Need for Speed: Most Wanted U

Genre: Open-World Arcade Racing

Players: 1

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Review:

Need for Speed: Most Wanted was first released on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox 360 in 2012, with a port of the game hitting the Wii U in 2013 with a “U” added to the end of the title to signify a slew of new features to make use of the Wii U’s gamepad. These new features allow you to use the gamepad’s touchscreen as a nice big map (super helpful in the game’s large open world), or edit game settings at the touch of a button, even changing the time of day in-game in real-time, making for an impressive visual effect.

That’s actually one of the first things you’ll notice in Need for Speed: Most Wanted U – this game is absolutely gorgeous. Even as I type this in 2022, a decade after the game’s original release, it’s still a sight to behold – the game’s city has a massive amount of detail and variety, with beautiful lighting, nice-looking wet surfaces, and an outstanding sense of speed, with some impressive-looking damage to the game’s licensed cars when you smash them into walls and other vehicles. The only noteworthy flaw I can point to here is some noticeable aliasing throughout the game, but this does little to dull the otherwise superb visual presentation. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this game is a top contender for best graphics on Wii U – it’s that good-looking.

The sound in this game is also excellent, with vehicles that all sound noticeably different, yet each one roaring with power when you pump the gas, and crunching nicely when you crash, with an energetic rock and pop-filled soundtrack that works well to keep up the game’s excitement level.

The game’s races themselves are quite good as well, though they seemed a bit overly-forgiving – I was surprised how often I crashed, only to find myself regaining the race’s top spot shortly afterwards with little effort. It’s not bad, just not going to be for everyone, and I imagine the late-game races will undoubtedly offer more challenge. However, this game isn’t just about racing – there’s a lot of fun to be had exploring the game’s city, finding every car you can “jack” and add to your collection, crashing through hidden gates and billboards to boost your “Most Wanted” score, or playing keep-away from the cops. This game does a good job of providing players with plenty to do, so long as they want to do it in a car.

Unfortunately, this game’s age has noticeably affected it in one area – the online multiplayer lobbies are abandoned (at least in the Wii U version). There’s still plenty to do in the game’s single-player, but don’t go into this game at this point expecting to still find real-life people to race against.

Still, that’s hardly this game’s fault, and honestly I can say that Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is one of the most delightful surprises I’ve had going through the Wii U’s back catalog. Not only does this game still look great by today’s standards, but it plays great too. If you’re a Racing game fan and don’t have this game on another platform, you should absolutely get yourself a copy, and the added extras in the Wii U version could make this the definitive console version of the game… although of course that lack of multiplayer opponents holds the game back somewhat. In any case, this is definitely one of the best racing games on the Wii U, and well worth picking up, even today.

tl;dr – Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is an absolutely stunning Arcade-style open-World Racing game, with visuals that are gorgeous even by today’s standards, an incredible sense of speed, tons to see and do within the game’s massive city, and fun (if a bit overly-forgiving) Arcade-style gameplay. The online lobbies are abandoned at this point, but everything else about this game is still as fresh and fun as it was when the game first released a decade ago, and the added Wii U features definitely give this version of a game something to boast about. If you own a Wii U and enjoy Racing games, consider this a must-have.

Grade: A

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