Top 5 NFS games

Need for Speed is the most successful racing video game series in the world and is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. The game series was developed by several studios including EA Black Box and Criterion Games and published by EA Sports. The first game of the series was released in 1994 with title “The Need for Speed” and the recent release being “Need for Speed : Rivals” in 2013. There are seventeen games in this series so far and over 140 million copies have been sold worldwide till date. Here’s a list of Top 5 Need for Speed games.

#5 Need for Speed: Shift

The fifth on our list is Need for Speed: Shift which was released in 2009 by Electronic Arts. The game was a huge commercial success with over 4 million copies sold for all platforms. The game doesn’t offer a storyline in career mode like other NFS games and embarks the player to progress and win the 'NFS Live World Series'. The game was received for its sound effects and realistic handling of the cars.

There are more than 60 cars in the game and are ranked in 4 levels. Level 1 is the entry level cars, level 2 refers to mid-level performance cars, level 3 being supercars and the last level 4 refers to hypercars. The customization of the cars were in depth than previous games that includes cosmetic changes, performance mods and many more. The game brought back the highly detailed inside of the car view and it’s possible to see driver changing gears and moving his head to look the rear mirror.

The graphics and visual effects of the game were praised, for instance, if the player crashes the car, there is a temporary blur in the screen, which reverts back once the player becomes normal. This game was considerably better than its two predecessors and two sequels.

#4 Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit is the third major game of the series which notably reintegrated the police pursuits as a major part of gameplay. This game allowed the players to be the cop to arrest racers/speedsters. The audio/video introductions including music videos, picture slideshows and commentary were the highlights of the game. The game has two main categories, first one is that, the players start the game as racers and compete against seven other racers in Knockout championships. The second one is the Hot Pursuit wherein the police, chases and arrests the racers. In the PC version of the game, players can select a police version of a sports car to pursue and stop all six racers before they complete their race.

The game was the first to introduce the two player ‘split-screen’ mode, where two players can play the game in the same computer competing against each other and the ‘Knockout’ mode racing where the driver who finishes last gets eliminated from the race lineup. The game reached number 10 in the UK charts after its release.

#3 Need for Speed : Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was developed by Criterion Games and released in 2010. Hot Pursuit is the highest rated game in NFS history averaging 90%. The game won many best game awards and notably the “Best Racing Game” in 2010 Game Critics Awards. This game featured a new online mode ‘Autolog’ , which is a feature that tracks stats and allows the posting of comments/photos to other racers online. The game was praised for its extensive graphics, visuals, crashes, sound and soundtrack, excellent presentation, dramatic races, and the high-speed chases.

Hot Pursuit lets the players play either as a racer or as a police driver, and has separate career modes for both of them. Each side has their own powerups, when playing as a cop, you can call for roadblocks, put spikes to make the players busted, while playing as the racer you have radar jamming and many more features to escape from the cops. In this game the police cars are more powerful while the cars used by racers are faster. All vehicles in Hot Pursuit are licensed real-world cars and SUVs. The game is set in a fictional city called ‘Seacrest County’ and offers 100 miles of open road. The game’s focus is solely on racing or cop chases with weapons.

#2 Need for Speed : Underground 2

Need for Speed: Underground 2 is the the eighth installment of the series and was released in 2004. This game was commercially successful and applauded for its extensive and detailed customization of vehicles, new methods of selecting races, and free roam mode. The game was the first in the series to bring the free roam mode. This game includes three new racing modes: Outrun, Street X and Underground Racing League.

Underground 2 is the first game in the Need for Speed series to introduce SUV’s as racing vehicles, which can also be customizied like other cars. The players start the game in the Olympic City from Underground game and moves to Bayview city in search for the person who sabotaged his car during a race. The player comes to know about the street gang ‘Wraiths’ and challenges them for Underground Racing League (URL) races and wins them, escalating their order to Caleb, the man who was responsible for the incident back in prologue, then beats him and becomes the top racer in Bayview.

#1 Need for Speed Most Wanted

The first on our list and without doubt the best nfs game ever is the Need for Speed: Most Wanted. It is the ninth installment in the nfs series and was released in 2005. The game has six racing modes: Circuit races, point-to-point Sprint races, Lap knockout races, Drag races, Tollbooth and Speedtrap. The game became a huge hit because of its great storyline, the handling of cars which was easily the best among any nfs games, a big map for free roam, excellent graphics, customizable cars and cop chases that was a challenge even for best gamers.

The game offers a wide range of cars for the Career mode of the game. As the game progresses, better and faster cars are unlocked as the races get faster and gets more intense. The players will have to defeat Blacklist members one-by-one , who are the most wanted by Police. With every Blacklist member taken down, the player is rewarded with reputation, new cars, and improvements.

Criterion Games released a reboot for this game, Need for Speed : Most Wanted in 2012 with better graphics and with a wider range of real-world vehicles, a mix of muscle cars, street racers and exotics which were available from the start of game and are hidden throughout the city. Obviously, both these games original and the later reboot version tops the list inarguably.