As soon as Criterion Games were associated with the upcoming Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the popular Autolog system from their previous game in the franchise, 2010’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, was rumoured to be making a welcomed return. Autolog 2.0 was then promptly confirmed at E3, and now EA have released the first details of how this stat-tracking social network will operate.
According to the official Need for Speed website Autolog has been expanded, and access to it is no longer confined to just in-game or through a smartphone application:
“This time, you can experience the whole thing right here on needforspeed.com. You’ll be able to check your Autolog Feed, browse Recommendations, comment, share pictures and tag events ready for when you next play the game.”
Sounding somewhat similar to Battlefield 3‘s rather polarising Battlelog system, this new website based stat-tracking comes with some interesting additions to the original, including ‘Customised Recommendations’ which allows users to:
“turn down the volume on a particular friend and focus the action on someone you absolutely must beat”.
Overall, the focus of Autolog 2.0 remains that of its predecessor, beating your friends at any and all points upon the map. However, in keeping with the name of the game the ultimate goal is not merely to be quicker than them, it is also to become the “Most Wanted”:
“Autolog calls out your friends’ records as you drive the city, hitting jumps, speeding through streets, blasting past speed cameras… everything. If there’s something to do, there’s someone to beat. Your ultimate goal in the game is to be the Most Wanted. You earn Need for Speed Points and rank up for everything you do in the game. Outdrive your friends to move up the list and be Most Wanted.”
With the ability to share ‘Dreamshots’ (Beautiful scenes encountered during the game) and ‘instant snapshots,’ each victory over your rivals can be accompanied by a digital boast, just don’t be too annoyed when the favour is returned.
Generally, I struggle to maintain racing rivalries through leaderboards alone. So a comprehensive system constantly reminding me of how comparatively inadequate I actually am may well be what I need to get back to burning some rubber.
Source: Video Gamer