Need For Speed Hot Pursuit Review

Porsche vs. BMW

Since 2007, Need For Speed has been going downhill. ProStreet promised us a racer with some realistic simulation features, but left us with a dismal unrealistic tuner game with no cops. In 2008, Undercover was released bringing back the cops and introducing this action hero movie theme. It didn't matter though, because it was the worst racing game NFS produced. The handling was horrible, the cutscenes featured horrible acting, and there were a lot of errors with the gameplay. Both these games were created by EA Black Box, and after they were deemed unsuccessful, EA decided to move the development to other creators. In 2009, they tried the award-winning racing developer Slightly Mad Studios. These guys helped develop the award-winning sim racer GTR with Simbin. On September 15, 2009, they released their creation entitled Need For Speed: Shift. That was a good game. The physics were great, the cars were great, and the game itself returned to its "just race" roots. Now, its 2010. EA decided to hand the development of the new NFS game to another award-winning developer: Criterion Games. You know these guys for making the sensational Burnout series and the VGA Game of the Year, Burnout Paradise. So, if they are that good at making racing games, you should imagine that they would transform a Need For Speed game into a sensational racer. Well, guess what? They have! This is Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

1997 McLaren F1

First off, there are a wide variety of "dreamy" exotics that you can drive in this game, from the Porsche Boxster Spyder to this McLaren F1. That's something Criterion Games haven't tried before: real cars. And it doesn't end there. They have plans to release many DLC's in the mere future. If you recall, they had a lot of DLC's in Burnout Paradise, including new cars and a much bigger city. But anyway, with a lot of cars at your disposal, you will be able to race and outrun the Seacrest County Police Department. That is, if you can outrun them. Why? I don't think there's a Police Department out there with police cars that look as agressive as this...

2011 Aston Martin One-77 Speed Enforcer

This is an Aston Martin One-77 decked out in Seacrest County Police livery with a Police lightbar and a Police bush guard. Does it get any better than that?

2010 Bugatti Veyron Police Interceptor

Yes!! But, i digress. The main point is that there are lot of cars that kids would dream of driving, say this Veyron for instance. Another thing is the design and detail of the game. Everything looks and feels so realistic. The car design and damage model looks so precise. The winding roads of Seacrest county are breathtaking and very exotic.

Lambo vs. Viper

Now, let's get on to the gameplay. From the start, you can tell that Criterion Games had their paws all over it. First off, all the cars can drift at high speeds through tough corners like in Burnout Paradise. All the cars have nitrous and which can be gained by driving in the oncoming direction, performing near misses, and taking down cops and racers. But, with Need For Speed, there's so much more that they've done. The missions are set all over Seacrest County and you can choose between the racer and the cop missions. Both the racer and the cop have two separate careers so you can do one, stop, then do the other. It's not about taking down racers or evading cops in this game. There are some events that are just pure bonified races with a start point and an endpoint. There are time trials for both sides where its just you against the clock. There are even preview events for both sides where you can test drive the high-end spectrum of racers or cop cars.

SLS AMG Battle

But, when you're through racing, you may take on the cop vs. racer challenges. For racers, there's two modes: Hot Pursuit and Gauntlet. In Hot Pursuit, its the standard "race to the finish while evading the cops" format. In Gauntlet, its you against the clock and the SCPD. Do you think you can set a good time while being chased by GT500 Highway Patrol Units? The Cops have two modes as well: Hot Pursuit, and Interceptor. The Hot Pursuit mode for cops  is the same as for racers, only you now stand on the other side of the law and try to arrest them. In interceptor, a speeding vehicle causing mayhem across Seacrest County is causing problems for the cops. It's up to you, the interceptor, to stop him and bring him to justice.

Audi R8 vs Lamborghini Gallardo

Now, you may just as well complete the game without worrying about anything. But, EA and Need For Speed have developed this awesome sharing feature called Autolog. With it, you can share photos taken from freerides, fastest times, thoughts, and new unlocks. What's handy about this system is that if you're friend has beaten you in an event that you've already beaten, Autolog sends you a message and recommends that you take him on to regain you're top spot. So, even if you do finish the game, you're not done until you're first in every event.

ZR1 Battle!

Online modes are more fun than offline. You get to take friends and other people on in races, hot pursuits and interceptor matches all over Seacrest County. You can earn bounty for events which contribute to careers. Multiplayer Hot Pursuits are much more fun than regular ones, because there's much more aggression from the many million people who just want to take you down or escape you.

Gallardo frenzy!

So, in conclusion, this high-end racing game has a lot of action, detail, and gameplay to satisfy your needs. There are a lot of cars in this game, enough to make you drool on your Dualshock 3 controller. Multiplayer action is immense with Autolog updates and straight up battles. This is ideally one of the best NFS games ever created. Well done Criterion Games!