Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

addink on 6/1/2011 at 00:49

Anyone played this yet?

Ever since Most Wanted I've been hoping they'd further develop the strengths of that title: Adrenaline filled cop chases in a free roam environment. But basically each sequential NFS title has moved further away from that, or was unbalanced (Undercover, I'm looking at you).

Now Hot Pursuit again focuses on cop chases, but all the footage on youtube shows predetermined routes on which the chase will take place. For me picking the route is half the fun of a chase.

So my questions are:
Is it possible to engage in chases when in free roam?
If not, is the driving itself so much fun in this title that it compensates for the lack of choice in route?

lost_soul on 6/1/2011 at 01:26

I absolutely loved the original Hot Pursuit on the Playstation. The track design, graphics, music, chases, and challenge were just perfect. I have the PC version, but I don't like it as much. The physics are different, and the color pallet seems less pronounced. The PSX had a more vibrant and lifelike look, even with the unfiltered textures.

The original, dynamic music was another part of what made the game so great. The music would become more aggressive and loud when you were flying down the road at over 100+ MPH, and be calmer when the race just started.

Then there was the night and weather driving. This was the first convincingly realistic display of weather conditions I had seen in a driving game up until that point.

gunsmoke on 6/1/2011 at 02:23

Wait, not to derail this, but you played NFS: Undercover? Mind giving me you thoughts on it? I want this (HP) and have been curious about Undercover since I finished Carbon.

demagogue on 6/1/2011 at 04:21

Interestingly I started playing quite a bit of Hot Pursuit 2 recently, the PC version. Not sure why now, but it's my veg game of choice lately. I really liked the first Hot Pursuit too (though I haven't had it installed in a long time; not even sure I can find it now). The second is more polished in both the good and bad sense (bad just in that it feels more streamlined and not as much as the raw edge part of the charm of the first). But I still like it. There are chases in free driving for HP2 (IIRC) and you can take different routes; it's not predetermined, if I understand how you mean that right. The chases are definitely what make these two Hot Pursuits work and what makes them special in the series (AFAIK, haven't played all of them, so don't take my word on it).

addink on 6/1/2011 at 16:04

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

Wait, not to derail this, but you played NFS: Undercover? Mind giving me you thoughts on it? I want this (HP) and have been curious about Undercover since I finished Carbon.

Undercover has its moments, the world is bigger and the cops got some new behaviors and the damage model is better (aptly used in some Gone In 60seconds style 'steal the nice car' missions). But Undercover has one really big flaw: it is too easy most of the time.

The highway races are a challenge but those are mainly dependent on quick responses, not of driving skill, not as fun IMHO.
All the other races are a doddle. The biggest reason for this is that they abandoned the automatic speed adjustment of the NPC drivers that was present in MW and Carbon. Sure this made the AI 'cheat' but it made for a close race as well, which resulted in a lot of fun. In Undercover there were many instances where I just left the opposition behind, never to be seen.

Not that a story is a big thing in racing games, but if you have a story you'd better make it fit. Sure Most Wanted's revenge story was thin, but it's consistent, clear and fits the setting really well. Carbon's story was a bit more original at least in execution with the flashbacks.

Undercover's story is just vague and feels tacked on. To many plot twists and/or backstabbing going on to really get a feel for the characters. Weirdest thing was the ending where Carmen (Christina Milian) suddenly has a thing for you, asking you if you could drop her off at the university, just casually forgetting that you lied to her, she just lost some family members and was forced to turn state's evidence.

gunsmoke on 6/1/2011 at 16:10

Thanks, addy. I, for one, really enjoy NFS games. Hell, I have NFS3:Hot Pursuit installed on my PC right now and play it weekly. My favorites are Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2 (fuck the other ports, different dev. and it shows) and Most Wanted. Carbon is excellent as well. I have yet to play Pro Street and the Wii game, so cannot comment.

Ulukai on 6/1/2011 at 17:07

Quote Posted by addink

Anyone played this yet?

So my questions are:
Is it possible to engage in chases when in free roam?
If not, is the driving itself so much fun in this title that it compensates for the lack of choice in route?

Yes, I've been playing it quite a bit on 360, although I haven't done any free roam because I've been having such run with the driving in the fixed racer/cop challenges.

It was always the fun driving that I used to love most about the old NFS games I had on PC, and this has recaptured that feeling for me. Decent soundtrack, too.

Reckon I've written off this M3, though.

Inline Image:

http://www.zen80200.zen.co.uk/m3.jpg

MorbusG on 8/1/2011 at 19:09

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

Gunsmoke, I hope I'm in time to stop you from buying a crap game (Pro Street). I loved Carbon to bits; I mean there really is something very touching driving a space rocket on wheels (Dodge Viper) while trying to loose the cops from your tail while the high-notes from songs like Wolfmother's Joker and the Thief, or Eagles of Death Metal's Don't Speak hit you.

Pro Street compared to Carbon is kinda like the Fast and the Furious 2 compared to the first one, if that makes any sense.

gunsmoke on 9/1/2011 at 02:17

Point taken. Removed from E-bay watch list :thumb:

sparhawk on 10/1/2011 at 15:40

Hot pursuit 2 was a fun game and I still like to play it with my kids, because it's not so hard on the hardware requirements. :)

I tried the other NFS games as well, but the only one so far is Most Wanted that was really fun. Haven't tried the newes one, but I understood that it goes back to predetermined tracks. Pity, because I really loved that free roaming in Most Wanted. It really gave you a sense of driving in a real city and the graphics is reall good to support that feeling. Sometimes I wonder, when I drive nicely and try to stay in the tracks it would be cool if police also would keep track of you driving on the sidewalk or crossing a stop sign or traffic light and such things. :p