Need for Speed: Most Wanted/Pursuit system

Most Wanted features a far more sophisticated pursuit system and police AI than its predessecors. This section aims to provide you with the information needed to face police pursuits and end them. The police department in Most Wanted is called the "Rockport Police Department".

Initiating a pursuit

In career mode, you run the risk of facing the wrath of the police if you had committed traffic offenses, including, but not limited to:

• Property damage
• Traffic collisions
• Off-road driving
• Speeding
• Racing

When police talk about your car and your offences, it is a warning that Police cars are in the area. You will need to watch out for closing police units using the upper radar(which tracks the location of a nearby unit and proximity to it). Once a police unit acquires visual contact of your car, the camera zooms in on the police unit to indicate where it is. Then, a pursuit begins.

You can also initiate a pursuit immediately by selecting a Blacklist unfinished Milestone, or by selecting one of the Bounty scenarios. If you find a police officer and you haven't commited a crime the pursuit won't happen until you commit a crime. In the event that you have a heat level of 2-5, all that has to happen is for the police to see you. They will then initiate a pursuit.

Heat levels

The aggressiveness of the police depends on the "Heat", or wanted level, of your car. Heat is collected during pursuit, when you are seen committing police offenses or continuing to engage in police pursuits.

While in chase, the police will refer to yours "Heat" level as a "Condition". There is a total of 7 Conditions in the game.

• Condition 1, Civic Involvement, when local police simply chase your car using Civic Cruisers. Condition 1 is unlocked from the beginning.
• Condition 2, Civic Involvement, when local police will chase your car using black, unmarked Undercover Civic Cruisers. The police will also begin using roadblocks. Condition 2 is unlocked from the beginning.
• Condition 3, State Involvement, in this heat level state troopers take over and deploy Pontiac GTO State Cruisers against your car. The state police will also begin using Light Rhinos, which drive facing the opposing direction of your car in an effort to ram your car head-on and stop you dead. Condition 3 is unlocked after you beat Blacklist #13.
• Condition 4, State Involvement, when state troopers deploy black, unmarked Pontiac GTO Undercover State Cruisers. Heavy Rhinos will take over the role of Light Rhinos, and state police begin deploying spike strips. They will also call in a police helicopter to supervise the chase. Condition 4 is unlocked after you beat Blacklist #9.
• Condition 5, Federal Involvement, in which federal agents take over and deploy Chevrolet Corvette C6 Federal Sport Cruisers against your car. Sergeant Cross' elite Street Racing Unit will also participate in the pursuit with Cross in tow. The police helicopter will also intervene by sideswiping your car while flying low. Condition 5 is unlocked after you beat Blacklist #5.
• Condition 6, Federal Involvement, when federal agents deploy black, unmarked Chevrolet Corvette C6 Federal Sport Undercover Cruisers and Supercharged Rhinos for all-purpose pursuit tactics plus helicopters, roadblocks, and spike strips. Sergeant Cross will also participate in this pursuit along with his Street Racing Unit. Condition 6 is only available during the duration of the Final Pursuit and in Challenge 68 of the Challenge Series after 10 minutes in pursuit.
• Condition 7, Federal Involvement, in which elite federal agents deploy nothing but Supercharged Rhinos against your car. Condition 7 is only available in the Black Edition of Most Wanted in Challenge 69 of the Challenge Series.

Heat levels can be reduced by changing the physical appearance of you car in a parts shop, or using another car you are owning to race while storing the other car in your garage (each completed race using that car will reduce the heat level for the other car in storage).

Police Vehicles

For bounty earned for immobilizing the police vehicles, see the "Bounty" section of this article.

There are several vehicles that the Rockport Police Department use.

• Civic Cruiser The Civic Cruiser is a hybrid mix between the Chrysler AA Body cars, the fourth generation Chevrolet Caprice, the eleventh generation Chevrolet Impala, and the second generation Ford Crown Victoria. It can be seen patrolling the perimeter of Rockport and is only active in Condition 1. Compared to any other police vehicle, the Civic Cruiser is the weakest and slowest car. The player is able to drive the Civic Cruiser in Challenge 44 of the Challenge Series where the player has to dodge 4 spike strips.
• Undercover Civic Cruiser The Undercover Civic Cruiser is an improved version of the Civic Cruiser. This version is covered in navy blue paint, is slightly tougher and faster, and is only active in Condition 2.
• State Cruiser The Pontiac GTO State Cruiser appears after the player reachs Condition 3. It is faster than the Civic Cruisers and can withstand more damage. The player is able to drive the State Cruiser in Challenge 45 of the Challenge Series where the player has to complete a tollbooth race.
• Light Rhino Unit The Light Rhino Unit is the smallest police SUV. It has no bull bars across its front grille, it has the lowest suspension, different road tyres, and standard police rims. They appear in Condition 3 alongside State Cruisers. They are utilized as roadblocks and will attempt to stop the player by ramming head on into them.
• Undercover State Cruiser The Pontiac GTO Undercover State Cruiser appears at Condition 4. This version is dark blue and is a more powerful version of the State Cruiser.
• Heavy Rhino Unit The Heavy Rhino Unit is the standard police SUV. It has bull bars across its front grille, it has higher suspension, different road tyres, and five spoke black rims. They appear at Condition 4 and 5 alongside the Undercover State Cruiser and Federal Sport Cruiser. They are also used as roadblocks and will attempt to stop the player by ramming head on into them at high speed, ramming them off the road and boxing them in.
• Supercharged Rhino Unit The Supercharged Rhino Unit is a high speed police SUV. It has lower side skirts, more antennas, different road tyres, and five spoke black rims. They appear at Condition 6 and 7 alongside Federal Sport Undercover Cruisers. They use the same tactics as Heavy Rhino Units and can keep up with the player at high speeds.

Infractions

• Speeding- driving in police vision in excess of 150 mph (240 kmh)
• Excessive Speeding- driving in police vision in excess of 180 mph (288 kmh)
• Property Damage- running through destroyable scenery, including signs and lightposts
• Ramming a Police Vehicle- coming into contact with a police vehicle
• Driving Off Road- driving your vehicle out of the lines bounding the road edge
• Resisting Arrest- awarded for entering cooldown after successfully evading custody
• Hit and Run- hitting another car while in view of the police
• Reckless Driving- driving in police vision in excess of 200 mph (320 kmh)

In some cars, the speeding, excessive speeding, and reckless driving infractions may require a slightly higher speed.

Pursuit Breakers and Speedbreakers

The game introduces two new pursuit-related features: Pursuit Breakers and the Speed Breaker.

Pursuit Breakers, marked as triangles in the city map during pursuits, are road-side objects which are designated to collapse when you use your car to knock down its support, damaging or disabling following police cars. This feature is the best way to cut down the number of police units chasing you, as it is far more effective than evading the police units with speed, which will not always work. However, take note that you will need police units to be close to you and behind you when using Pursuit Breakers. Obviously, police units in front of you may not be affected by the collapsing debris, and police units far behind can easily avoid the falling objects. Each Pursuit Breaker will be replenished after a certain amount of time. On a side note, Pursuit Breakers may also be use in the same way to crash racing opponents.

The Speedbreaker is basically a bullet-time mode that slows down time and allows you to control your car quickly for a limited time. This feature is best used to find a weak point of a roadblock, or avoid incoming Rhino SUVs. Speedbreakers are also useful during fast-paced races, where you are required to avoid traffic (particularly in drag racing), maneuver tight corner or realign you car to take a shortcut. Each steering turn using a Speed Breaker, however, sends the car in a drift that could slow your car down; as such, it is also effective in taking sharp corners, and comes in handy for tough tollbooth races.

Hint: If you see a roadblock, use the Speedbreaker to find a weak spot in the block, then come out of Speedbreaker mode and use a nitrous oxide speed boost to effectively smash through it. If you have no choice but to hit a police car, aim your car at the back tires of the police car.

Pursuit status bar

A crucial indicator to take note of during police pursuits is the pursuit status bar, located at the bottom of your computer screen, this bar helps you indicate the current status of the pursuit, the number of police cars in pursuit, the amount of time before the next back of backup arrives, and the risk of you getting arrested.

The time remaining before backup arrives, obviously, indicates the amount of time before a large group of police units joins in to chase you. When the number of police cars chasing you falls to around one or two, they will call for backup. A timer will appear at the bottom of the bar. At heat level one, it will take 3 minutes for the backup to arive. From level two to four, it will take only two minutes, and at heat level 5, 6 and 7 only 1 minute and 30 seconds. The amount of cars that will join the pursuit when backup arrives increases by five every heat level ( e.g. heat level one, 5 cars, heat level 2, 10 cars, heat level 5, 25 cars etc. ).

During pursuit, the meter will indicate the risk of you being arrested or the chances of you evading the police. If your car stops close to the presence of the police, the meter moves to the left, with the bar turning red, indicating that you will be arrested; driving your car away at a minimal speed will lower this risk. If all pursuing police units are far away from your car, or have lost contact of your car, the meter moves to the right and turns green, indicating that you will be evading the police.

The bar also indicates other information about police units: The number of police units disabled, and the number of police units which had a "exchange of paint", or physical contact from you car.

After evading the police, this bar will switch to a "Cooldown bar"; which will be explained in the next section.

Cooldown

Upon evading the police, you are still required to avoid the police for an allocated time, known as a "Cooldown" period, until they give up and cancel search. Cooldown periods will be indicated in a bar where the pursuit status bar was. In this period, the police will still initiate search of your car; thus it is usually required that you avoid police units to avoid another new pursuit. In order to endure a Cooldown period, you will usually required to stop at an area that will rarely or never be seen by the police, usually off roadways and in covered spots. Hiding spots are also provided on the map; driving into these zones will speed up Cooldown time and shorten the Cooldown period.

Under higher heat levels, however, Cooldown periods will be longer, while more police units will be searching for your car, and cars with Condition 4 or higher heat levels will be sought for by police helicopters, which are capable of finding your car easily if you are not in a hiding spot.

Arrest

When your Pursuit Status Bar on the bottom of your screen goes all of the way to the left (Busted), the game will switch to a cut-scene showing you being taken into custody. A heat level one police car is shown in the cutscene, regardless of your heat level. A police officer will simply arrest you or in some instances, your character will try to resist and the police officer will retaliate (ergo the "T" rating). After an arrest you are required to pay fines owed on the current pursuit as well as fines from others that you have evaded. You also have the option to use a "Get out of Jail Free" marker to avoid having to pay any fines at all. In the unlucky case where you happen to not have enough money to pay your fine, your car will be impounded.

Milestones

Milestones are one of three requirements set out by Blacklist racers that have to be completed in order to race them. Milestones may vary from Blacklist racer to Blacklist racer. Please note that to complete milestones, you have to successfully evade the pursuit.

• Bounty Challenge- Requires a minimum amount of bounty to be acquired in a single pursuit.
• Cost to State Challenge- Cause the police to spend a certain amount of money to apprehend you in a single pursuit.
• Roadblocks Challenge- Requires you to avoid a certain amount of roadblocks in a single pursuit.
• Spike Strip Challenge- Requires you to avoid a certain amount of spike strips in a single pursuit.
• Pursuit Time Challenge(less than)- Requires you to evade a pursuit under a set amount of time.
• Pursuit Time Challenge(greater than)- Requires you to keep a police chase going for a set amount of time.
• Trade Paint Challenge- Requires for your car to come in contact with (damage) a set amount of police cars in a single pursuit.
• Infractions Challenge- Requires you to commit a set amount of infractions in a single pursuit.

Bounty

Bounty is another requirement to race a Blacklist racer. Bounty is calculated on three things: the length of the pursuit, the number of police vehicles immobilized, and milestones being completed. The more of each one of these that you get, the higher your bounty goes.

Length: Every 10 seconds during a pursuit, the bounty increases. At heat level 1, the bounty increases by 100. At heat level 2, bounty increases by 500. At heat level 3, it increases by 1,000. At heat level 4, it increases by 5,000. At a heat level of 5, it increases by 25,000. In the final challenge on heat level 6, the players' bounty increases by 30,000 every ten seconds.

Immobilizing police vehicles: Each vehicle has varying bounties. If you immmobilize multiple vehicles, the bounty is increased, to a maximum of x3. Bounty begins at 250 for Civic Cruisers, 500 for Undercover Civic Cruisers, 2,500 for State Cruisers, 5,000 for Undercover State Cruisers, 10,000 for Light Rhinos, 15,000 for Heavy Rhinos, 25,000 for Federal Cruisers, and 30,000 for Undercover Federal Cruisers and Supercharged Rhinos. For disabling Sergeant Cross's vehicle, the player receives 100,000, value that can also be influenced by immobilizing combos, which could go up to 200,000 or 300,000 if timed very well.

Milestones have varying bounty rewards. These are awarded at the end of a pursuit you successfully evade, providing you fulfilled the Milestone.

Rap sheet

Your rap sheet is a database where the Rockport police can access your street racing files. These files include your vehicle database, rankings compared to the 15 other Blacklist racers, cost to state, pursuit information about your top 5 police pursuits, and a summary, which summarizes your pursuit statistics and in the centre of summary summarizes how dangerous you are depending on how many infractions you have. For example: if you have less than 500 infractions it will say "Minor Infractions: Perform Routine Check For Citations And Infractions". If you have 500-1,000 infractions it will say the same thing except it will say "Major Infractions" with an extra sentance saying "Approach With Caution". Your rap sheet is accessible from your safehouse in Career Mode after you defeat Blacklist #13.