ZAM cruises into the final "stress test" beta phase of the Need for Speed World racing MMO to preview the early gameplay features

What we enjoyed the most, however, was the "pursuit" gameplay mode. You can initiate these open-world car chases by ramming one of the many police cars roaming the streets (it may also be possible to start a pursuit by blatantly ignoring traffic laws in front of the cops; we were able to get their attention this way, although it didn't result in a full-on chase). Veterans of the Need for Speed franchise will be familiar with this gameplay style, as well as most gamers who have played the Grand Theft Auto series and similar titles.

Once you've started your joyride of crime, a familiar "heat" meter is displayed on-screen, supplemented with larger text alerts on your HUD. Your ultimate goal is to lose the police after you cause as much mayhem as possible; destroy property, run the cops and other cars off the road, escape through road blocks and keep it all up for as long as you can before getting "busted" (which happens if you're boxed in by police or slowed to a halt after running over road spikes).

It's not only about driving, though; players have an array of power-ups they can use in both "racing" and "pursuit" gameplay modes. From the MMO player's perspective, these power-ups are similar to character abilities, used in both an offensive and defensive capacity. The abilities shouldn't be too foreign to racing-sim fans, either; in the simplest sense, just think of a game like Mario Kart. In NFSW, these power-ups include nitrous boosts, shield barriers, traffic magnets, ramming enhancers and even a cooldown reset.

As players gain reputation (similar to experience), they level up and gain new passive abilities as well. NFSW uses the familiar "skill tree" system, allowing players to invest skill points in specific gameplay styles. If you enjoy racing, you can unlock skills that increase your nitrous boosts and starting speeds. Players who prefer the thrill of the chase can spend points to make police cars visible on the mini-map, or increase their car's ramming power.

It's still too early to draw any solid conclusions about NFSW's merit as a fully-fledged MMO, although we're pretty sure that fans of the series and racing genre will enjoy it. The minimum system requirements are quite forgiving for older machines, while the free-to-play aspect makes it highly accessible to casual gamers. Hardcore MMO fans may have a difficult time accepting it as anything more than a multiplayer racing game, but the persistent world, group-supported gameplay, progression/leveling and ability mechanics help lend credence to the concept of a "true" MMORG.

NFSW is scheduled for public release on July 27. EA is offering a pre-order "Starter Pack" for $19.99 USD, which includes $20 worth of SpeedBoost currency, an exclusive Toyota Corolla AE86 car and "VIP" driver profile status. The pre-order also entitles you to participate in the NFSW one week head-start event (according to EA, both digital distributors and brick-and-mortar retailers will provide customers with the head-start code in advance). You can read all the details about the Starter Pack at this link on the official NFSW site, and remember to check back with ZAM's Need For Speed World portal site for more news and post-release preview information after release.