Need for Speed: Most Wanted(2005)....

I've enjoyed many a Need for Speed game. From way back when(NFS II SE, NFS III and NFS Porsche 2000) on PC to more 'recent' editions (like NFS Hot Pursuit) on Xbox; But it was the NFS Underground-esque versions of the franchise where I lost my interest. I'm not 'into' the Fast and the Furious movies so I think that waning of interest in the NFS franchise(like Heat / Payback) is no surprise since they have gone down that same route(pun? intended?). It's interesting to note that a new remastered version of Hot Pursuit is due out in a week or so. I'd no idea about it until looking up the wiki to get it's link for this blog post. Given I already have the Xbox 360 version I'm not sure if the remastered version on PC will give me a better experience?! I now need to see about that remaster?!

A few months ago I'd seen a second hand copy of the original Xbox version of NFS Hot Persuit II(2002). Another in the franchise I really liked and not been able to get again. So I got it this time round with some other OG Xbox bits(part 1 / part 2, I may need to do a part 3!). I also need to see about getting something to record OG Xbox footage; I think that could be fun.

All in all NFS has been on my mind in one way or another over the last while. 

All that said and the real reason for this post, last week I got a chance to reinstalled and play an old favorite. The original 2005 disk version of Need for Speed Most Wanted. I've nothing against the 2012 version but it's not got the draw or nostalgia that I have for the 2005 edition. There was no hassle with the install and my old saves just needed to be dropped into the windows My Docs folder. I didn't apply any 'new' patches or mods as it worked with no problem. The game options allowed for some decent settings for current systems(Windows 10 etc), just no wide-screed. Once in game that didn't really matter to me.

In many ways the game has aged well. Yes nostalgia plays a part but overall it's a good game when your in the thick of the action. Good fun game-play. The only down side is that a lot of the graphical detail just isn't there; So some things look really bad up close, especially by today's standards. There's a HD mod pack that really makes the game look modern. I may get to mess about with that at some stage. For now I was only in for the nostalgia trip. A save game revisit and some police chase fun for the sake of it. Fun is fun and I got plenty of it with this retro visit.

A Casual Carebear Gamer