After so many years, I finally understood what all the hype was about. The only thing I don't understand is why people prefer Underground 2 to Most Wanted. The original MW blows NFSU2 out of the water, easily.

Almost everything that was wrong with NFSU2 has been fixed, and only the good parts remain. The linear progression deserves special praise, and I loved how they incorporated it into the game with the Blacklist approach. The open world is still there, but you no longer have to drive from one event to another, which saves a lot of time.

The biggest addition is the cop chases, and they've done a great job with the implementation. The cops are really fun to mess with and you as a racer have a real chance against them. The police chatter is probably the best I've ever heard in an arcade racing game.

I actually liked the story. Sure, it's a bit cheesy, but it motivated me to finish the game and climb to the top of the Blacklist.

There are only a few minor issues with the game. I found the open world a little bland and boring. I also wish they had kept the extensive customization from NFSU2.

Unlike NFSU2, I didn't use any mods to improve the pacing or balance of the game. The only mods I used were to restore the Xbox 360 visuals to the PC version.

With a few tweaks, this could have been the perfect racing game. I'm glad I finally gave it a shot.