Bottom Line: Armed and Dangerous? Hardly dangerous, but slightly armed. The new DLC pack for Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is a big hit or miss. It adds two new online game modes, one that is brilliant and another that is practically a waste of money and time.

What's Here

Arms Race is the mode that we can all do without. All it offers is a few more weapons in your typical race. Sure it can make for a little bit more excitement, but not enough to really be worth any money. And that is literally all there is to say about Arms Race. Don’t waste your time.

Now moving on with the other mode, Most Wanted. When you think of NFS and Most Wanted, you may think of the glory days of this franchise, and this new mode almost gets back to that level.

Most Wanted brings a new twist never seen before in a NFS title. It’s racers versus cops, but one of the racers is labeled "most wanted" before the match begins. In this mode, the cops are trying to bust the "most wanted" racer while the other racers try to protect him as he attempts to get out of Seacrest Country without handcuffs on.

The mode is fun and practically worth 560 Microsoft Points by itself, but it still has a few flaws. However, those flaws are solely based on other players in the game.

A lot of times the racers will lose track of the most wanted right away, leaving a nice three-versus-one scenario. Though there is no better feeling than stopping three cops in pursuit of you to capture the victory, it is still a daunting task. Other times, when the racers don’t lose track of their mark, they will still enjoy crashing into the most wanted racer for no apparent reason.

When this first happened, I figured it was no big deal -- I was just matched up with some incompetent players. Then I was in race two when the same thing happened. Then race six. Then on my 20-something experience in Most Wanted, I realized that the racers just are not good at protecting the most wanted.

Free roam is another reason why Most Wanted is such a fun mode. You are not limited to any annoying boundaries; you’re free to speed away in any direction you wish. The freedom is reminiscent of NFS Most Wanted.

Final Thoughts

It’s a shame the price tag is so high for this DLC because Most Wanted is a great game mode. It’s easily the best option online for group play in an already great online setting. But if you have some points lying around, and you love this game already, do yourself a favor and drop the points and become something that you’ve wanted to be since you were a five-year-old rebel: most wanted.

Recommendation: Buy