Fast cars, one the run from the fuzz... ahh this is the life

The ninth in the ever-popular Need for Speed series, Most Wanted (NFSMW) brings you fast cars and brutal police chases. What’s not to love?

The Best Pursuit Car
You’re entitled to differ, but in our experiences, the Ford Mustang GT (considerably upgraded, of course), is a very wise choice for bounty, cost to state and other such pursuit challenges. Its propensity to go flying into the air after collisions with the cops is considerably less than other cars, for one. In the heart of the city, you can get it to execute some neat drifts around corners, so you won’t lose too much speed as you weave in and out of streets—and considering that the cops don’t do so well with long and winding roads, this is ideal for putting some road between you and the fuzz. On the highways, this quality lets you easily pull 180-degree turns and befuddle the police while you make good your escape. Finally, it’s not too fast, so you won’t end up “accidentally” evading the police before meeting your targets.

Busting Roadblocks
When you encounter a police roadblock ahead of you, look for the wooden fence with the stop sign on it (use SpeedBreaker if you have to)—this is the weakest spot, and you can barrel through it without losing too much speed. Alternatively, aim for the gap between two cars and use your Nitro boost; try to hit the back of a pursuit car rather than the front—for some reason, they give way easier. At higher heat levels, watch out for gaps in roadblocks—that’s where the spike strips are.

Save Yourself The Shame
If you do get busted by the police, end the game immediately ([Alt] + [F4] or [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] > End Task; if it means very much to you not to get busted, just reset your PC—don’t blame us for the consequences)—your game won’t be autosaved, and you’ll be rid of the embarrassment. As a bonus, your heat level will have gone down a couple of bars when you get back to the game.

More Pursuit Strategy
When you’ve got a Pursuit Time or bounty challenge to meet, or just want to raise your heat level, hit the freeways—the cops won’t lose you easily (not at the higher heat levels, anyway) and when the battering SUVs come along at heat level 4, you have plenty of room to dodge them, not to mention the myriad roadblocks and spike strips. Freeways are also great places to find trucks: use the SpeedBreaker to come close to a truck (especially the logging trucks) and break away at the last possible moment -pursuit cars will most likely crash into them, strewing logs all over the road and hampering more police cars behind.

Once you’ve met your target or are getting bored, dive into the city. The police cars slow down around corners and S-curves, so try to shake them off there. You’ll be closer to Pursuit Breakers, so use them to your advantage. Don’t bother wasting a pursuit breaker if you’re only being chased by two or three police cars, though.

Playing Dirty—1
Computer opponents won’t give you moral lectures, so feel free to hamper them any way you can. In multiplayer circles, however, Hate and Revenge are words you need to remember when pulling off some of these stunts:

In older —NFS— games, you could nudge opponents in the backside and watch them swerve off the track, leaving you to your glory. In —NFSMW—, however, cars stick to the road with renewed zeal, but you can still do your bit to help them off. When an opponent in front of you is negotiating a sharp corner, use nitrous and barrel into his car’s back—when done right, you can dislodge him from his racing line. On the other hand, you could go just a teensy bit off and ruin your chances at a win.

Playing Dirty—2
You might have noticed that if you hit a wall while taking corners, you bounce right off if you don’t stick to it too much. The idea here is to make sure your —opponents— stick to the walls, though. If you’re taking a corner with an opponent at your side, let up on the steering a bit and drift into your opponent. You’ll both move towards the wall; at the moment of impact, you’ll bounce off his car, so nitrous away immediately, leaving him in the dust. This only works on 90-degree turns, though, and takes a while to get right.