Need for Speed: Most Wanted is an open-world racing game for PlayStation 3 that emphasizes street racing and police evasion. Players choose a car and compete in various events, including Sprint races that focus on reaching checkpoints, Circuit races featuring multiple laps, Speed runs aimed at achieving high average speeds, and Ambush races where players must escape from pursuing law enforcement.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers in three types of events: Sprint races, which involves traveling from one point of the city to another, Circuit races, each having two or three laps total and Speed runs, which involve traversing through a course in the highest average speed possible. There is also the Ambush races, which start with the player surrounded by cops and tasked to evade their pursuit as quickly as possible.