Need for Speed (NFS) Most Wanted 2005 was released on November 11, 2005, and released on every console around that time, including the Xbox 360 which came out that same month. This was an open-world, arcade, racing game that was developed by EA Canada and EA Black Box, and was published by Electronic Arts. This was the ninth game in the series and is still the best-selling game in the series.

The story in the game is a revenge story, you the player lost your Modified BMW M3 GTR in a pink slip race that was rigged by Razor, the main antagonist in the story, and you have to race your way through the Blacklist to challenge Razor to a pink slip race to get your BMW back. That isn’t the only thing you have to worry about, you have to avoid getting arrested by the cops also. 

The gameplay is similar to NFS Underground 1 and 2, but with great improvements in the game engine, graphics, and a better sense of speed. This game featured the return of cops in the series, which is a big part of the game. Some of the new game features include nitro recharging instead of being a one-time use, a speed breaker that slows down time to make a precise turn or move, and a game breaker that allows you to crash and destroy objects to take out the cop cars in pursuit.

The gameplay is smooth most of the time, also depends on the console or PC. The lighting also is great, however, there are a couple of glitches, some of them are funny, and the events do get a little repetitive near the end of the story. There is also a system where your car gets ‘impound strikes’ and if you get caught too many times you lose your car for the rest of the story, and if you lose your only car, you have to restart the entire story. This feature encourages you to buy and try out different cars.

There are around 36 cars which include Audi, Mercedes, Fiat, Dodge, Ford, Chevy, Cadillac, Pontiac, and exotic cars. The customization and tuning are a step down from NFS Underground 2, but you can still upgrade the cars, put on body kits, change the rims, and put on decals on the cars, the tuning is also a bit simplified. 

The game also has a great soundtrack which I think is better than the newer Need for Speeds. The soundtrack includes: Rap, Rock, Techno, and even a combination of Rap and Rock together, some music artist that made this soundtrack great were TI, BT, Disturbed, Static-X, Avenged Sevenfold, Styles of Beyond, and Celldweller.

This game is different than games now, there is just something about this game that makes me come back to the game, and this game is 16 years old and about to be 17 years old in a couple of months. This game got me and others into cars, rock music, and Need for Speed.