Do you happen to play an EA game recently with online functions? Then you may happen to have created an EA account, that ties to Origin, EA’s PC games launcher. In other words, it’s Steam for EA games. From time to time, Origin offers a free game from EA’s library for a limited time. This month is Criterion’s “reboot” of Need For Speed Most Wanted.
If you happen to miss out this game and now have a decent PC, login to Origin right now and claim it free of charge. You need to install the Origin launcher as well to get registered into your account. After that, it’s yours to keep, no strings attached. (Except that you need to install the Origin launcher. But hey, free game!)
Need For Speed Most Wanted 2012 is the latest game developed by Criterion Games, the team behind the arcade racer series Burnout. They found success by rebooting Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2010, nailing the tone and appeal of both previous Hot Pursuits – exotic locations, exotic cars, windy speedy roads and cops, to name a few- with some bits of Burnout’s arcadey physics and handling.
Afterwards, they moved on with rebooting Need For Speed Most Wanted, which is actually Burnout Paradise 2 in disguise. Thus, a “reboot”. Ask any NFS veterans and they will be divisive about the 2012 remake being in line more with the classic Most Wanted 2005 or Burnout Paradise. Most would agree it is not a faithful recreation of the 2005 classic, but it is the closest thing we have to a Burnout Paradise 2, with most features such as the open world designed to have some verticality, either jumps or multi-level roads, and an interesting multiplayer mode, lifted from Burnout Paradise and polished further.
Criterion is busy working on a new, yet to be announced IP, whilst the co-founders of the company have moved on to create the indie studio Three Fields Entertainment. The indie outfit’s first project, Dangerous Golf, which is actually Burnout’s Crash mode in disguise, is slated to release this May.
Anyway, if you happen to crave some Burnout-esque racing on the PC, give Most Wanted 2012 a download. It is a limited time offer, so go and claim it before the deal ends.