Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 listing leaks - Criterion's current project?

Potentially exciting news for Need for Speed fans today, as an online retailer has listed Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 as the next entry in the series. While by no means a definite confirmation, the retailer in question, South African outlet BT Games, has been known to be correct in the past, such as when they listed Jak and Daxter HD Collection prior to Sony’s announcement.

What gets us more excited about this prospect however is that Criterion Games, the British developer behind the brilliant Burnout series, have been rumoured to be developing a new Need for Speed title following the success of the acclaimed Hot Pursuit, which put the series back on track after a mixed bag of yearly releases from EA Black Box.

It’s a pattern we saw reemerge when Black Box got back behind the wheel in last year’s The Run, which was an unfortunate case of style over substance that also had the dubious honor of being our most disappointing game of the year in our driving game awards last year. By comparison, Hot Pursuit was a happy marriage that merged Criterion's talent for spectacular smash-ups, eye popping graphics and raw edge-of-your seat speed with Need for Speed's plethora of licensed cars and winding open roads. Fans have since been waiting in anticipation to find out just what they are cooking up next. And no, Burnout Crash does not count.  

Criterion also recently advertised a job requiring “believable, open world AI drivers,” which would indicate the possibility of Most Wanted 2 being an open world driving game. Considering that the original Most Wanted was itself built on free roaming game and Criterion already have experience in this area from Burnout Paradise, this seems highly likely, and sounds like a natural progression from Hot Pursuit.

Released in 2005, Most Wanted was a happy medium between Underground’s chav-tastic customisation and Hot Pursuit’s high-octane police chases, and to me represents the last decent stab at a Need for Speed game in the last console generation before Black Box got carried away with annual releases resulting in dismal dregs such as Pro Street and Undercover, to name a few.

Admittedly, we’re still pining for a proper Burnout sequel, but if Most Wanted 2 (or simply Most Wanted if EA’s current track record with reboots is anything to go by i.e. Hot Pursuit, Medal of Honor, SSX, etc) turns out to be genuine then the Need for Speed series should be back in very capable hands indeed.

Fingers crossed for an E3 reveal!

Words by Martin Bigg (Twitter: @drivinggamespro)

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