'Need for Speed: Most Wanted' trailer cuts up Corvette, Koenigsegg and Hummer

For the newcomer, there's the presentation of Most Wanted as an expanding garage of motorized muscle unleashed across a city of unsympathetic cops ever keen to give dangerous chase; for those familiar with the winding road traveled by Need for Speed, a reinforcement of the idea that this latest iteration is a combination of series tradition with the hectic open world rambling of Criterion Games' 2008/09 high point, Burnout Paradise.

Then there's a chance for the dedicated to further examine Most Wanted's backdrop, the (mostly) fictional Fairhaven City, with its criss-crossing routes through an industrial collision of railyard, power plant, seaport, construction site, parkland and stormdrain.

And just as veteran Grand Theft Auto players will end up involuntarily scanning new trailers for hidden pigeons, or the hardened Left 4 Dead 2 survivor becomes irrationally obsessed with the safety of garden gnomes, the Hummer's scenic viewpoint atop an unfinished office block stands as a silent call to old Burnout Paradise players, an unspoken reminder of all the secret jump spots that Most Wanted will contain, all the challenges that provoke blurry-eyed late night devotion, daring them to find and finish every last one.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is due October 30 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in North America, with a European street date following on November 2, and is expected to appear on other platforms in one form or another -- PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android already official, Nintendo's Wii or Wii U unconfirmed.

"Need For Speed Most Wanted Gameplay Video 2": youtu.be/1d0NC0dJfoY
Official website: needforspeed.com/most-wanted