Need for Speed™ Most Wanted ▶ Trailer
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted screenshot 1Need for Speed™ Most Wanted screenshot 2
ActionAdventureRacingMultiplayerOpen WorldDrivingCompetitiveAutomobile Sim

108 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 250

Peak in the last 7 days: 319

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted Steam store

Game description

The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.

Basic info

DeveloperCriterion Games
PublisherElectronic Arts
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateJun 18, 2020
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows Vista (Service Pack 2 and all available windows updates) 32-bit
Processor2 GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ or Althon X2 2.7 GHz)
Memory2 GB
GraphicsDirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 series, with…
Storage20 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 395 reviews from the past 1 year

70.2/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Mostly Positive (77%)

Metacritic: 78 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 21, 2026)

Open world street racing with police pursuits and crash physics, this racer scores 70.2 from 395 analyzed reviews.

👍 Strengths

130 reviews find it fun, and some enjoy it as chaotic arcade driving even if it differs from the older game of the same name. Others play mainly for nostalgia. 76 praise the graphics and the look of the city, and some single out the cars, physics and destruction, while a few note it runs well on modest hardware. 41 love the sound, and some single out the soundtrack and the engine noise. Visuals & Sound ranks 571st of 1249 and comes up in 42% of analyzed reviews.

👎 Where it falls short

52 reviews complain about the controls, and some mention broken controller support, keyboard binding trouble, input lag or long crash animations. 40 object to the pricing, saying cars and races are locked behind expensive DLC, and some advise buying only on sale. 22 miss a real story, and some say there is barely any narrative or career mode at all. Pricing & Fairness ranks 1180th of 1399, Story & World ranks 1080th of 1096, and Gameplay ranks 1168th of 1396.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“enjoyed Burnout gameplay despite mismatched expectations” · 130 reviews
“cars, environment, graphics, physics, destruction full of lively fun” · 76 reviews
“brings more joy than any other game especially with friends” · 10 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 55% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Progression -1.42 · Leveling, unlocks and gear — is growth rewarding or a grind?
Negative “progression nonexistent, races locked to cars, massive repetition across 41 cars” · 17 reviews
Positive “progression system great with fun challenges and upgrades” · 4 reviews

Difficulty 11% · Onboarding 4% · Freedom 16% · Strategy 7% · Controls & feel 34%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Bottom 5% of the games we've analyzed

Story -2.46 · Plot, quests, writing, and the ending
Negative “story mode poor compared to 2005 original, lacks narrative depth and consequences” · 22 reviews
Positive “has a nice story and is entertaining” · 1 review

Characters 1% · World 9%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 24% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -2.40 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “customization reduced from 2005 version to 2012 mobile version” · 20 reviews
Positive “bagnoles cool, world map accueillante, progression efficace” · 4 reviews

Volume 15% · Replayability 2%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 42% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +2.91 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “cars, environment, graphics, physics, destruction full of lively fun” · 76 reviews
Negative “no visual tuning options except car color” · 3 reviews

Audio 22%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +1.29 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 2% · Servers & Connection 2%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.57 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “75% of cars locked behind paywall, requires internet for offline game” · 40 reviews
Positive “bought on sale for 14 reais, good value for price” · 2 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 10% · Matchmaking 2%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.26 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “game crashes despite being in library due to EA launcher” · 17 reviews
Positive “least bug-infested NFS ever, fun destruction element” · 1 review

Performance 9% · Developer support 7%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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