Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) is the best all-round choice for most PS3 players: it gives you full careers as both a cop and a racer, with solo play available. Prefer free-roaming and competing with friends? Choose Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012). For a more directed, story-led race across the United States, choose Need for Speed: The Run.
Which Need for Speed game should you choose?
| Game | Best for | What makes it different | Consider this |
|---|---|---|---|
| Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) | Best all-round pick; cop-versus-racer events | Full careers as a cop and a racer, playable solo or connected, plus Autolog comparisons and friend challenges. EA described the careers and connected play. | Those online features describe the game at launch; current PS3 online availability is not established. |
| Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) | Open-world driving and social competition | Explore Fairhaven, discover cars, enter events flexibly, compare Autolog results, and play multiplayer. EA’s launch announcement describes these features. | This is Criterion’s 2012 reimagining, not the separate 2005 Most Wanted. |
| Need for Speed: The Run (2011) | A directed campaign | A story-led, high-stakes race across the United States, as described in Push Square’s PS3 review. | The same review notes technical issues and frustrating AI; its linear campaign is less suited to open-ended exploration. |
Why Hot Pursuit is the strongest default choice
Hot Pursuit offers the clearest range of roles among these options: you can progress through a cop career or a racer career, and you do not need to rely on connected play to access the core career experience. That makes it a versatile recommendation if you want high-speed pursuits but have not settled on one preferred style.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Need for Speed: Carbon | $28.42 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3 | $39.94 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Need for Speed: The Run - Playstation 3 | $22.10 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Need for Speed Hot Pursuit - Playstation 3 (Renewed) | $18.68 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3 (Renewed) | $19.62 | Buy on Amazon |
EA announced the PS3 version in 2010, with a North American release date of November 16 and European dates of November 18 and 19. EA’s announcement also emphasized cop-versus-racer pursuits. The recommendation here is an editorial judgment based on the game’s range and the alternatives’ different strengths, not a universal ranking.
When Most Wanted (2012) is a better fit
Choose Most Wanted if you would rather roam a city, find cars, and decide which events to take on than switch between distinct cop and racer careers. Its setting is Fairhaven, and its design puts open-world freedom and friend comparisons at the center. EA listed PS3 among the platforms in its 2012 announcement.
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- Survive the Canyon-All-new Canyon Duel and Drift race modes are the ultimate test of skill and nerve, where one wrong turn could cost you more than the race.
- The City Is Yours for the Taking-Race for control of the city block-by-block by taking down rival crews on their turf, then defeat their crew leaders in life-or-death races in Carbon Canyon.
- Customize Your Dream Cars-The revolutionary new Autosculpt car customization tool gives you the power to design and tweak your crew's cars in every way imaginable.
- Represent a Class-Affiliate with the Tuner, American Muscle, or Exotic car classes and prove once and for all who makes the best set of wheels. A new physics model makes each class handle and drive differently.
- Build Your Crew-Strategically choose your crew members and then use their skills on the road and in the garage to help you win races and customize your cars.
Use the year when searching for or buying it: Most Wanted (2012) is Criterion’s reimagining, not the 2005 game with the same subtitle. Its original Autolog and seamless multiplayer features are launch-era descriptions; they do not confirm that PS3 online services remain available today.
When to pick The Run
The Run is the better choice if you want a campaign with a defined premise and forward momentum: a high-stakes race across the United States. It is less appropriate if your priority is to explore freely between events. GameSpot lists its first release as November 15, 2011 and includes PS3 among its platforms; Push Square’s PS3 review also flags technical problems and frustrating AI as drawbacks.
Rank #2
- Open World Action - Lose the cops - your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, lay low, or shake the cops in surroundings that play to your car's unique strengths. Freedom is everything. Drive anywhere with your friends, discover hidden gameplay or utilize your knowledge of the city to beat them in a never-ending supply of challenges
- Non-Stop Multiplayer - Pick a car, hook up with friends and jump into a non-stop playlist of tight, competitive events. No lobby screens means the action never stops. Score big, rank up and earn endless rewards and upgrades. Keep the fierce rivalries going between events with endless opportunities to race, battle and explore in a huge open world
- Beat Your Friends - Autolog 2 ratchets up the intense competition with personalized race recommendations and feeds broadcasting all of your most newsworthy scores, speeds and times to your friends. Earn Need for Speed points at all times on any system as you try to outdrive your friends and become the Most Wanted
- Racing Without Rules - It’s survival of the fastest as "Need for Speed Most Wanted" fuses the franchise’s, authentic "real car" feel with the intense speed and aggression of Burnout. Power down, slide out, and battle your way past cops and rivals using pure driving skill, and heavy doses of nitrous
What to check before buying a PS3 copy
- Confirm the listing is for the PS3 edition, not a version for another platform.
- For Most Wanted, confirm the year is 2012 so you do not confuse it with the 2005 title.
- If online competition is essential, verify current PS3 online functionality before buying. The games’ original announcements establish launch features, not present-day service status.
- Check the live listing for condition, seller details, and price; availability and current prices are not established here.
For a physical copy, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) for PS3 is the direct match for the all-round recommendation. Choose Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) for PS3 instead if Fairhaven exploration and social competition better fit your preferences.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Disc only. Original case and manual not included. Will come packaged in a generic case.
- Open World Action - Lose the cops - your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, lay low, or shake the cops in surroundings that play to your car's unique strengths. Freedom is everything. Drive anywhere with your friends, discover hidden gameplay or utilize your knowledge of the city to beat them in a never-ending supply of challenges
- Non-Stop Multiplayer - Pick a car, hook up with friends and jump into a non-stop playlist of tight, competitive events. No lobby screens means the action never stops. Score big, rank up and earn endless rewards and upgrades. Keep the fierce rivalries going between events with endless opportunities to race, battle and explore in a huge open world
- Beat Your Friends - Autolog 2 ratchets up the intense competition with personalized race recommendations and feeds broadcasting all of your most newsworthy scores, speeds and times to your friends. Earn Need for Speed points at all times on any system as you try to outdrive your friends and become the Most Wanted
- Racing Without Rules - It’s survival of the fastest as "Need for Speed Most Wanted" fuses the franchise’s, authentic "real car" feel with the intense speed and aggression of Burnout. Power down, slide out, and battle your way past cops and rivals using pure driving skill, and heavy doses of nitrous
Rank #4
- Hot Pursuit contains 1-8 player online support as well as leader boards
- Play as either cops and racers in both a tremendously deep, fully-defined single player career and a groundbreaking multiplayer
- The Need For Speed Autolog system connects friends directly to each other's games
- Whether taking down suspects with a variety of cop weapons or using evasion equipment to outsmart the cops
- Feel the power of busting suspects in supercharged cop interceptors like the Lamborghini Reventon or outsmarting the law
Rank #3
- Be the first to cross the finish line as you speed across the country from San Francisco to New York in an illicit, high-stakes race
- Race as Jack, a marked man who must make it to New York City ahead of the competition, the police and the men who want him dead
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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