Ever seen the Hollywood blockbuster The Fast And The Furious? Well, so have Electronic Arts, and short of a fat, balding Vin Diesel (and I would say that to his face!!) Need For Speed: Most Wanted is almost a carbon copy in basic concept. There's fast paced action, insane intervention from the police, schoolboy style bullying opponents and more importantly, plenty of hot chicks. This month's FHM front cover star, Brooke Burke, featured in the previous iteration and now we have been blessed with the simply stunning Josie Maran (Van Helsing and The Aviator) as our guide through the game.

The opening sequence, although a little lengthy, is brilliantly shot; as we wind through bustling city streets, the story is introduced. Cleverly, rather than bogging us down with an already lengthy introduction, we are given a small taste of the controls as we are thrown mid-storyline into a race against Razor. With his wit not quite as sharp as his name, you can immediately foresee a lengthy battle against this stereotypical gang leader becoming the central theme. Here, you get your first taste of Mia (Josie Maran), a gorgeous street racer who is more than willing to help your cause. A few seconds into the race you get a call from Mia, telling you that you left an oil leak at the starting line. Despite wishing I could amusingly explain that it wasn't an oil leak, I'm forced to pull over.

In true contemporary film style, you flash back a few days to when you first entered Rockport, looking for the intense thrill that can only be found in illegal street racing. With the rims on your BMW still spinning, you soon find the challenge you've been looking for. Despite your desire to race Razor, you are as yet relatively unknown, so you're put up against Toru Sato. Your first taste of victory is cut short by a visit from the fuzz, but before long you're back with Razor and his gang of cronies. As Razor is fifteenth place on the street-racers blacklist (a list of the top fifteen reps in street racing), you race for ownership of your opponent's vehicle. After a repeat of the initial scene where you fell foul to a suspicious oil leak, the police break up the childish bullying from Razor and you're arrested as he drives off in your suped-up BMW. The next thing you see is the welcoming face of Mia collecting you from the police station. A quick phone call and she's hooked you up with a local car dealer, following an explanation of how Razor has raced his way to the top of the Blacklist using your very own motor. The great thing about all these clips is that they are shot in the first person, so that the characters in the story feel as if they are talking directly to you.

So the game begins, and by now you should have around thirty grand burning a hole in your pocket. However, the only hook-up Mia seems to have provided you with should be wearing a mask and a striped vest. The vehicles that are within our price range are a Punto or a Lexus, but since you can't really walk, you're probably best off going with the Lexus. Once bought, you can begin exploring one of the best features of this game, the free roaming environment to drive around, in which all aspects of the game can be found. It seems every game released in the last few years has felt that this is a necessity, and although it does add another element to a title, some suffer from a lack of structure. The concept of being able to free roam through a city is a good idea, but it plays like a feature that was successfully imagined but poorly implemented. You can freely drive to any area you desire, but Need For Speed is more of a driving simulator and, as such, quick changes of direction are difficult to execute and any attempt to slowly tour the environment feels sluggish and dragged down by a need for speed.

In races, the controls are brilliantly responsive and after just a few events you'll be flying into corners and slamming the nitros on to boost out of them. The GPS system in the bottom left is very useful for judging upcoming corners and can prove invaluable, if not a little daunting at first, when evading members of Rockport's constabulary. But as much as good driving will help, this game is about speed, shifting through gears along lengthy straights and hitting the nitro at the right time to beat your opponent to the finish, which can only be successfully achieved by spending your money correctly at the local garages. Think of your plain white first motor as a blank canvas, because the customisation in this game is one of the best features. Whether you're all about what's under the hood or you just want anything that moves as long as it looks good, Need For Speed caters for your needs.

The basic aim of the game is to work your way up the Blacklist until you are high enough to challenge Razor, beat him, get your car back and make him crash into the back of a lorry carrying a tonne of manure (probably). In order to challenge various racers on this list you must first make sure you adhere to the reputations they require. This is usually a combination of milestones achieved, races won and bounties accumulated. Milestones include various challenges such as time spent evading police capture. Races won is fairly self-explanatory and bounty is defined by actions during police chases. One great feature is the suspiciously named 'chasebreaker' (Burnout anyone?) which are indicated on the map during a police chase and can be utilised to bring the pursuit to a sudden halt by causing damage that the police have to stick about to rectify.

The police chases are excellent, with clever little turns and weaving in and out of traffic often rewarding you by losing your tail. These high speed chases are made all the better by the consistently high graphical standards, with the cut scenes given a computerised feel in order to make the transition between storyline and gameplay unnoticeable. Coupled with the intensity of the images is a typically star studded EA soundtrack featuring collaborations from The Roots and stupid hat-wearing car-lover Jamiroquai.

Since the series' first venture into virtual racing in 1998, Need For Speed has rapidly become yet another best selling Electronic Arts video game. After experiencing Most Wanted, you can see why; I found myself trying to complete various parts of the game just to catch another glimpse of Josie Maran! It would be very unfair to say this was the title's only selling point; the gameplay is up to the standard we have learned to expect from EA and just when we think the PS2 cant be pushed any more, they seem to provide a title that shows us something we've never seen before. In the words of Maverick and Goose from Eighties classic cheesefeast Top Gun, "I feel the need, the need for speed!"

Reviewed by Rob Byron for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).