Need for Speed Most Wanted vs Need for Speed: The Run
Need for Speed Most Wanted is an open-world racing game from Criterion Games (2020) while Need for Speed: The Run is a racing game (2011).
Quick answer: Need for Speed Most Wanted has the higher Metacritic, 78 to 69.
Need for Speed: The Run
What each one is
Need for Speed Most Wanted is filed under Open-World and Racing. In contrast, Need for Speed: The Run under Racing.
The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.
Need for Speed: The Run is a 2011 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eighteenth installment in the Need for Speed series and is Black Box's final entry in the series before the studio's closure in April 2013. Following an extensive marketing campaign, the game was released on November 15, 2011, for PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS and Wii.
Story, characters and reception
No Wikipedia detail on file.
Plot
Black Box version Jack Rourke ( Sean Faris ), an experienced street racer, finds himself in serious trouble with the Mob due to a massive debt with them. After narrowly escaping being crushed within his car at a scrapyard in Oakland , due to his failure to repay what he owes, Rourke evades his captors by stealing one of their cars. Heading to San Francisco, he makes contact with his friend Sam Harper ( Christina Hendricks ), a fixer who arranges his… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Need for Speed: The Run was met with mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 and Wii versions 64/100, the Xbox 360 version 68/100, the Nintendo 3DS version 65/100, and the PC version 69/100. The first review was published by Game Informer , which gave the game 7. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Need for Speed Most Wanted | Need for Speed: The Run | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.1/10 | — |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (77%, 27,849) | — |
| Critic aggregate | 78/100 | 69/100 |
| Price | $19.99 | Unknown |
| Install size | 20 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | Untested |
| Released | 2020 | 2011 |
| Developer | Criterion Games | — |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Need for Speed Most Wanted vs Need for Speed: The Run, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Need for Speed Most WantedOpen-world racing gameNeed for Speed: The RunRacing gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Need for Speed Most WantedRacing, Open World, DrivingNeed for Speed: The RunNo descriptive tagsThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Need for Speed Most Wanted ✓Metacritic 78Need for Speed: The RunMetacritic 69Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.
Content and scale
Need for Speed Most Wanted27,849 reviews · 5 add-ons · 20 GBNeed for Speed: The Run—Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Need for Speed Most Wanted$19.99Need for Speed: The RunUnknownRead live from Steam and subject to change.
Need for Speed Most Wanted takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The better reviewed of the two: Need for Speed Most Wanted (Metacritic 78)
Where they differ
RacingMultiplayerOpen WorldDrivingActionCompetitive
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Need for Speed Most Wanted is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Need for Speed: The Run is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Need for Speed Most Wanted and 0 for Need for Speed: The Run. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Need for Speed Most Wanted and Need for Speed: The Run in scope?
Need for Speed Most Wanted has drawn 27,849 Steam reviews, ships 5 add-ons and installs in 20 GB. Need for Speed: The Run lists little scope data.
Is Need for Speed Most Wanted or Need for Speed: The Run better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Need for Speed Most Wanted or Need for Speed: The Run?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Need for Speed Most Wanted or Need for Speed: The Run?
Need for Speed Most Wanted has the higher Metacritic, 78 to 69. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.