Need for Speed – Most Wanted or Hot Pursuit?

When it comes to gaming I prefer racing games. While First Person Shooters aren’t bad, they just aren’t my thing. That is as much to do with the fact that I suck at them and got mowed down within minutes of entering the arena more than anything else. Also, I still have a major affinity for the original Quake Arena and very little excites me like that did.

That being said, I’m drawn to games like Need for Speed, Project Gotham, Gran Tourismo, Test Drive and Real Racing. Of course not all of those are PC, console or iPad games. So, I satisfy myself with the Need for Speed series. While I like the Real Racing series on the iPad, it’s simply too technical. Racing the track is fun, but I must prefer the aggressive Cops and Robbers style of Need for Speed. I’m a big fan of Hot Pursuit, I’m waiting for Undercover to be made into an iPad HD version and recently I’ve been working my way through Most Wanted. So in the end, which is better, Hot Pursuit or Most Wanted?

I truly enjoyed Hot Pursuit because of the gameplay, the tracks and the cars. Most Wanted holds some of that interest, but there are many aspects of the game that come up lacking. For example, in Most Wanted the tracks are simply too dark. With dark skies, rain covered streets and dim lighting, the track is simply too hard to see at times. When flying along at 200mph you want to see as much detail as you can.

Also, the car selection in Hot Pursuit was far more exciting. Who wants to race the the Porsche Panamera S or the Bently Continental? There are simply too many unexciting cars in the line up.

Additionally, the music in Most Wanted pales in comparison to Hot Pursuit. Where is the hard rocking, hard driving, pulse pounding rhythms of the game? There has been great music in each of the versions, but this one comes up a little short. The music just isn’t as much fun. I want to hear the engines sounds and a strong beat, not some silly ass song about "driving a car into a bridge".

Technically, the games play and drive in a similar way. The graphics in both are good and the detail is very nice. However, there are some oddities which keep Most Wanted from rising to the top. It’s not a bad game, but it doesn’t have the same level of thrill as Hot Pursuit.

But if you grab both or either of these games for $0.99, you really don’t have anything to complain about.