Need For Speed: Most Wanted ‘notably’ better looking on Wii U than 360/PS3, Criterion claims

Need For Speed: Most Wanted ‘notably’ better looking on Wii U than 360/PS3, Criterion claims
David Scammell Updated on by

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The Wii U version of Need For Speed: Most Wanted is “by far the best-looking version of the game,” Criterion has claimed, revealing that the upcoming port uses the textures and assets from the PC version thanks to the increased amount of system memory.

“When a game has already been released and it comes to a different hardware platform, many people are maybe often not that excited about it, or they think it’s just a straight port, or they think it doesn’t feel unique to their hardware system,” Criterion’s Alex Ward told GamesRadar.

“With Wii U, it was a system where we didn’t feel until we got the hardware ourselves at home, then it began to click with us as developers. We understood how we were going to use the GamePad, and we knew that releasing a vanilla version of the game would just not be enough. It wouldn’t do the machine justice.”

According to Ward, Most Wanted’s lighting, draw distance and detail have all been tweaked for the Wii U version, offering a “notable increase in visual quality” over the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

“So the first thing you’ll see on-screen is a notable increase in visual quality on the Wii U version,” Ward continued.

“The system has more memory so we’re able to use the PC textures and assets, so the game has a much more high quality look. The road is more detailed, the lighting is improved, the draw distance is tweaked, so on Wii U, it’s by far the best-looking version of the game.”

The Wii U version also includes additional features over the 360 and PS3 versions, including a new ‘Co-Driver’ mode, letting a second player turn traffic on or off, alter the time of day and plot routes for the person behind the wheel.

And Ward appears to be right. The first footage of the Wii U game does appear to offer slightly better visuals than the previous console versions. Take a look for yourself below.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted launches on Wii U on March 22.

Source: YouTube