In this review, we try to evade the spike strip in the PC/Steam game Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. We find out how well this racing game plays.
This game was released in 2010 and is the third Hot Pursuit game in the series. This game was also the subject of a first impression video.
We have quite a bit of familiarity with this franchise at this stage. First, we played Road and Track Presents: The Need For Speed. That game wound up being OK, but nothing too spectacular. After that, we tried Need for Speed II. That game wound up being barely passable for us. After that, we tried Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. While an improvement, that game still wound up being pretty mediocre. Then, we tried Need for Speed: High Stakes. Another improvement to the series, but still only an OK game. Finally, for the original Playstation, we played Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed. That game pretty much bombed here.
We moved with the franchise up to the Playstation 2. We kicked things off with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. That game wound up being our favourite in the series so far, earning a great score. After that, we tried Need for Speed: Underground. That game ended up with a very solid score. After that, we tried Need for Speed: Underground 2. That game wound up being very reasonable. After that, we tried Need for Speed: Most Wanted. That game got an OK score. After that, we tried Need for Speed: Carbon. That game improved on things with a very solid score. Finally, we tried Need for Speed: Prostreet. That game wound up being decent.
So, we ended up skipping ahead a little and trying this game. This game, of course, is not to be confused with the Playstation title which goes by the same name.
There isn’t much in the way of storyline, however, you do follow two main paths. You are either a suspect trying to climb the ranks of the underground street racing world or a new recruit with the Seacrest County Police Department working on climbing the ranks of the fastest police force ever.
Regardless of which branch you select (something you can flip between at any time), one of your main goals is to work up bounty. The more bounty to earn, the more you unlock (mostly cars, but sometimes weapon upgrades in races that involve both racers and police units). Additionally, more bounty gets you that much higher in the rankings.
On the suspect side of things, you’ll start with a handful of slower events. This can include preview races which pits you against the clock. Get to the finish line within a certain amount of time to earn medals.
Gauntlet races is just like time trial, only you get to face the police trying to stop you from making it to the finish line.
When you are a suspect, you have up to four different weapons to use. One weapon is the spike strip. If you have someone tailgating you, you can release a spike strip to temporarily disable that opponent. If it’s a police officer with little health, you can even wreck the cop car while you are at it.
A second weapon is the EMP. While typically the most difficult weapon to use, a hit is always a sure thing. You need to follow behind an opponent that the EMP locks on to for a period of time. If you stay behind that other vehicle, an electronic pulse is sent, damaging that vehicle. The thing to remember is that if you get ahead of your target or the target gets too far ahead of you, you’ll lose the lock and waste a shot.
A third weapon is the jammer. A jammer will scramble police communications and weapons systems for a limited period of time. This is great when an officer is about to unleash a spike strip of their own or they have a lock on you with an EMP. The jammer will not only disable that shot, but also prevent further weapons being used. The jammer can also allow you to detect roadblocks ahead on the mini map.
The final weapon you have as a suspect is the speed boost. While you already have nitro, the speed boost is like a secondary nitro system. You use it once and you use the full bottle. Additionally, you’ll likely get to full speed and then some assuming you don’t hit anything on the way through.
Other events you might encounter is Hot Pursuit. Hot Pursuit is just like Gauntlet, only you’ll be racing against other drivers for the gold.
Finally, a normal race is just a regular race without the police on your tail. No weapons, though as you don’t really need them.
While you are racing, you’ll be able to earn nitro. Nitro is earned when you manage to do risky things without collisions. These things include driving in the oncoming lanes, taking shortcuts, near misses with regular pedestrian vehicles, slipstreaming, and drifting. Left shift button will allow you to use as much, or as little, nitro as you like. Nitro is ideal for situations that benefit from acceleration. This includes exiting corners or narrowly avoiding a collision with another car.
Now, on the other side of things is cop mode. In this mode, the tables have turned and you are tasked with shutting down street races.
Events in this mode include a Rapid Response event. Think of this event as the cop modes racing preview. The major difference is that you will incur penalties for crashing into things. You get a 2 second penalty for colliding with an object. You’ll also get a 3 second penalty for crashing into another vehicle. The idea is to make it to the finish line as quickly as possible.
Cop mode also features a preview race. Penalties still exist in this mode and the goal is also to reach the finish line within a certain time period. The difference is that you are confined to a single car to race in.
Another event you can encounter is Interceptor. In these events, you are tasked with trying to take down a single suspect. While that may sound reasonably easy, the fact is, the suspects are generally much more skilled. Additionally, the suspect is not confined to a particular race course. So, if the suspect hits you with a jammer and turns around, it’s very possible to lose the suspect and leave you with no medal to speak of.
Finally, hot Pursuit is your standard one cop vs multiple racer events. The racers are not as tough as opponents and they are confined to a single course, so your odds of capture improve.
The main weapon in capturing suspects is your car. A reasonably hard collision can knock down at least a point from the suspects health. Suspects don’t have a full meter of health, so it may only take a few hits. If a suspect is ground to a halt, you can rear end them for an instant bust. The thing is, keep an eye on your cars damage. If an opponent hits you, you take some damage instead. Also, EMPs and spike strips can also really take a toll on your cars damage meter.
In addition to this, you also have a standard set of four weapons to use. The first is the spike strip which allows you to hit opponents from behind. A second weapon is an EMP which is identical to the EMP in suspect mode.
A third weapon, one that is unique to cops, is the road block. You can radio ahead and get fellow officers to create a road block. Generally speaking, suspects are forced to thread the needle with the one hole in the block. Otherwise, this either slows them down or causes them to crash. If they miss the hole in the block, you can get a quick bust out of the carnage. Otherwise, it is ideal for slowing opponents down if they get too far ahead.
The final weapon available to cops is the helicopter. The helicopter will fly ahead and track the suspect. From there, as long as they have fuel, they will attempt to drop spike strips in front of them to help you either slow the opponent down or bust them outright. Just be aware that it’s possible for you to hit these strips as well assuming the opponent manages to evade them. A big drawback is that they cannot target suspects if you enter tunnels. Also, you can’t really control them, so you are just hoping the drone will do a good job in helping you.
A final aid you have as the cop is the nitro. As a cop, your nitros are much smaller, so you’ll only get shorter bursts of speed from them. The big bonus is that you earn it simply by driving. This allows you to take tighter corners and not have to worry as much about racking up near misses.
Whether you are racing as a suspect or a cop, there are a few things you can keep in mind. The first is the fact that there are alternate routs strewn about Seacrest County. They show up as different colour lines next to the main white road. The game is quick to remind you that not all shortcuts really are shortcuts. Some simply cut much wider around bends. Others travel beneath roads and take you on a more convoluted path. Some look like fantastic shortcuts only to find that there are massive obstacles right in the middle of them. So, experiment, but know that not all shortcuts are created equally.
Another thing that tends to help is slipstreaming. This is where you tail an opponent and the opponent will handle all the friction of the wind for you. This permits you to drive faster because you don’t have the wind resistance your opponents to. The game even points out that slipstreaming can be just as effective as boosting with your nitro. The only thing to be wary of is if your opponent will also drop a spike strip on you. So, keep in mind which mode of racing you are in when trying this.
Drifting is another feature that may or may not be all that effective while racing. If you hit a corner, you can hit the e-brake by using the space bar. This will allow you to swerve your car and take corners more sharply. This can be great for avoiding crashes or taking particularly sharp corners. The thing to keep in mind is that drifting also slows you down by quite a bit. So, if you can take a corner without drifting, it can be a good idea to do so simply because you maintain your speed more. Additionally, sometimes you simply don’t earn enough boost to make up for the loss of speed as well. A light brake tap and taking a corner can sometimes be more ideal.
On a final note, you might be wondering if this game controls more arcade style or more simulation style. This game is more or less a mixture between the two. Some aspects are much more in line with an arcade style – specifically when it comes to drifting. Other aspects are more simulation style when it comes to picking an ideal path around bends. So, ultimately, this game lands somewhere in the middle.
For me, this is one of those games that has a lot of good core ideas (often borrowed from other franchises), but also suffers from a number of flaws along the way.
One core idea that works quite well is the way you earn boost. Essentially, this game simply borrows the system created in Burnout games. Earn boost by simply doing risky things. You can even execute a burnout if you use a large chunk of your nitro tank, taking it all the way down to empty. Many of these skills earn you boost. Some of these race accomplishments gives you bounty bonuses. Either way, it’s a way this game successfully spices up the actions as it gives players a lot to consider outside the normal confines of racing.
Additionally, the weapons you use to combat either the cops or the suspects really help make this game much more exciting. Cancelling an EMP with a jammer or a spike strip can be quite a thrilling moment during the race. This kind of action adds a nice layer to the race.
Another thing this game does well is introduce different kinds of climate. A lot of racing games simply have you racing in one condition. Sometimes it’s just night. Other times, it’s just a sunny clear day. This game gives you a chance to race in rainy conditions, night conditions, day conditions, and even introduces changes in daylight as you drive. In the snowy areas, it’s even possible to have snow hit you as well. This idea of changing weather and day conditions is not something I’ve seen since the N64 days (Roadsters on that system comes to mind for me). So, it is nice to see some of these forward thinking ideas returning to racing games again.
On the flip side, weather conditions doesn’t necessarily affect your driving all that much. At most, it reduces your visibility. On the one hand, it does hold back on the realism. On the other hand, that decision also makes the game less annoying. So, I’m generally OK with this in the end given what else I experienced in the game.
Probably the most frustrating problem in this game is the controls. For a lot of cars (all of them?), the reaction time is quite long. If you turn left or right, it actually takes about a second before the car reacts. You can eventually get used to this by compensating, but in some situations, you simply can’t react fast enough (typically surprise car or spike strips). I found this generally just hampered play in the end.
To make matters worse is the default setup is a bit odd. Left and right turn as expected, but gas is “A” and brake is “Z”. Meanwhile, weapons are stored in the number pad. This requires you to look down and execute firing the weapon in question. “8”, “4”, “6”, and “2” allows you to fire each respective weapon. The problem is that it’s more than possible to accidentally hit a “7” or a “1” and cause you to wonder why the weapon didn’t fire. Honestly, if acceleration isn’t up and brake isn’t down, I would advocate allowing you to scroll through the weapons with the up and down arrows and “X” to fire. No looking down required in that case.
Another problem is the seeming need to force you to play time trial mode after time trial mode. General races and even battles between races and cops can be quite exciting. While I’d be OK with a few time trial races (or even an entirely separate mode altogether), this game keeps hammering you with these races throughout the game. Whats worse is that the time requirements are very strict. Sometimes, a completely clean race in suspect mode isn’t even enough, requiring you to take shortcuts just to make the par time. This ultimately killed my effort to complete the game in suspect mode and tested my patience in cop mode.
Additionally, there are unskippable elements throughout the game. Every upgrade forces you to sit through a 15 second scene. Also, each race forces you to sit through at least a part of a long cinematic. At first, I though this was to hide the fact that it’s loading, but loading is handled on a menu screen showing you requirements and tips. You have a skip button, but you can spend up to 15 seconds sitting through an additional cut scene with the flashing “skipping” word taunting you. If I wanted to watch a cutscene, I’d watch YouTube or go to a theatre. If I wanted to play a racing game, I’d play a racing game. Give me a proper skip function, please.
Overall, there are a lot of good core elements throughout the game. The problem is, you have to wade through a fair bit of garbage to get there. For me, the positives include changing daylight and varying weather patterns, good ways of spicing up the action including boost earning systems and weapons. The pitfalls include slightly unresponsive controls, an awkward default control setup, unskippable cinematic’s, and a constant need to force you to play unforgiving time trial challenges just to get to some reasonable content. I get training, but I don’t get infuriating the player at the same time. So, a game with plenty of flaws.
Graphics are quite good. The cars are very nicely modelled. They have great shining effects as well. In addition to this, I like the way the tracks are set up. There is a nice amount of variety throughout the game in this interconnected world. Also, the weather conditions and daylight changes adds a nice sense of realism a well. Overall, on this front, this is a great game.
Audio is decent as well. The voicework is pretty good. Sound effects are pretty decent as well. The music is a bit hit and miss for me. The title music ended up being the best track (30 Seconds fo Mars – Edge of the Earth). Other decent tracks include Benny Benassi feat. Gary Go – Cinema, All The Same – Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Lazee ft. Dead By April – Stronger, New Politics – Yeah Yeah Yeah, Pendulum – Watercolour, and Weezer – Ruling Me. That sounds like a lot, but the soundtrack overall is very large. As for the score that plays otherwise, it can get a bit repetitive after a while. A decent effort, though nothing amazing.
Overall, this game gets a lot of interesting core elements right. This includes an interesting weapon system as well as different ways to earn boost and bounty during the race. Unfortunately, a number of flaws holds this game back. This includes laggy controls, a sloppy default control setup, unskippable cinematics, and forcing players to take on frustratingly difficult time trial races throughout the game. Graphics are great and wound up being the strongest point in the game, though audio is only decent. So, a decent game, though you can easily find better elsewhere.
Overall
Furthest point in game:
Beat the game in cop mode.
Suspect mode:
Grand Ocean: 3 golds, silver on Against All Odds.
Mission Beach: 3 gold, one locked course.
Boulder Desert: 3 gold, 2 locked courses.
Carson Ridge Reservoir: 3 gold, 3 locked courses.
East Gorge Canyon: 4 gold, 2 locked courses.
Oakmont Valley: 3 gold, 1 silver (Tough Torque), 1 locked course.
Memorial Valley: 3 gold, 1 silver (M Power), 1 no medal (Double Jeopardy), 1 locked course.
Coral Bay: 2 gold, 2 locked courses.
Rockingham Point: 1 gold, 3 locked courses.
Big Timber Forest: 3 gold, 1 silver (Ageless), 1 locked course.
Eagle Crest: Gold on all 6 courses.
Fox Lair Pass: 4 gold, 1 locked course.
(medalled on roughly 71% of the game in this mode)
General gameplay: 17/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 70%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
