Game Review - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
If this is your first Need for Speed title then I am truly jealous of you. You have missed out on a massive amount of boring and annoying titles, none of which seemed truly confident in what they were. With the help from the amazing developers at Criterion, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a complete rebirth of the famous series. Criterion has brought us the amazing and popular Burnout Paradise. Clearly they have learnt a lot about addictive racing games and have used this knowledge in creating a brilliant just-for-fun game. Buckle up and get ready for an online multiplayer experience which will leave its competitors in the dust.
I would only recommend this game to casual gamers who like to play online with friends. There is not a large amount of content in the game but what you are given is truly a masterpiece. It has a single player mode but it seems this only exists to allow players to gain the upgrades for their cars offline. If you like the addictive fun of Super Mario Kart and want some truly magnificent graphics then this is sure to please you. This game does not come with split screen multiplayer so if you want to play with a friend at home then you are going to need another Xbox, another TV screen and an Xbox Live connection. Split screen is quite a useful and important feature especially when the focus of this game is on multiplayer. It is sadly missed from this game.
Out go restrictive and worn out features such as sandbox worlds and realistic car controls and in comes balanced gameplay that is sure to get your blood flowing. Need for Speed contains only real world cars from Alfa Romeo 8C Competiziones (my personal favourite) to Lamborghini Murcielagos. As a big motor head, I was very impressed at the detail and enjoyability of having beautiful realistic car models. Be aware that there are some cars which are clearly better than others in every way and so some cars end up never being used unless you are okay with the disadvantage.
This game is truly simple down to its very core. One second you are in the clear and understandable menu, the next you are getting chased by four GT40 cop cars as you try and race three other racers. However, it feels deceptively lacking in content. There are only 3 game modes: ‘Interceptor’, ‘Racer’ and ‘One-on-One’. This doesn't seem like much, however each game can be played in such a diverse amount of ways which means players will never do the same thing twice. ‘Racer’ game mode is eight racers trying to make it the finish line with no power ups. Expect fast speeds and head wrenching corners. ‘Interceptor’ is four racers trying to make it to the finish line and four cops trying to take them down. Everyone is armed to the teeth with spike straps, EMP charges and much more. ‘One-on-One’ is one Racer trying to flee from one cop and the cop making sure he doesn't. This is a great game mode to sort out that brewing rivalry between you and your special enemy.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit also gives us Autolog, A nice way to share lap times, share cool in-game screenshots and much more. This feature adds another layer of fun competition as it allows you to search through your friends lap times and see your ranking. Although this Autolog feature seems like a simplified Facebook for Need for Speed, it may be quite good. I cannot give a definitive answer as the most useful feature is its ability to work outside of the game. This however seems to be temporarily broken. Autolog will also regularly kick you out of games due to ‘network problems’. Although it is glitchy and annoying, Autolog shows how developers are focusing on the online community around Need for Speed for this game.
Unlike other games with unlockable content such as Call of Duty, online play is very balanced even for a new player. Right from the start you are given a diverse range of cars and you never feel like other players, who have unlocked more cars than you, have a better chance at winning. This balance falls apart when it comes to power ups, such as spike strips where advanced players can deploy two spike straps at one time and new players can only deploy one. However, having these advanced power ups really doesn’t give a major winning edge. This comes from predicting and outwitting your opponents. Also it won’t take even the most casual player very long to gain these advanced power ups.
All in all this is a fantastic game to renew the dwindling Need for Speed franchise. It takes advantage of the casual gamers among the Xbox Live community using a simple interface and content to allow users to get straight into the action. This is definitely a game I will be playing the next time I get a few friends over but lugging all the equipment necessary and setting it all up will be very cumbersome. So far it seems worth it but this may wear out quick especially with no offline multiplayer and a buggy Autolog which can truly ruin the online experience. This game will certainly get your blood flowing as you drift around a corner in a cop Lamborghini car and take out a speeding racer with a vicious smash into their side. It is fast paced, enjoyable and very easy to play. Well recommended to anyone who wants a new friendly multiplayer oriented game to sink their teeth into but it is not for to those who want a realistic single player racing game.
Beauty: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Gameplay: 3/5
I would only recommend this game to casual gamers who like to play online with friends. There is not a large amount of content in the game but what you are given is truly a masterpiece. It has a single player mode but it seems this only exists to allow players to gain the upgrades for their cars offline. If you like the addictive fun of Super Mario Kart and want some truly magnificent graphics then this is sure to please you. This game does not come with split screen multiplayer so if you want to play with a friend at home then you are going to need another Xbox, another TV screen and an Xbox Live connection. Split screen is quite a useful and important feature especially when the focus of this game is on multiplayer. It is sadly missed from this game.
Out go restrictive and worn out features such as sandbox worlds and realistic car controls and in comes balanced gameplay that is sure to get your blood flowing. Need for Speed contains only real world cars from Alfa Romeo 8C Competiziones (my personal favourite) to Lamborghini Murcielagos. As a big motor head, I was very impressed at the detail and enjoyability of having beautiful realistic car models. Be aware that there are some cars which are clearly better than others in every way and so some cars end up never being used unless you are okay with the disadvantage.
This game is truly simple down to its very core. One second you are in the clear and understandable menu, the next you are getting chased by four GT40 cop cars as you try and race three other racers. However, it feels deceptively lacking in content. There are only 3 game modes: ‘Interceptor’, ‘Racer’ and ‘One-on-One’. This doesn't seem like much, however each game can be played in such a diverse amount of ways which means players will never do the same thing twice. ‘Racer’ game mode is eight racers trying to make it the finish line with no power ups. Expect fast speeds and head wrenching corners. ‘Interceptor’ is four racers trying to make it to the finish line and four cops trying to take them down. Everyone is armed to the teeth with spike straps, EMP charges and much more. ‘One-on-One’ is one Racer trying to flee from one cop and the cop making sure he doesn't. This is a great game mode to sort out that brewing rivalry between you and your special enemy.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit also gives us Autolog, A nice way to share lap times, share cool in-game screenshots and much more. This feature adds another layer of fun competition as it allows you to search through your friends lap times and see your ranking. Although this Autolog feature seems like a simplified Facebook for Need for Speed, it may be quite good. I cannot give a definitive answer as the most useful feature is its ability to work outside of the game. This however seems to be temporarily broken. Autolog will also regularly kick you out of games due to ‘network problems’. Although it is glitchy and annoying, Autolog shows how developers are focusing on the online community around Need for Speed for this game.
Unlike other games with unlockable content such as Call of Duty, online play is very balanced even for a new player. Right from the start you are given a diverse range of cars and you never feel like other players, who have unlocked more cars than you, have a better chance at winning. This balance falls apart when it comes to power ups, such as spike strips where advanced players can deploy two spike straps at one time and new players can only deploy one. However, having these advanced power ups really doesn’t give a major winning edge. This comes from predicting and outwitting your opponents. Also it won’t take even the most casual player very long to gain these advanced power ups.
All in all this is a fantastic game to renew the dwindling Need for Speed franchise. It takes advantage of the casual gamers among the Xbox Live community using a simple interface and content to allow users to get straight into the action. This is definitely a game I will be playing the next time I get a few friends over but lugging all the equipment necessary and setting it all up will be very cumbersome. So far it seems worth it but this may wear out quick especially with no offline multiplayer and a buggy Autolog which can truly ruin the online experience. This game will certainly get your blood flowing as you drift around a corner in a cop Lamborghini car and take out a speeding racer with a vicious smash into their side. It is fast paced, enjoyable and very easy to play. Well recommended to anyone who wants a new friendly multiplayer oriented game to sink their teeth into but it is not for to those who want a realistic single player racing game.
Beauty: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Gameplay: 3/5
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