[15][16] The driving model of the game has been described as "deep, physical and fun", not as arcade-styled as the Burnout series and Hot Pursuit, but far from a simulator.

[6] The cars can be altered with performance upgrades, such as reinflatable tires, transmission, engine, nitrous oxide, and body work that enables players to crash through roadblocks, have a higher top speed, and accelerate faster.

It includes content from the previously released Ultimate Speed Pack,[19] and offers three unique features that take advantage of the Wii U GamePad to make it the "Enhanced Version.

These secret vehicles can each be accessed via hidden entrances, shaped like the iconic Warp Pipes from the series, on various tracks.

According to the job listing, the studio was "looking for talented Cinematic Artists to work on the world's number one, multi award winning, arcade racing franchise."

"[23] Earlier in the year, another job advert revealed that Criterion was developing a game with "believable, open world AI racing drivers.

[25][26] On 23 January 2012, Criterion's creative director, Craig Sullivan, said on Twitter that the Guildford-based studio has "lots to share over the coming months".

[27] On 8 April 2012, South African-based online retailer BTGames listed Dead Space 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 for pre-order.

[31][32] On 1 June 2012, EA officially confirmed the existence of the Criterion-developed Need for Speed: Most Wanted as part of the publisher's E3 line-up.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted was officially revealed at EA's Media Briefing during E3 2012, with a trailer which showed a police chase involving a street race.

[38] On 7 September 2012, it was confirmed by producer Matt Webster that the game would support Kinect with a range of support-oriented voice commands that allow players to keep watching the road in front of them.

[39][40] At Gamescom 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced Cross Buy, which offers the Vita version of a game for free to customers who purchase it on PlayStation 3.

When asked by IGN about Cross Buy for Most Wanted, an EA spokesperson told "We're taking it under consideration, but we have no specific plans to announce at this time.

[44] It mainly comprises electronic music (including dubstep, such as Skrillex; techno, such as Deadmau5; and electronica, such as Zedd), alternative rock, and rap, such as "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal.

Most Wanted also contains songs from Criterion Games' previous title, Burnout Crash!, which play over the stereo of parked cars.

Each retailer offered one of three "special edition extra pack", which consists of multiplayer cars with unique modifications that fit different play styles.

An episode of PWND, released in August 2012, featured new footage of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and covered information on the single and multiplayer mode of the game, and the Autolog 2.0.

The Ultimate Speed Pack adds five new cars; the Pagani Zonda R, McLaren F1 LM, Lamborghini Aventador J, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and Hennessey Venom GT Spyder.

[66] It contains two new single player modes along with five new cars: the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, Audi RS3 Sportback, Ford Fiesta ST, Alfa Romeo MiTo QV, and the production model of the Porsche 918 Spyder.

[66] On 20 March 2013, Criterion stated that Most Wanted's DLC packs would only be released for the Wii U if the studio saw enough support on Nintendo's format.

[69] A Complete Edition of the game containing all the downloadable content was later released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on retail and digitally.

[72][73] Need For Speed: Most Wanted was met with generally positive reviews, though it was not as acclaimed as Criterion Games' first entry in the franchise.

The reviewer praised the Criterion racer's "perfectly" pitched handling, "essential" Autolog social features and its "flowing, coherent" world map, which it says blends the styles of previous Burnout and Need for Speed games.

"[83] PlayStation Official Magazine UK gave the game an 8/10, and stated "It's achieved a vicious racing experience that thrills so much more than it frustrates, and it's pushed vehicular multiplayer forward significantly, setting the bar so high it's hard to imagine who can better it.

After years of revisiting Burnout Paradise's recurring playground, we finally have a fresh racing addiction to keep us hooked until Criterion's next seemingly inevitable open-road opus.

GamesRadar, who gave it an 8/10, stated "If you're not big on multiplayer, there's little reason to pick up Most Wanted over, say, heading to the bargain bin for a copy of Burnout Paradise.

If you're willing to invest a few hours to learning the game's quirks, however, and are at all interested in racing against your friends online, this suddenly becomes one of the most recommendable arcade racers to come along in the past few years.

"[87] Destructoid, who gave the game an 8.5/10, stated "There are some scrapes with single-player and a lack of polish here and there, but the multiplayer delivers in such a big way that all of this hardly matters.

Eurogamer stated "Many ports have failed to impress in the transition to Wii U, but Criterion's tech credentials are second to none and there's a strong argument that Most Wanted U is the best-looking version yet.

[105] On 31 January 2013, on EA's financial result report of Q3 2013, while sales figures weren't released, it was mentioned Most Wanted outperformed 2011's Need for Speed: The Run.