The Need For Speed series of games by EA has now been around for ten (!) years. My first experience was Road & Track Presents: Need For Speed SE. Back then you could pick either the NFS Series of the Test Drive series, and NSF took a very early lead and never looked back.

The ten year run has not been perfect. While there have been some excellent games in the series, there have also been some clunkers. Because the clunkers have come more recently (Need For Speed Underground 2, anyone), the franchise has taken a little bit of a hit. The buzz surrounding this new edition -- Need For Speed: Most Wanted, was pretty nonexistent. I’m here to tell you that this game is a sleeper hit of 2005.

The storyline is very familiar to fans of movies like The Fast & The Furious. You’re a street racer with a very nice, tricked out car. You’re racing against an opponent…we’ll let’s just say he tries to win at all costs. You’re thrown into a race and you’re easily winning, until your ‘friend’ radios that your car had an oil spill at the starting line and that you car is in danger of breaking down…which of course it does and your opponent wins. You’re racing for pink slips, so this bad guy takes your sweet ride and now you’re at the bottom of the ‘blacklist’ and have to work your way back up again.

You’ll start off with ‘world’s crappiest car’ and then have to race, race, RACE your way to the top. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, there’s not just regular racing in here – there are all kinds of challenges.

First challenge is your usual, run-of-the-mill circuit race where you have to complete a number of laps to win, however you’re racing during the day and in traffic. Oops. And don’t upset the cops, because they’ll come after you as well.

Winning these races gives you extra cash, so then you’ll be able to purchase nitro and other goodies to trick out your car. Other races include a "tollbooth" mode where you have to make the fastest time from tollbooth to tollbooth (other games might refer to this as a checkpoint mode, but I like their creativity on this one). There’s also a drag race (duh), and an outrun the cops mode. Finally, there’s a knockout mode, which is reminiscent of the Burnout series – every lap, the last place finisher it eliminated. Obviously, the career mode is where you’ll spend most of your time. The game is incredibly addictive. You’ll go from blacklist challenge to blacklist challenge, just trying to get ‘one more race in’ so you’ll take on the next racer.

One of the new features with the Xbox 360 version of the game is the achievements page. You know how you race your friends and they say they’ve completed in the game? With the achievements page, you’ll be able to verify that they have. The feature doesn’t get enough play in reviews. I’ve used it quite a bit.

Graphically, the game really shines. In comparing the Xbox and the Xbox 360 versions, the Xbox 360 is a clear winner – the 1080i HD mode really is incredible to look at. The drops of rain not only hit your windshield but you can tell that the road is slick to drive on.

The in game audio is superb as well. EA Trax is in the game and your mileage may vary on this feature. Some songs (like the one by Disturbed) really add to the racing atmosphere. Other songs, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t race with them. The racing audio is just amazing to listen to – the echoes of the engine revving when you go into the tunnels is just plain awesome.

Gameplay itself can be repetitive – I mean, how many races do you really need – but the tracks are all very challenging and each one has shortcuts for you to find on the map and increase the replay value. It never feels like you’re racing the "same" race.