Title: RE:REVIEWS: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Post by: Nephilim on December 22, 2005, 10:52:35 PM
Pretty harsh review, I believe is worth more then 6.5 Then again I own the pc version and not the gamecube one (Im not taking in account online play cause it sucks)
Title: RE: REVIEWS: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Post by: Pryopizm on December 22, 2005, 10:59:34 PM
Everyone has that one thing that really irks them in a game, mine is the rubber band effect, but if you can get past it, then it should be fine. But, as you can see, I really hate it. And I really was torn writing this review, but I couldn't justify to myself giving it a higher score. And that's really what it comes down to in the end.
By the way, what do you use as your controller when playing it on your PC?
Title: RE:REVIEWS: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Post by: Nephilim on December 23, 2005, 05:21:49 PM
I use my keyboard Alt -accurate, X-nitro, Z-skip song and Arrows for turning
Title: RE: REVIEWS: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Post by: Pryopizm on December 27, 2005, 10:43:03 AM
Since I can't respond to my PGC email without giving away my personal email, I'll use this as a forum, and hopefully the original writer will see this:
Quote Hi Stan, Noticed this in your review "Let’s clear up a few things. Rubber band AI is not good. It’s been done to death. The time has passed for such laziness in programming. When you’re going top speed and hitting nitro for a speed boost in a max-tuned car, and a computer opponent still passes you on a straightaway without even using nitro, then there’s something horribly wrong. "
I've only played the PC version of that game but there is no "rubber banding" on the PC (there definitely has been a problem with this on older NFS games) What you do have (once again, PC only, I dont know the GC one) though is quasi-realistic simulation of acceleration... and even a very very powerful car takes a long time to accelerate to 200 mph or whatever EA is saying the car can do. So the above situation makes a lot of sense if you're on a straightaway but you hit some crap like a light post on the curve coming into it (happens all the time), the game knocks off a bunch of your speed. It's easy to see that it isnt rubber banding on the PC though because it's fully possible to finish 20 + seconds ahead of the AI. That TOTALLY wasn't possible in the days of rubber banding (stopped with Underground 2 on the PC) as you would be way the *radio edit* ahead and you'd actually see the AI's arrows teleport on the map.
Sorry if this sounds rabid-fanboyish, just though I'd weigh in my 2 cents.
-Thanks, Matt Galbraith
Not to say that game isn't horribly unfair... the way it USUALLY gets you though is that the AI doesnt crash if it isn't viisble. So catching up BLOWS because you have the added stress of catch up and you can't hit a single thing.</small>
This was an excellent letter, and definitely doesn't seem fanboyish at all. While both you and DeadlyD both play the PC version, you bring up an excellent point: You don't see any teleporting.
I've never played NSF on PC so I couldn't vouch for the control scheme. Also, take into account that you're a fan of the series. I honestly believe that EA did not make this game for newcomers as it's not a very friendly game if you're new to the series. One mistake can kill you in this game.
Given that, I do recommend this game for fans, but my own personal ethic is that this game can't be scored only for fans of the series, particularly when it employs AI that doesn't play like humans. At the end of the letter, it's pointed out that the AI does not crash when it isn't visible. In my opinion, true AI should crash as often as the assumed peak skill level of the player (given his ranking on the Blacklist 15) would. What the game does, instead is simply make the tracks more difficult, while the AI remains the same (only faster).
