By John Walker on August 15th, 2012 at 11:30 am.
I have drawn a graph to explain how excited I am about Criterion’s Need For Speed: Most Wanted. You can see it below. Up here I’ll instead comment on just how weird it is to be talking positively about Need For Speed. So recently it was the wideboy gaming release, a new copy out every Christmas for people who wear their caps sideways and speak exclusively without consonants. And now look at it – it’s a sequel to what is unquestionably (I’m in charge here) the most fun driving game of all time, Burnout: Paradise.
It’s more Burnout: Paradise! But it’s prettier! THERE ARE BILLBOARDS TO SMASH THROUGH!
Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness.
And it won’t have fucking Paradise City playing each time it loads.
15/08/2012 at 11:32 KauhuK says:
For a while I thought that the NFS:MW in the graph stood for Need for Speed: Modern Warfare.
15/08/2012 at 11:34 Ocho says:
Looks brilliant. The first NFS I’ve been looking forward to for years.
15/08/2012 at 11:35 Kapouille says:
Oh look, the cars don’t take any damage. Licensed cars FTL.
15/08/2012 at 11:36 wodin says:
no car damage..no buy..
15/08/2012 at 12:00 Dragon Master says:
Obviously you haven’t played the old Most Wanted. Even without car damage it’s one of the best racers to date.
15/08/2012 at 12:06 Axyl says:
wtf are you talking about? The cars DO take damage. You can see in the trailer.
Knee jerk, reactionary comments FTW! *facepalm*
Here, see for yourself.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2HBmXHVN0o&feature=player_detailpage#t=38s
(Pause at 38s, you can clearly see damage to both the green and the grey cars.)
15/08/2012 at 12:54 Kapouille says:
Yes “Damage”. I meant DAMAGE. (cf. previous Criterion games, where cars do take DAMAGE, ie. get smashed to bits). Manufacturers will not allow strong defacing of their vehicles, which is a shame.
(Also, manners!)
15/08/2012 at 13:27 plugmonkey says:
I think by “damage” he means “deformation”, as in cars getting properly crunched rather than denting a few panels.
15/08/2012 at 13:54 ThePresent says:
More like: People with no clue ftw! That is not “damage”. That is trading paint. Play Burnout Paradise if you want to know what people mean by car damage.
15/08/2012 at 14:59 Kapouille says:
As the man says. Not that I blame Criterion or anything, they have they hands more or less tied to the lowest common denominator of what manufacturers will agree on.
15/08/2012 at 12:07 JayArr says:
I might be wrong, but in the on-stage Gamescom demo yesterday it did look like they took damage.
15/08/2012 at 12:11 Axyl says:
You can SEE that they do take damage. 38seconds on the trailer. Pause and it’s right there. Clear as day.
This is cold hard fact. No need for discussion. Kapouille was wrong. End of.
15/08/2012 at 12:22 EPICTHEFAIL says:
Axyl is a bit angry today. Something wrong with your coffee, perhaps?
15/08/2012 at 12:48 Axyl says:
Yeah… sorry about being snappy. Been a rather naff week, and I’m seriously narked about the delay for Darksiders2 here in the UK. Hadn’t long woken up and have a personal hatred for blatantly incorrect information being bandied around like fact.
My point still stands, but I’d like to apologize for the way in which I made it. :)
The cars do take damage though. :P
15/08/2012 at 13:52 ThePresent says:
No, man. YOU are wrong. Doesn’t matter how much tough talk you are throwing around here. You misunderstood it. Nobody is talking about crappy little denting and scratches. We are talking proper deformation of the cars, smashing in the roof, bending the whole thing sideways, crushed drivers cabin. You know, like in Criterions Burnout games. Dynamic deformation. That is what you get from Criterion when they aren’t bound by car manufacturers will. Any game with licensed cars will have no proper car damage as manufacturers don’t want it to look like the driver could be hurt or their products are unsafe. That’s some “cold hard fact” for you.
You should really work on your attitude before throwing around bullshit like “end of story” “cold hard facts” etc. Angry people who have no idea what they are talking about are a pain.
15/08/2012 at 13:55 Llewyn says:
Cite your “cold hard fact”. And I don’t mean assuming because game X featuring licensed cars doesn’t feature structural deformation that the two are linked, I mean evidence that this is down to licensor intervention.
Also, the original comment merely refers to “damage”. There’s no detail there to misunderstand.
15/08/2012 at 15:08 Kapouille says:
@Llewyn I have worked on a couple of AAA racing games for major publishers, and the precise amount of damage that could be applied to licensed cars was signed off by manufacturers. That was a “fact” back then. Mind you, it may not be the case for Criterion as I didn’t personally check, but knowing the guys, I’d doubt they wouldn’t feature severe damage if they could have had the chance to.
15/08/2012 at 15:18 Claidheamh says:
Ever played Shift 2, Colin McRae rally games, RBR, GTR 2 or the more sim-like rFactor, iRacing or Project CARS? I’m pretty sure those cars are licensed and deform as realistically as the devs wanted or could make it.
15/08/2012 at 15:24 Kapouille says:
@Claidheamh Having worked on an instalment of the games you mentioned, I can certify that cars weren’t as deformed and damaged as what the devs wanted ;)
15/08/2012 at 11:36 westyfield says:
Hot damn that looks like fun. Not exactly sure what they were doing – was it a race or just a freedrive, last-car-standing thing? – but I want in on that.
15/08/2012 at 11:41 kadeton says:
While that does look like tremendously flashy fun, I’m not sure that Baba O’Riley really needed the addition of a thumping kick-drum.
15/08/2012 at 11:46 Saviour says:
Oh my god what did they do to The Who ?
15/08/2012 at 12:04 Arbodnangle Scrulp says:
CSI:Generic Cop Show did it first.
15/08/2012 at 12:23 EPICTHEFAIL says:
Come on, the cold open was by far the best part of CSI: Miami.
15/08/2012 at 16:36 Strangineer says:
CSI: Miami used the actual song, not some terrible remix(cover?)…
15/08/2012 at 13:35 Ocho says:
I thought it was an excellent choice of music
15/08/2012 at 11:53 caddyB says:
I might actually buy this. Looking good!
15/08/2012 at 12:02 The JG Man says:
Need for Burnout: Paradise Most Wanted.
And frankly, I’m okay with that.
15/08/2012 at 12:03 Arbodnangle Scrulp says:
What’s always been missing from racing games is permadeath. By that I mean realistic damage modelling that makes your car completely undriveable after a suitably heavy collision. Sure there have been a few that have tried it but they haven’t been fun to play. Hmmm. Did I mention I’m an EvE player?
15/08/2012 at 12:50 Mollusc Infestation says:
An eve player, or in other words, a masochist? *insert smiley face emoticon*
16/08/2012 at 00:33 Xardas Kane says:
I am an EVE player and I disprove of perma deaths in an arcade racer.
15/08/2012 at 14:03 Gorf says:
Grid has great damage mechanics, they are area specific and slow you down and make driving harder and a head on collision in a wall takes you out of the race permanently (if you are playing in pro mode with no use of flashback cheats).Is this what you mean?
15/08/2012 at 14:34 randomkeyhits says:
Destruction Derby FTW! so much fun driving on two good tyres and two rubber bands about to snap. Wonder if NFS:MW did the same we’d all be driving around in reverse to protect the engines!
15/08/2012 at 12:18 Mist says:
Any idea whether this has cross-platform multiplayer? Only have one friend who might enjoy this (he spent a lot of hours in Burnout Paradise), but he plays on the xbox…
15/08/2012 at 12:18 rocketman71 says:
Origin. No LAN. EA.
15/08/2012 at 12:24 DarkFlareUK says:
I feel like I’m the only person who can’t stand the Burnout NFS games. Even NFS3 had much better physics than this, where it at least pretended to be grounded in reality, and cars didn’t go faster sideways than forwards, and couldn’t jump 50′ in the air.
The only thing that makes this a car game is that the “vehicles” you control look like cars. That’s it.
15/08/2012 at 13:29 Axess Denyd says:
You’re not the only person.
I miss racing games that at least tried to feel a bit like car driving.
Hot Pursuit was not fun, except sometimes some of the pursuit-ing. Drifting everywhere? The computer countersteers FOR you? Just…no.
I kinda liked the SHIFT games, but they were only fun with a gamepad.
Driver: San Francisco was the only non-sim driving game I have found fun recently. The physics aren’t realistic, but they are fun and feel like cars would if you were in a movie, which is the point.
15/08/2012 at 13:50 Gorf says:
me to.
NFS U2 was the last one i liked and ive played them all since then.
Shift2 was ok, but the best racer in the last few years was GRID (which i’m still playing today), really really looking forward to GRID2 next year, its looking good.
16/08/2012 at 01:03 MikoSquiz says:
I miss Need For Speed.
I also loved the earlier Burnout games when I tried them but Paradise didn’t have That Special Something to it at all. Felt more like Midnight Club.
18/08/2012 at 09:51 LuNatic says:
I’m with you on this, I can’t stand Criterion’s handling model. I just hope Codemasters get GRID 2 right, so I have another fun arcade racer to play.
15/08/2012 at 12:28 SiHy_ says:
Burnout: Paradise, the most fun driving game of all time that you’ll never actually get to play if you have an unsupported webcam. At least that’s my experience of it.
Sometimes PC gaming can be an unmitigated joy with extensive mods; improved graphics; plenty of exclusive games; a choice of IO devices. Other times it’s a bug-filled hell where half the game is trying to get the damn thing to work.
What? I’m not bitter at all!
15/08/2012 at 13:40 Puckoidiot says:
I don’t have any webcam at all, and I can play it just fine?
15/08/2012 at 17:49 SiHy_ says:
You’re fine if you have no webcam at all. Unfortunately my laptop webcam is built-in. Even when I completely disabled it and deleted the drivers and software I still couldn’t get the game to work. I tried for at least an hour following every bit of advice online but, alas, eventually gave up. So I tried to play Fallout 3 instead. Cue another hour of trying to get a game to work in vain. Sometimes I feel like the only reason I know so much about computers is because I’ve spent a hefty chunk of my life battling to get games working.
15/08/2012 at 15:02 John Walker says:
I’m fairly sure all a webcam does is take a cheesy photo for your license. I’ve played the game sixty million times and never done that.
15/08/2012 at 15:36 Kapouille says:
Driving licenses featuring snaps of genitalia or lower backsides! (Not that I mind, given the right gender)
15/08/2012 at 17:52 SiHy_ says:
I know. It hurts even more knowing I’m prevented from playing a game I bought because of a feature I didn’t intend to use. Oh well, plenty more games in the… er… sea…?
15/08/2012 at 12:37 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
While I’m leery of what Criteron seem to be doing to my most favouritest racing game of all time (I’m willing to see what the end product is, but definitely cautious) I SO AGREE WITH JOHN ABOUT THE PARADISE CITY SONG. Aaaaagh that drove me bonkers. D:
15/08/2012 at 12:52 Mollusc Infestation says:
I tried so hard to find a way to disable that music. And fucking DJ Atomika. Patronising git.
15/08/2012 at 12:39 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
p.s. 0:16 There is a player named DIAPER_KNIGHT. Just sayin’.
15/08/2012 at 12:53 Mollusc Infestation says:
I suppose it’s pretty time consuming taking off a suit of armour whenever you need to answer the call.
15/08/2012 at 12:46 Carter says:
That music… Expected the cars to do a freeze frame high five at the end
15/08/2012 at 12:52 lizzardborn says:
Am I the only one missing the design, style, class and gameplay of Porsche:Unleashed.
They nailed all the components of a racing game perfectly, and then decided to move as further away from it as possible.
15/08/2012 at 13:07 DarkFlareUK says:
Porsche Unleashed was a fantastic game. NFS:U and NFS:U2 were okay. Most Wanted (original) was great. This looks like toss.
15/08/2012 at 13:30 Axess Denyd says:
Agree 100%. Though it could have used some police chases…
15/08/2012 at 12:54 jezcentral says:
Isn’t that x-axis wrongly named? It makes it look like the further you get from the release date, the more excited you become. (I know it’s not labelled, but where the x and y axes cross is traditionally zero, and the further to the right you go, the bigger the number).
Still, I understood you, and that’s what matters, yes?
15/08/2012 at 13:02 EPICTHEFAIL says:
It could be a stealthy math joke, I suppose.
15/08/2012 at 13:32 Axess Denyd says:
The X axis is “closeness to the release date”. So the further right you move, the closer you are to the release date.
15/08/2012 at 15:18 thegooseking says:
But it, like Ridge Racer (somehow?), is unbounded, which means NFS:MW’s release date is infinity away. And that means John’s excitednessment will continue to grow exponentially forever. This could be a major crisis in a couple of years.
15/08/2012 at 13:17 Kollega says:
I think the biggest two things i want to complain about are the rehashed title and the lack of car customization (which i assume since it’s a Criterion game, and as far as i know, none of their games had that).
15/08/2012 at 13:31 Ayam says:
Burnout Paradise? Driver SF is the most fun – Mr Walker is an obvious pedestrian, living up to his surname! :p
15/08/2012 at 13:54 Axess Denyd says:
Agreed about Driver. I think I’m going to go play some RIGHT NOW.
15/08/2012 at 14:19 PodX140 says:
Honestly, the original most wanted was fantastic, and paradise was a close second, but a really close runner up to both of those HAS to be Driver: San francisco. I’m not even sure what the order is for fun when it comes to those 3.
15/08/2012 at 15:23 Lordcrazy says:
Is it wrong to play the games just to smash cars into other cars and harrass the police as much as possible?
15/08/2012 at 16:02 Axess Denyd says:
Absolutely not.
15/08/2012 at 18:51 derbefrier says:
you just described how i always end up playing GTA games. I always intend to go through the story but I can never resist the urge to harass cops and crash cars
15/08/2012 at 16:53 FriendlyFire says:
Am I alone who was turned off by NFS:HP (the Criteron variant)’s handling? I don’t know why, but I’ve never had an issue with past NFS games or past Burnout games, but NFS:HP’s controls felt wobbly and imprecise, the car handling was flat and boring and the sense of speed wasn’t there.
It needs to be said that this is one of the few games I bought on the PS3 (I find that arcade racers are very much a couch activity), so perhaps it’s something limited to that platform. Not having any form of controller adjustments in the options was a crying shame.
15/08/2012 at 17:20 cowgod says:
Fuck Criterion. Burnout Paradise was an amazing game, but they never released the Big Surf Island DLC for PC and you can’t even buy any of the other DLC for the game because the store is closed.