This is not a laundry list of shortcomings, though.
Even the majority of the car customization has been dropped, with cosmetic changes thrown out completely and performance mods rarely resulting in physical changes to your car's appearance. There are no characters, as every racer is only seen in his car and with nondescript helmets. There really isn't much of a story to the game, other than that you are a new racer in town trying to run against 10 of the city's titular most wanted racers. Oddly, Hot Pursuit's DNA was not completely eschewed in favor of the previous Most Wanted.
The reboot of Most Wanted is one of the most enjoyable games that the series has had in a long time.
Whatever the reasons for that dissonance in the gameplay, Criterion has certainly gotten a much stronger footing this time around. Criterion's previous effort into the franchise was Hot Pursuit, which felt like an unstable marriage between its venerable Burnout franchise and the slightly more traditional Need for Speed series. The original game was arguably one of the overall best releases that the Need for Speed series has had, and it felt cohesive in its mix of street racing and evading the inevitable police pursuits. From a franchise perspective, remaking 2005's Most Wanted is something akin to treading on hallowed ground.