Another week that means it’s time for another review. First of all you may have noticed the update to the banner at the top of the page. This drawing of me was done by a brilliant artist and good friend of mine, Andrew James Murphy. If you would like to see some more of his work check out his DeviantART page here: DeviantART
So what have I been playing this week well I think I’ll leave Maverick to tell ya that one....
Oh yes Need for Speed Hot Pursuit a reboot of the original Hot Pursuit series which was released in 2002 has now been remade by the masterminds at Criterion games, the same people behind the amazing Burnout franchise.
Now then bit of clarification before I dive into the review. In my opinion Need for Speed Most Wanted is one of the greatest racing games of all time, followed closely by Wipeout. Now I know your all screaming ‘Ash but what about Gran Turismo, surely that’s the greatest racing game ever made??’ and on some parts I agree. Yes Gran Turismo is an amazing accomplishment; each one has pushed the graphical limitations of its host console and bought some of the most realistic racing to the home screen. However Gran Turismo is not game.....hold on and hear me out. Although GT contains a lot of game elements win races, get money, upgrade cars I think it has grown to be something more than that. It is no longer simply a game and rather one of the cheapest, real world driving simulators money can buy. I would put Gran Turismo in a class with Flight Simulators, it has far surpassed a mere child’s play thing and I feel could be used as a learning tool for the thousands of people who are learning the mechanics of driving.
Anyway going slightly off topic lets reign things back in. NFS Most Wanted, released in 2005 and created by EA, was a stellar game it combined the best parts of the original ‘Hot Pursuit’ series and the newer street racing NFS variant ‘Underground’. It gave players the freedom to race in an open world with a vast array of cars that they could customise to suit not only their driving style but aesthetic taste as well. Included was the ‘pursuit’ mode where players would be persistently chased by police forces until they either escaped or were run off the road. All these elements created a game that was both engaging and extremely rewarding.
So can the new NFS Hot Pursuit possibly live up to the high standards that Most Wanted lay down all those years ago?
Cops n Robbers
Criterion went back to the drawing board with this one and stripped away all the unnecessary elements found in the recent NFS games. No more modifying cars, no more down lights and body kits, just pure unadulterated street racing with some of the most amazing cars available today. At first glance I thought that this design option would deter from the game. I enjoyed the fact I could make the cars my own and not have simple stock versions of each car, however after playing I found myself so enthralled by the fact that the cars are just so much fun to race that I didn’t miss this feature as much as I thought I would.
Rather than having an open world style game like Most Wanted, Hot Pursuit plays out each race as separate events but on a large scale map allowing the player to choose the location of each event and which roads they wish to race down, and when I say a large map I mean LARGE. The racing environment is a gorgeous place to behold, ranging from vast deserts, high alpine mountain roads to urban highways that stretch for miles. Sea Crest County is an extremely picturesque place.
Players also have the option to Free Drive around the map in unlocked cars however they will not meet any specific objectives while in this mode. There are two tiers to work through Cop or Racer. You select an event from either category and earn upgrades for each race won. As the player progresses they unlock more powerful cars and weapon upgrades to use in the ‘Hot Pursuit’ races.
Racers
As the name states you have one very simple objective. Win the race at all costs. To help you do this certain events will give you access to specialised weapons to help deter the police force of Sea Crest County. The player will be able to utilise spike strips, EMP’s, turbo boost and radio jammers to help them get to the front of the pack and stay one step ahead of the law.
Cops
Aside from the obvious putting a stop to illegal street racing, cops will also be tasked with ‘Rapid Response’ races. These are essentially the moments where an officer will receive a call and must get to the destination as quickly as possible. Cops also have access to spike strips and EMP’s however their other two weapons are different as they have access to road blocks and helicopters to help squash any racers unfortunate enough to pass them.
All of the 66 cars available at launch have been equipped with a nitrous boost tank which can be filled by performing daring feats such as driving into oncoming traffic, drifting round corners and near collision misses. Thanks to the use of some of the techniques found in the Burnout series the core game play is extremely accessible and walks that fine line between arcade racing and simulation that the Criterion team are able to replicate so well. The sense of speed in this game is phenomenal more than once I have found myself applying the brakes simply because my brain was telling me that I was moving too fast, of course it sadly cost me the race, but it is defiantly something that needs to be experienced.
Of course as with all games of this day and age there is an online mode allowing up to 8 racers to go either head to head in an all out race or split them into teams of Cops and Racers to see who can make it to the finish line before being taken out and who can bust the most racers.
You got Facebook in my NFS
Another great feature of Hot Pursuit is the new Autolog system. This is a social networking tool implemented into the game allowing all your times and races to be seamlessly compared to that of your friends. If a friend then beats your time the Autolog will send you a notification of who beat you and how badly they beat you as well. You are then given the option to try to retake your place as leader in the event. Autolog also allows you to take in game screen shots using the ‘Photo Mode’ and upload images to friends to show off the new Lamborghini you unlocked.
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| Image taken from my game. |
Driving off into the sunset
With so many racing games out there it is certainly hard to make a name for yourself especially with the recent and coveted release of Gran Turismo 5. However Need for Speed Hot Pursuit has hit all the right buttons. Creating a game that is visually stunning and engrossingly fun to play you will find yourself spending hours in Sea Crest just driving around in your Bugatti Veyron taking in the sights as you hurtle down the road at over 200mph.
I am pleased to say that I think EA have FINALLY hit the nail on the head and found the successor to NFS Most Wanted in this game after the shambles that were Carbon, Shift and Undercover.
I’m going to give Hot Pursuit 9 out of 10.
To put it simply if you want a racing game that is fun, challenging and contains some of the most powerful cars in the world, then you can’t go wrong with Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.
Thanks for reading this week people. If you have any suggestions or ideas for new blog posts then please let me know.
As always please comment, subscribe and share with friends. I'd love to hear back from you and hear your opinions. See ya next time.
