I'll be buying this if
1) It has a good soundtrack like the first one, click pow nine thou, I am rock, the original had a tracklist I'd describe as transcendant.
2) It features car customization, this has been sorely lacking in the criterion need for speed games, and it's one of the pillars of design in most wanted. Without customization, it isn't most wanted.
3) The visual asthetic is intact, I spent a good deal of my early life in the pacific northwest and california, the sepia toned perpetual sunset world of most wanted perfectly reflected the visual experience of running around on roads out there, without the traffic.
4) The police battles can still drag out for an excessively long time, and use ridiculous numbers, rather than, for lack of a better term "crash spounge" enemies. Most wanted was vastly superior to carbon, despite being exceptionally similar because of this.
5) The game goes back to having a couple notable, really easy to dislike villans, like razor and the police chief who keys the crap out of your ride in the opening cinematic. I had piss and vinegar in my veins for both those guys the entire game. Talk about emotional investment in a story.
I will absolutely not buy this game if it features a 30 frame per second cap like the last NFS title. This is the one, single game that EA could make me install origin for, provided it is true to the most wanted moniker. For my money, I seriously doubt it will be.
<message edited by mblystone on Friday, June 08, 2012 12:07 PM>