided to close the series. True, over time, the project still became a cult and remains so to this day, and therefore it gets the fourth place in my top.

3rd place – Need for Speed ​​III: Hot Pursuit (1998)

After the very mixed reception of Need For Speed ​​II, the developers listened to criticism and in Hot Pursuit they decided to return the series to its roots, concentrating the gameplay as much as possible on adrenaline battles between racers and cops.

The physics in the game has become more arcade-like, due to which the emphasis has shifted from driving to the sensations of speed from chases.

In addition to beautiful, for those times, graphics and a high-quality soundtrack, the game was noted for the opportunity to take on the role of a police officer. This concept turned out to be so successful that players didn’t even notice the simplification of the beloved encyclopedia and the absence of expensive videos.

In 2002, a sequel to the game was released, and in 2010, a full-fledged remaster. Although the games turned out to be pretty good, they never managed to earn the level of cult following that the original Hot Pursuit had.

As a result, the third part sold a record number of copies for the series, and the mechanics and concept embedded in it determined the face of the franchise for many years to come. For which she gets third place in our top.

2nd place – Need for Speed: Underground series (2003 – 2004)

While the movie “Fast and the Furious” was thundering on cinema screens, thereby forming a layer of new culture, EA, having decided to take a bold step, radically changed the image of its racing series.

This is how the world saw Need For Speed ​​Underground, which, unexpectedly for everyone, offered to change from boring expensive sports cars to mass-produced Japanese small cars, and to replace the picturesque landscapes with the roads of a night metropolis.

Oncoming traffic and an insane sense of speed, complemented by a stunning licensed soundtrack, created a great atmosphere for street racing.

At the same time, no one was particularly embarrassed by the outrageously simplified physics and monotony of the tracks. Of course, now most of the time the players were in the garage, where, using tuning, they turned their inconspicuous factory cars into unique works of art.

E Ron Don Don…

Needless to say, the game’s sales were so crazy that exactly a year later the sequel, Need For Speed: Underground 2, hit the shelves.

Conceptually, the new game has not changed one iota, only the scope has changed: open world, increased variety of tuning and cars, stylish story inserts with a Playboy star in leading role and a huge PR company.

The tuning of the second part boasted an extensive number various items to modify the car and many at some point simply had no time for racing.

The success and influence of the series was so phenomenal that street racing became not only a popular topic of conversation, but also formed its own game genre, where every second one released his race through the night streets.

According to the plot, the player was required to defeat fifteen of the most influential racers, each of whom is not just a name on the board, but a separate character.

The icing on the cake in the new project was the return of the already largely forgotten police and supercar fleet. The game was again captivating with adrenaline-fueled battles with cops, where every meeting with representatives of the law turned into a truly hardcore test not for the faint of heart.

Chases were not just an additional mechanic, but a very important part of the gameplay.

As a result, Most Wanted has become a real collective image of all the successful finds that have accumulated in the series over twelve years. Thanks to this approach, the game attracted both a new audience who loved street racing, and an old one who adored riding along autumn tracks in sports cars while the police were chasing them. This is what made the game almost an ideal race for all generations of Need For Speed ​​fans, for which it gets first place in my top.

***

Let in last years, the legendary series is not doing very well. But we really hope that this is just a sign of a slightly prolonged crisis of self-determination. After all, after all, the series is only twenty-three years old, and its best times are still ahead.

The Need For Speed ​​racing series is a true legend in its genre. The first part of the racing game was released in 1994, when no one could have suspected that it was the brainchild of Electronic Arts that would set trends in the world of computer racing for a long time. The series has 23 parts on different platforms, with completely different concepts and themes. Among them there are both very successful and best parts of Need For Speed, and outright failed games. All races can be divided into several time periods and the most successful and significant for players and the industry can be identified among them. Let's look at each NFS epoch in more detail.

Release 1994 to 2002

Many gamers still believe that all the best parts of Need For Speed ​​were released in the first generation of games. In 1994, the first part was released on 3DO, and a year later it reached personal computers. The player was given access to all vehicles and tracks at the very beginning of the game. The description of each car has a separate video and text with characteristics. NFS was one of the first games in which developers tried to copy the real physical model of cars. This part cannot be called the best, but it can easily be considered one of the most significant, since it was with NFS 1 that the era of “Need for Speed” began.

Second part

Need For Speed ​​2 was released in 1997. Every aspect of it was improved, from the graphics to the fleet of vehicles. The creators have added new modes, track design, variability and much more. One of the main features is that only in the second part was it possible to drive exclusive supercars of that time.

Hot Pursuit

1998 and the release, according to most, of the best part - Need for Speed ​​3 Hot Pursuit. Based on the name, a police chase mode was added to this race, which means that the dynamics and variety of the project have increased significantly. Due to strong progress in graphics and 3D technologies, in the third part of the series, the developers managed to achieve excellent pictures, changes in weather, time of day, and so on. The game simply amazed the imagination, which is why it still remains the best part of Need For Speed, not only during the release period, but also to this day. The love of millions of fans can indicate that Hot Pursuit is a true legend and can make many gamers nostalgic even in 2017.

High Stakes

In 1999, High Stakes was released, which improved and refined all the ideas presented in the previous race. The main innovation was the High Stakes mode, where racers fought for their own cars. This moment added excitement and interest to what was happening. Now you receive a cash reward for winning championships and can install upgrades on your cars. To the delight of PC gamers, the creators have added absolutely all the tracks from their favorite Hot Pursuit. The High Stakes game did not become legendary, but it gained its audience and fans, so it can be considered a good and successful part.

Porsche Unleashed

The next game from 2000 is somewhat out of the ordinary in the series. Porsche Unleashed was entirely dedicated to Porsche products. The whole game was built on the love of cars of this brand. This was evident in everything - descriptions of sports cars, tests, level design and tasks. The game was appreciated not only by Porsche fans, but also by other gamers. Porsche Unleashed can be considered the best latest Need For Speed ​​title of that generation.

The game captivates with its landscapes and requires the driver to love and respect his car. Before starting your career, you had to pass tests, and unlocking vehicles took place by era, which added interest to the process.

Hot Pursuit 2

After a successful experiment, Electronic Arts returns to its roots and its previous ideas. Hot Pursuit 2 was the first game for EA's new Black Box studio, which would go on to produce the best of Need for Speed.

The game continues to develop the concept of the third numbered part. Racing is now divided into two championships - regular competitions and police chases. If the first mode was quite boring, then racing with cops could entertain and challenge any gamer. This is why fans loved this game. Hot Pursuit 2 was also the first game in the series to feature an entire soundtrack featuring licensed tracks from various artists, making NFS songs the face of the game.

The era of street racing and tuning

In the early 2000s, the movie “Fast and Furious” was released, where the main theme was night racing, neon lighting, chases with cops and girls. In the wake of the success of the film, the company began developing the thematic part of NFS and released Underground in 2003.

This game has become truly iconic and significant in the fate of the entire series. The radical change in direction benefited the project. Instead of expensive supercars, you will find cheap Japanese cars and city cars, which you need to improve with your own resources and resources. The police disappeared from the streets, but a full-fledged night city with neon lights, music and other paraphernalia was added. Underground hasn't yet added an open world, but that hasn't stopped players. The complexity of the races also captivated me - at the end of my career it took several attempts to reach the finish line first (the rest of the places, as we know, were not rewarded in any way).

EA caught the wave and understood what gamers needed. Exactly a year later, the sequel Underground 2 comes out. The creators left the concept intact and decided to add more features and improve the graphics. Many players are still arguing which part is better: Need for Speed ​​Underground or Underground 2. On the side is a second open world, improved graphics, more tuning options, modes and a tolerable plot. The first one was captivating with its complexity, soundtrack and dynamics. Underground 2 truly gave the player complete freedom. For example, to improve appearance First you need to find the appropriate store with the parts. To gain fame, you need to earn style stars and be featured on the covers of car magazines, and sponsorship contracts provide discounts on components. A real dream for a street racer in the early 2000s.

Most Wanted

Here we come to the game, which is rightfully considered the last best part of the Need For Speed ​​game. On the wave of success of night racing open city, the developers begin to develop their idea. Night gives way to day, peace officers are added and the stakes are raised. In Most Wanted, the vehicle fleet has been changed - now the player has access to not only inexpensive city cars, but also supercars. The tuning system was simplified, but this did not affect the gameplay in any way. The main pride of "Bridge of Wonted" is the chase. Competing with the police is truly interesting and challenging. The plot is presented by a “black list” of 15 racers who must be defeated in stages: gaining reputation points, winning races and completing tasks in pursuits with cops. The last part is the most interesting in the game. Need for Speed ​​Most Wanted deservedly received high ratings, warm reviews from the community and a long life. At the moment, you can safely run “Bridge of Wonted” and not be afraid of the outdated graphics, and in terms of dynamics, this part “matches” many modern races.

Controversial parts

After the very successful Most Wanted, the developers hit a losing streak. In 2006, a sequel to The Bridge of Wonted was released in the form of NFS Carbon. Almost all the favorite elements remained in place - bosses, police, tuning and racing modes. However, the game lost its face and was too short, and the graphics left much to be desired. A passage that is not necessarily recommended for familiarization at the present time.

In 2007, EA Black Box changed direction and released Pro Street with semi-professional racing. The concept of tuning, a large fleet of vehicles and bosses in each type of competition turned out to be interesting, but other decisions were controversial. Firstly, many did not like the physics of car behavior. Secondly, the passage of the career mode is too long and gets boring in the middle. We recommend you read it if you are tired of the topic of street racing.

Need for Speed ​​Undercover 2008 is considered one of worst games in the series. The creators returned to street racing and the police, adding a plot with cinematic inserts. As planned, Undercover was supposed to bring back fans of Most Wanted, but in reality it turned out differently. Poor performance, low level of artificial intelligence, boring tasks and many other little things affected it. The advantages include a large fleet of vehicles and tuning.

NFS Shift is difficult to put on par with previous races. EA Black Box was developed together with another studio. The part is aimed at serious professional racing with a realistic model of behavior. However, normal physics did not work out the first time, so players were left to admire the beautiful graphics and a large fleet of vehicles.

Return of NFS

In 2010, the developers of the game were Criterion Games, known for Hot Pursuit 2010, which is a remake of the original part with many improvements. This game boldly ranks with the legendary Most Wanted and is called by many the best part of Need For Speed. Reviews for it are extremely positive. Everything is good in Hot Pursuit 2010: luxury cars and beautiful graphics, picturesque scenery on the tracks, various competition and chase modes. It’s also worth noting the excellent multiplayer, in which you can still meet nostalgic players. Hot Pursuit 2010 is the second part of the series after Most Wanted, which is definitely recommended to get acquainted with.

The Run

The Run is also an experiment, just like Shift. The game completely abandoned the open world and tuning in favor of plot and entertainment. It didn't turn out as well as we would have liked - there wasn't enough plot, and the races, in turn, were too boring. Still, The Run is worth getting acquainted with because of its uniqueness and graphical component - watching constantly changing locations North America really interesting.

Most Wanted 2012

Electronic Arts' line of remakes of its own projects did not go well immediately after the re-release of Hot Pursuit. Criterion Games is already completely taking over the series and releasing an unsuccessful game. The only good thing about Most Wanted 2012 is the graphics - a beautiful city and well-designed car models. Otherwise, the concept was a failure - complete absence plot, tuning and even the slightest sense of what is happening.

Rivals

The work on fixing the errors was very successful. The plot still left much to be desired, but game process compensated for everything. Rivals offers separate campaigns for racers and police. Dynamic chases, special skills and the open world made this part a good online entertainment.

Restart

In 2015, the series was restarted. The new part is called Need for Speed ​​2015 and returns the player to night racing. Expensive cars, tuning, police - everything seems to be as it should be, only each of the elements disappoints. The police are considered the weakest among all parts of the series. The physical model of behavior causes pain for real fans of computer racing, and the storyline is naive and does not correspond to its time.

As a result, Payback was released in 2017. A newly open world, a plot with real actors, a lot of cars and tuning. On this moment It's too early to say whether this game will be the best. But intermediate reviews say otherwise.

Results

From the entire list, judging by the feedback from the community, it is recommended to definitely play NFS 3: Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit 2010 (as in the best parts of the series), Porsche Unleashed, Pro Street, Shift, The Run (as in interesting experiments ). Also, both parts of Underground, the relatively fresh Rivals and the latest Payback, will bring a lot of pleasure to the player. Now you know which parts of Need For Speed ​​are the best and which parts you shouldn't waste your free time on.

Back in the glorious 90s, the phrase “ Need for Speed" has become synonymous with the word " racing". And although this is not the only successful racing series, no one has yet managed to surpass its popularity (or at least repeat it). Why? Perhaps the answer to this question can be found by analyzing the 10 best parts of Need for Speed.

There are a great many similar ratings, surveys and TOPs, and, as a rule, they categorically do not coincide with each other. In one stubborn rating that I happened to see, a monster called NFS: Rival was even in first place! So we had to create our own survey, which, we hope, will allow us to judge gamer sympathies relatively objectively.

The most cool games NFS

10. Need for Speed: ProStreet (2007)

Street racing? No, have not heard

ProStreet managed to grab with its frail little hands the last carriage of the departing train and jump to the last step of our rating. Many seasoned NFS fans prefer to spit in disgust when they accidentally meet ProStreet on the street. And all because this game was “not like everyone else”: the emphasis was shifted from street racing to more professional rides on race tracks. Now the car could be smashed into rubbish and this, to the delight of its rivals, seriously reduced its driving performance. The cops have disappeared, and with them the mode of free driving in the open world.

Such fashionable words as “traction control” and “abs” appeared in the settings - not every student realized the possibility of disabling them, as a result of which he splattered the entire monitor with saliva, cursing the disgusting controls. In addition, different types of races required the use different types cars All this created a feeling of isolation from the series - fans racing simulators like Colin McCrae Rally, such a game might have been liked, but fans of the series wondered what had happened to their favorite NSF. ProStreet cannot be called a failure, nor a success - it was unusual, sometimes misunderstood, with its own pros and cons.

9. Need for Speed: The Run (2011)

The Run pleases with a well-drawn eagle and American nature

The guys from EA are not afraid to experiment, and in The Run, players again saw a number of innovations. A plot has appeared in NFS. Of course, he was present before, but in “The Race” he is placed at the forefront - he cannot be ignored. The main character finds himself drawn into mafia squabbles and now, in order to leave the mafia as friends, he needs to win a race from San Francisco to New York, in which 50 people are participating, and hit a good jackpot. And for the first time in NFS, this one main character I discovered that you can get out of the car! Not in the middle of the race, of course (after all, this is not GTA), but during some sharp plot twists you will have to abandon the car and run from the bad guys on foot, enjoying the action that is unfolding behind you.

All races are part of one large-scale race. Since the journey passes through all of America, a variety of exciting locations are included: rocks, forests and deserts, cities and villages, night and daytime races - for every taste. Therefore, the main plus, in addition to the plot, is the graphics - on top level. On the downside, despite the variety of locations, the races become boring over time and seem the same type. After all, with rare exceptions, only the “sprint” and “chase” modes are presented here (although escaping from snow avalanche truly epic, but such events are rare in the game). So, like ProStreet, NFS Run received mixed reviews.

8. Need for Speed: Undercover (2008)

The developers know: in order for stupid gamers to understand that they are driving fast, the picture must be carefully blurred

Game critics were harsh: Gambling Mania, which a year before had praised ProStreet (score 8.0), gave the NSF “Undercover” 6 points, accusing it of all mortal sins. Representatives of another authoritative publication, Playground, also agreed with their colleagues, giving Undercover a rating of 5.9. But, naturally, the opinion of some authoritative critics is nothing for us compared to the point of view of experienced schoolchildren who vote for Undercover. Why is this part so loved by a certain part of the players and not liked by critics? And which of them to believe?

Let's start with what catches your eye the most: the vehicle fleet is taken from ProStreet (you can count the new cars on your fingers), and the physics, it seems, have not undergone noticeable changes over the year. The cops were picked up from Most Wanted, having previously made the police chases easier. Like everything else: the races are quite easy, especially in the first half of the game.

Overall, the game leaves a feeling of being somewhat unfinished - as if EA decided to create some semblance of Wonted Bridge and Underground 2, but a good idea was ruined by a terrible implementation. Nevertheless, the game has found its fans - it can be recommended to beginners who have just begun their acquaintance with the NFS series. But the rest will be a bit boring.

7. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)

How did the idea to create Most Wanted 2012 even come about? It all started in 2010, when EA changed the development team. Instead of Black Box, who worked on all parts of the NSF from 2000 to 2010, the Canadians gave work on the racing series to Criterion Games. Their first project was the creation of Hot Pursuit, which we will return to a little later. Probably, the successful debut had a powerful impact on the developers and they decided to encroach on the sacred - NFS: Most Wanted. Despite the fact that there is no relation the same one There is no MW for the resulting game. At all.

Most Wanted 2012 breaks many patterns - even those that were not worth breaking at all. For example, there is no plot at all: the player simply appears in the middle of the city. Who is he, what is he doing here, why is he racing - figure it out yourself. There are a lot of cars parked throughout the city - any of them can be taken completely free to participate in races. The passage comes down to defeating 10 racers from the “black list” of the original MW - this is the only reference to the first part. To fight with the leaders of this rating, you need bonus points, which are earned in regular races.

The game has nice graphics, good races, there is a multiplayer mode (although there are no police in it), but the strange decisions of the developers reduce all good ideas to nothing: the lack of a plot and a free car kills all motivation and interest in completing the game. And the Most Wanted brand only adds to the disappointment: after all, any gamer, seeing these 2 words, is looking forward to seeing something completely different.

6. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)

Hot Pursuit was undoubtedly a success for Electronic Arts: the transfer of the NFS series to Criterion Games allowed the series to be refreshed after its less successful predecessors. Some innovations implemented in Hot Pursuit allowed it to receive applause from critics, who did not skimp on good ratings for this game. What's special about it?

For the first time in for a long time the game provided 2 full-fledged campaigns: not only for a street racer, but also on the side of the cops. And we can say with complete confidence that never before in the NFS series has so much attention been paid to playing as police officers - so in this regard, the new product managed to reach the heights of the legendary NFS 3. And thanks to Autolog, with an Internet connection, the game appeared in all its glory: The multiplayer mode allowed up to 8 people to participate in a race or chase. At the same time, Autolog allows you to see the results of your friends in order to try to surpass them - the reward for this is not only a feeling of satisfaction, but also special bonuses (experience points).

Among the pleasant little things, it is also worth noting the change of day and night - in “Hot Pursuit” the sun can go below the horizon right during the race.

5. Need for Speed: Carbon (2007)

Although NFS: Carbon is traditionally rejected by many fans of the series (at least by fans of the Underground and MW), this did not stop it from gaining relative support from critics - ratings from the same Igromania and other publications allow us to obtain an average score of 7.5. And this toy also has fans. How did Carbon bribe them?

The first is a good tuning system, with all the usual bells and whistles, which after the Underground were cut down in the Vanthede Bridge. The second is the night atmosphere of a small town. In general, Carbon gathered an audience due to certain similarities with NFS: Underground. Similarities in in a good way This word - the graphics are really nice: raindrops, various tracks, including a dangerous mountain serpentine - all this is a plus. But there were some downsides.

Only the lazy did not spit on the command system. And there’s a reason: don’t you have enough crustacean teammates in other games? Great, now they will destroy other people's nerve cells in Need for Speed ​​too. In Carbon you have to race with your own “gang”, which, in theory, should help you get victories. It sounds interesting, but only in theory. In practice, the behavior of partners gives rise to infinite set questions, the answer to which may be a disappointing medical diagnosis. And the capture of areas, obviously taken from GTA, forces you to go through the same type of races several times and are too easy to intrigue.

This is what Carbon is all about: endless simple races are diluted with overly complex and annoying “duels” with bosses on mountain serpentine roads. And these extremes, without any golden mean, are infuriating. From my subjective point of view, going through NFS: Carbon more than once is a punishment. But it'll do for once - and will probably be fun at times.

4. Need for Speed ​​(2015)

Even at the development stage, according to many statements by Electronic Arts, it became clear that they decided to create the best game in the series, framing this event as a relaunch of the entire NFS line. The new game was supposed to collect all the best that had been invented in this genre before it. To achieve this, the project was transferred to a third development team, Ghost Games. The excitement was building, the trailers were intriguing, everyone was frozen in anticipation... So what?

In the end we got good game, which failed to become Electronic Arts' swan song. From the first minutes everything is great: excellent graphics and video inserts, like in Undeground, immediately immerse you in the game. But the first joy passes, and you realize that the plot is painfully predictable: “I came to the city and decided to conquer the local crowd.” At the same time, it is not clear why everyone is trying to help the main character and who he is in general. And the entire street racing crowd looks, to put it mildly, ridiculous. A nice little detail: the role of the main opponents is played by 5 real, world-famous street racers who starred in this game. But in fact, this does not save the script at all.

I’m glad that all cars are initially open - you just need to collect the required amount. And fine tuning, in theory, allows you to make the car behave as you please - either smoothly enter turns or drift into them. That's the idea. But in fact, to understand all these settings and determine how changing them will affect the car, you will have to spend a lot of time.

The developers' love for drifting is noticeable to the naked eye - in practice, only by setting the car to drift can you more or less control it on the road. But even the most ideally tuned and pumped up car will not be overlooked by rivals - for balance, the characteristics of opponents’ cars will be automatically “tightened up”. As a result, most of the game can be easily completed with the “starting” Subaru.

Much attention is paid to visual styling - you can decorate the car however you like. As for bumpers, spoilers, suspensions and other joys of external tuning, the developers decided to add realism and displayed in the game only those parts that actually exist for a particular model. And if IRL there are no other bumpers for your Nissan, then you will not be able to change it. However, tuning can confidently be considered one of the strengths of this NFS.

What's the end result? We have Need for Speed ​​with amazing graphics, but a deserted city, a weak plot and lazy cops who are dumber than in Most Wanted. If you withdraw average rating critics, the game received a well-deserved 7 out of 10, which is quite fair. A good attempt, which probably became the best in the last decade, but the new Need for Speed, alas, is unable to evoke the delight that Undeground and Most Wanted once managed to evoke.

3. Need for Speed: Underground (2003)

It was this game that marked the beginning of an entire era. With the Fast and the Furious films gaining popularity, the release of NFS: Undeground turned out to be incredibly timely. Night racing, expensive cars and endless tuning were successfully combined in one arcade. Naturally, there were some old fags who immediately declared that “NFS is not the same anymore,” “ara-tuning for rednecks,” and in general, it was better before.

But in fact, Undeground's success was well deserved. The routes were thought out to the details: different areas of the city had their own atmosphere and successfully intertwined with each other. Something similar happened with the proposed game modes: classic racing was cleverly diluted with drift and drag tracks, thanks to which the Underground did not get boring. Well, the famous tuning allowed anyone who fancied themselves a street, excuse me, a racer, to hang as many stickers, flashlights, spoilers and other irreplaceable attributes on the car as they wanted.

Yes, here we were not even talking about realism - there were no police in the game, and the physics clearly went beyond common sense. But instead of pretentious and expensive supercars, players had to drive less “thoroughbred” but cool cars that could be seen on the streets of their city. NFS: Underground was able to give the feeling of unprecedented speed to an entire generation, becoming one of the best arcade racing games of that time. And the signature music " E Ron Don Don"turned into a real meme, recognizable all over the world to this day.

2. Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004)

What new thing could you come up with in less than a year? According to all the laws of the genre, after the success of the Underground, riveting together something better in as soon as possible it was impossible. And according to those same laws, Underground 2 should have turned out to be a hack for quick money: add new tracks, new vinyls and spoilers, a couple of cars and send it to the shelves. But that was not the case - choosing between a stable income and an adventurous release is fundamentally new game EA was not afraid to take risks and add a lot of innovations to the sequel.

The main revelation of the second series was the open world, through which you could freely move between races, while looking for new shops with useful gear for tuning. In addition, there are new racing modes and the ability to choose a sponsor. The range of available cars has grown significantly - despite the fact that some cars, like jeeps, were absolutely useless in the race and were sold purely “for the soul”. The races themselves have become a little easier - too many nerve cells of gamers were destroyed by the first Undeground on last levels, the second time they might not be enough. However, this simplification did not spoil the game.

1. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

NFS: Most Wnted became the pinnacle of NFS evolution. Most Wanted was good at everything: new racing modes (like radar); the long-awaited return of the cops, surprisingly, done right - the chases were balanced, kept in suspense, allowing long time meander around the world, fighting for your freedom.

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