Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - An EA Game

As most gamers who play racing games know, the last 7 years have been rather turbulent for the NFS series. The NFS “Underground” series put the franchise on a high, then, along came “Most Wanted” which pushed the franchise even higher, and since then, it’s gone downhill with “Carbon”, “Pro Street”, and “Undercover” with only “Shift” bringing some respect back into a failing franchise… EA knew they had to do something, so what did they do..? They decided to go back to what NFS was all about (Cops and Racers) and oh yes, they brought Criterion (of Burnout fame) so has it worked..? Let’s take a look.

The graphics in NFS: Hot Pursuit look pretty good, although it’s hard to admire the scenery when your buzzing past at 180mph, but lest we forget, Criterion are the masters at making things look great even at that speed! The cars look gorgeous, the tracks are well laid out with plenty of shortcuts on most tracks (even though some of them are intended NOT to be shortcuts, so you’ll need to be careful) and the crash replays are also well done, with your car taking damage based on how beat up it is. All in all its what you’d expect from a racing game

Sound in any racer shouldn’t be too difficult to do, and NFS is no exception, the cars sound superb and as they do in real life which people come to expect so that’s not a surprise. The sounds during the race are pretty good; you can hear a screeching noise when you scrape down the side of a rival car. Not sure what could be improved so it’s a thumbs up for me



Gameplay wise, I think this is the most fun since Most Wanted…The core of the gameplay centres around the career mode, where you be a Cop or a Racer but it’s not as simple as that. If you are a racer, the events are Duel (1 v 1, cops), Time trial (no cops), Race (no cops), Gauntlet (you vs. cops) and then Hot Pursuit where it’s you and the racers vs the cops…You have 4 weapons at your disposal that you gradually unlock – Spike Strip, EMP, Jammer and Turbo. As you progress through the Racer events you get upgrades to the weapons (spike strips become wider and longer, and eventually drop 2 in 1 go etc.) The cops are brutally difficult to shake off and in some of the later challenges, it can feel like the most frustrating thing in the world, but it’s not something that puts you off the game. The Cop mode features Interceptor (You trying to bust one racer), Rapid Response (Like racer time trial but any collisions cost you 2 seconds each onto your time) and Hot Pursuit (You vs all the racers). Career also features autolog that is banded about as a “Facebook” addition to the game where any time you set on a track, is uploaded to autolog where friends can take on your time and try to beat it. It makes a good addition I feel.. The online mode is cops vs racers, and can be any combination… 7 cops, 1 racer, or even 1 cop 7 racers… the choice is yours! **EDIT - Since posting this review I have spent 10 hours on cop mode and I love it... Its very challenging, with some of the AI racers being very sneaky and waiting til your just about to ram them up the rear (hehe) before they release a spike strip! some of them on interceptor mode even pull U-Turns and just totally throw you off guard... Very good AI, Very good part of single player mode... All in all, a top notch career for both Cops and Racers**

Here is a short video explaining autolog:



People who like to whore achievement points will enjoy this game. I’ve been playing for about 15 hours in total, just doing the racer side of things and I’ve unlocked 480 points, and the full 1000 are easily achievable albeit with a bit of grinding, but autolog challenges of friends beating your times will keep you coming back for more which gives you more XP to level up, so 1000 points are well within the majority of peoples grasp!



My thoughts on this game are that I really enjoyed the racer side of things and have just scratched the surface of cop mode. If its anything like racer mode, I will love it.. Some of the racer mode challenges were quite tough in terms of getting the gold medals in each event, but worth it. The cops are persistent and there are times you feel like they are not bothering any other racer, just you… I would say this is more than a rental, and if you’re a fan of the old need for speed games, then this is a must buy. Hopefully some good DLC will be released to make this great game better! I think the only thing a lot of people will not like is the fact there is no car customisation at all, but to me, it doesn’t detract from it at all!

My score 8.5 out of 10

Good review mate, it sound like a good solid racer. I tried the demo and was quite impressed, but was unsure wether it would all get too repetitive.

Its a game i'll certainly keep my eye out for, if it comes down in price a bit (I've spent a bit too much on games lately).

good review mate, love the look of this. unfortunatly with Gran Turismo coming out this week it will have to wait

Good review mate.

Good review mate. This game is like a dream for me, Burnout developers let loose with the NFS brand. Am loving this game

Nice one fella

Am looking to getting this when its a bit cheaper and I have cleared out some other games

Everton wrote:Nice one fella

Am looking to getting this when its a bit cheaper and I have cleared out some other games

Don't wait too long. I can see the number of online playings reducing a lot after launch and the online modes are awesome.

Spent my whole afternoon yesterday just playing the Hot Pursuit mode online and got nearly 300 G with barely playing the offline career

looks like a pretty cool game i have the other need for speeds that i have hardly touched so i can wait for this to come down a bit or possibly rent it

Stubby its as niteowl says, the longer you wait, the more you will miss out on it, cos online will die down once people have got the *EASY* to get achievements (play 10 races online, play 10 hot pursuit as cops, 10 as racers, 10 interceptor as cop and also racer.. Dont need to win them, just finish 10 of each and those are all the online achievements)

Get it mate, I love it to death

I have also added stuff into the review

Some of the DLC for this is now on special offer!

Glad I waited now!

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
• "Super Sports Pack" - 560 MSP NOW 320 MSP
Pairing the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport with the unbelievably capable GUMPERT apollo s, this pack continues the Hyper Series (Racers) and the Special Response Deployment Unit (Cops). In addition you'll get access to the incredible Porsche 911 GT2 RS - pound for pound one of the greatest cars ever created. These new vehicles are available to both Racers and the Cops, decked out in the SCPD’s most current liveries and come with three brand new solo events each to go put them through their paces. This collection includes four exclusive solo events and will give you a great saving over purchasing these cars individually.


• "Armed and Dangerous" - 560 MSP NOW 320 MSP
Be the Most Wanted; the SCPD’s Number One target. Try to escape from a whole squad of Cops with only a handful of fellow Racers to protect you. Your team of Racers are free to drive anywhere in Seacrest County while the Cops must work together to bring the Most Wanted player to justice. Arms Race. Racers get dirty as they turn their weapons on each other. In a no-holds-barred trail of destruction, the Racers stop at nothing to take each other out and get to the finish line first.

excellent at them prices i will be tempted.

I am gonna get these packs tonight apparently the cheevs are pretty wasy on them to

stubbymite wrote:excellent at them prices i will be tempted.

I am gonna get these packs tonight apparently the cheevs are pretty wasy on them to

Yeah think i'm gonna bag these too (hope i've got enough points for these as well as the Dirt 3 DLC).

Edit Yep i had enough points left (just) so these are now queued up for download.