Need for Speed Most Wanted is a street racing game where the graphics really shine. You see every detail in your Porshe, Mustang, or other racecar.

I've been playing a lot of this and also Project Gotham Racing 3. Both have quite highly detailed car models, with a nice selection to choose from. NFSMW shines in the area of customization. Where PGR3 gives you a few colors to choose from, in this game you can go through a giant range of color choices. Then you can customize the vinyl, and tons of stickers and other options.

You can go through a mission mode where you develop the storyline and learn the characters. You can also do time trial types of challenges, as well as quick races just to have some fun.

The graphics in this game are REALLY nice. First, the car models are great - from the detail of the body to the interior and lights. Next, the characters are really well done, far better than just about any other XBox 360 game I've played so far. The face textures, especially, are quite smooth and life-like. The backgrounds are also quite nice. I really like the mountains in the background, with the forest running down the sides.

The sounds are reasonably good, with the dialogue being OK. Some of it seems a little silly, from the cop deciding to key your car, and the girls acting like toys.

What it really comes down to, though, is having fun street racing, and customizing and choosing new cars. This game obviously isn't realistic. If you slam your car into gas station trash cans at 140mph, your car comes to an immediate stop without any damage at all to the car or the trash cans. You can drive your car down through street light after street light, leaving a trail behind you. The game's about fun fantasy. You have fun driving all of the super-expensive cars you've always wished you could buy - or perhaps you take a car you own and "test it out" in ways your local cops wouldn't approve of.

I do have to comment that some of the cars seem a little squirrley. I've owned Mustangs since I was 18, and have done a bit of high speed driving with them. I don't recall them spinning in circles quite as easily as in the game. Still, maybe the roads in the game are a bit slick :)

Well recommended for car racing lovers who are into customizing and detailing their cars! I do have to say that this game lets you race only against 3 others online, where PGR3 lets you go in a field of 8. So it might be worth it for you to get both games, as each has a different area it is truly great in.

Buy Need for Speed Most Wanted from Amazon.com