Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 (PSP) Review

Twisted Metal: Head on anyone?

Yeah, I'm not even going to make a joke about how I haven't done anything on here since November or how no one ever seems to look at this crap. Whatever, guess I'll do my long awaited first ever PSP review! I had to think for a second about what game I should do since I have a good selection. After a couple of minutes, though, I thought it would be cool to review the first PSP game i ever got. Need for Speed 5-1-0 is a pretty solid downgrade from it's console counter parts. For the most part, it captures the same great feel, even at the cost of many big components.

Presentation 

You know those cool, stylized cut scenes the  console versions have? Yeah, this has none of them. In fact, the entire story has been completely taken out of the game. That being said, the game has cool, functional menus with short load times and plenty of options. The lack of a story however, does make the game feel more "incomplete". This might be because you don't really have a reason as to why you're doing these races or why you want to be number 1 on the blacklist. Rather you just do everything no questions asked.

Graphics

Sunday drive?

 This is one of the games strongest suits. For the PSP game from early 2006, this is one good looking game. The cars are made up of plenty of pixels with a very nice sheen to them. The framerate moves along very smoothly, even with a bunch of cars on screen at once. The backgrounds may look a little plain when looking at still shots, but they look fine when you're moving thanks to the really good blur effect. There are a few problems though. For one, the tracks really don't look very different from one another. Also, there is no car damage at all. This really doesn't matter to much though, as it's not that big of a deal.

Sound

This is a mixed bag. The cars all sound fairly similar, and they're a little bit to high pitched for my taste. The crashing sounds are great though, you can really hear the metal bend and the glass shatter. The cop's radio chatter sounds really cool. The soundtrack is ok. Some songs are pretty good, while others are just bad. Also, the game seems to play some songs WAY more than others. Thankfully, you can turn off songs (just hope you like more of the soundtrack than you dislike). Come on EA, no custom soundtrack!?

Gameplay

First things first, dont expect this to play like the console counterpart. This is NOT a port of most wanted, rather it is a complete reworking of the game on a completely separate engine.  With that out of the way, the gameplay is mostly solid and fun. The driving has a very nice arcade feel to it, with regenerating NOS and the use of the "speedbeaker" (basically bullet time). The cops add heavy tension to the game. While sometimes they can be easy, other times they can be pretty cheap. It seems to be completely random when the come out. You coould do one race with no cops, and then do the exact same race again with cops. The upgrading system is pretty strait forward and easy. The controls also have a few issues with them. The best option is "Automatic B" which is,

X=Accelerate
Circle=Look Back
Triangle=Speedbreaker
Square=Brake/Reverse
R=E-Brake
L=Nitrous
Left/Right=Steer
Up=Pursuit Camera
Down=Change Camera

Fist of all, why they didn't allow you to put "look back" on the up or down arrow is beyond me. Also, why don't they allow you to Accelerate and brake with the shoulder buttons? While they're not perfect in terms of placement, they do work very well in terms of responsiveness.


Overall

 
As EA's second attempt at putting NFS on the PSP, this is pretty solid. Its a generally better game than Underground 2 was, and its MUCH better than the lazy DS version. This is a very fun and solid Arcade racer on the PSP that honestly still holds up to some of the console's later NFS titles. Actually, the graphics are generally better than the PSP port of Undercover (which came out 2 years later)! Sadly, EA shut down the online severs to this game a while back, but there is still always the option of Ad Hoc multiplayer. Sadly however, the blacklist wont take you very long to get through, so don't expect the experience to last very long.