Criterion Games use their racing expertise from Burnout to build Need for Speed’s best model in years
Format: PS3 (version played), Xbox 360, Wii, PC Dev: Criterion Games Pub: EA
Out: 19/11/10 Players: 1, 2-8 online
The Need for Speed franchise has been going through a rough patch recently. With lukewarm titles like Pro Street and Undercover, the series really needed to make something great to stand out from the dime a dozen street racer games. Most people considered 2009’s Shift a step forward for the series, but a lot of fans were disappointed with the games return to legitimate, simulation racing. Hot Pursuit gives us back the kind of excessive, police-dodging racing that Vin Diesel would be proud of – and it’s better than ever.
It’s perhaps because the racing juggernaut Gran Turismo had been looming on the horizon that Hot Pursuit decided to abandon any attempt at taking the industry’s coveted realism crown. Realising that this attempt would be futile, the game’s developers once again shifted their focus towards an aspect of gaming that’s more often than not forgotten – being fun.
The new ‘do what you do best’ ethos brings about Hot Pursuit’s outlandish, break-neck speed gameplay, which is, without any sense of irony, awesome. Darting about the great-looking scenery in shiny, new motors makes the game a real visceral treat that’s hard to keep your eyes off. Looking away for a second in the most tense, top speed racers will probably leave you wrapped round a sign post or pedestrian vehicle. This isn’t too much of a problem though as the visuals in crashes are breathtaking to watch, even if your opponents have screamed past you.
Hot Pursuit’s career and multiplayer modes are all divided into two sections: police and racers. The variety here does spice the whole game up, but both sections are given only time trial or race levels which can feel stale after a few hours of gameplay if you’re looking for something new each level. Taking down speeders in police mode is a real highlight of the game and is probably the most fun I’ve had with a racer in a long time. There’s nothing quite like desperately hurling your car at a fleeing criminal in rush hour traffic.
As a card carrying, street racing game cynic, I really didn’t want to like this game and desperately wished the whole genre would be put to rest in a Candy’s dog fashion. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit takes this cynicism and rubs my face in it with a not too smug ‘we’ve saved a dying genre’ stamped firmly on its forehead. The game never takes itself too seriously and knows that deep down, amidst the sea of gritty realism, racing games are actually supposed to be fun.
Dan Key
Tags: driving, ea, need for speed, online, racing
