I have absolutely no idea why they’re doing this, but developers have been making announcements after announcements the week prior to E3. Konami went as far as to pre-record their E3 presentation instead of doing it live. Anyways, EA has finally announced Dead Space 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012), confirming rumors from a while ago, as well as the leak that happened a couple of days back. Accompanying its announcement is a screenshot taken from the next Need for Speed game. Since I don’t play horror games (real life is scary enough as it is), I’ll just give you some of my insights on Need for Speed.
NFS is actually one of EA’s longest standing franchises (20 games since 1994). The first game was known as one of the most innovative games in the racing genre, bringing car handling to a whole different level. It is also one of the first racing games to bring in non-linear police chases combined with various tactics. However, in recent years, EA has released flop after flop – some of the more notorious ones being Undercover and The Run. As a matter of fact, it was Undercover that began the whole “two year developmental cycle”, which would alternate developers year by year, giving each developer more time to make the games while releasing one each year. This seemed to have worked with Hot Pursuit (2010), but not so much with The Run.
I grew up playing Need for Speed. I went as far back as to NFS 2. My personal favorite has always been High Stakes on the PS1. The graphics were just so stunning back then. Plus, playing as the police is just so much fun. Instead of ramming the suspects while killing them in the process and bearing a seven-figure lawsuit, the game actually requires the players to stop the suspects by, you know, making sure that they have nowhere left to go. You have to trap the suspect in order to make an arrest.
Porsche Unleashed also has one of the best looking visuals at the time. Hell, it still looks good today.
With a history going that far back, I am undoubtedly a Need for Speed junkie. You can’t imagine how excited I am when I first heard about the next entry to the franchise. Criterion Games, mostly known for the Burnout series and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), is behind Most Wanted. Based on the 2005 game of the same title, it is fair to assume that those insanely long, fun police chases will return. I am most intrigued by the storyline. Oh how much do I miss those insanely deep storylines (spoiler alert) and mind-blowing acting. They’re not bad, just misunderstood. OK, who am I kidding? They’re all turrible, but that’s also the reason why they’re so much fun.
The first Most Wanted was released on PSN recently. If you’re an XBOX 360 or PC owner, you can grab a physical copy of the game. Either case, I definitely recommend checking it out.
EA’s presentation will be live on Monday at 1pm PST. You can watch it live on GTTV. I will, once again, give you my impressions on the game then. And yes, I do know this is a tease to a tease. It’s still stupid.
Grizzly Bomb 