Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Review (no fat)

Game Description

When it comes to cars the Need For Speed series is a name you just can't ignore. Actually it's one of the first names that comes to mind. So where does Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 stand? It depends on your perspective.

NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 Gameplay

Compared with Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed, the gameplay has taken quite a major turnaround. This time the NFS really comes close to the definition of 'arcade style'. And, that is both good and bad. It just depends on what you're looking for.

If you're the kind of person that lives and breathes cars, you're bound to be disappointed by Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2's physics engine. Firstly because the cars don't really suffer any actual damage. They visually take on a few scars but, basically you can go on head to head with a tree at 160 miles per hour and all you'll do is get bumped back a little and get on with your traveling.

However, non car-buffs shouldn't be bothered by that too much. If you're just looking for a bit of fun you might actually enjoy the fact you can ram into everything and get away with it (Carmageddon anyone? ;) ).

Other aspects are, however, quite disturbing. Unlike Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed the cars handling just doesn't feel right. Most of the cars feel awkward to drive and collisions are sometimes very poorly simulated (Ridiculous things can be seen like cars spinning in the air ten times and so on). While when your car scratches the surface of another car you get to see sparks that really shouldn't happen when you're scratching a tree…but guess what, it does.

And even though the physics may not be fantastic and the game will, at times, feel a bit sluggish even on a pretty fast machine the gameplay is quite good. The game is engaging, and probably the most important contribution comes from the AI and the game modes.

When you play Hot Pursuit 2 you can be both the racer and a member of the police as well. When you're being chased by the coppers (in a game mode called Hot Pursuit) things actually look pretty good.

The police do a very good job of getting in your way (the game would have been next to impossible if there were actually any damage sustained during a chase). They can call for backup, including a helicopter which throws smoking barrels at you (although some might call that a bit extreme) or set up a spike strip, which is about the only thing that is guaranteed to stop you for good. Also, it's interesting to note that the cars they're equipped with can equally match yours.

The opponents are actually a good match as well…and they're not too hard to beat either as we all know how annoying that can get. You often finish races with marginal wins (or losses). Be warned that some of the tracks are a bit too lengthy, and losing because of an error you made in the last 5% of the track after 10 minutes of near-perfect driving can, at times, be infuriating.

Besides Hot Pursuit you can also choose from Quick Race, Single Race and Championship Mode. There's plenty of things to do and the this is the good part of having an arcade-style game.

And of course, there's the option of being a cop. This, I have to say is not one of the game's greatest aspects. The AI in this case is not the best possible and all you have to do is ram your opponents into oblivion as a progress bar indicating their health gets emptied. But despite this you don't see to much damage on the cars and they're movement is unaffected by your actions either.

You can also call for backup and use the helicopter and roadblocks (with spikes) as well, but only for a limited number of times. While this should have been very entertaining, the way it works, and the very little effect it has on your opponents, turns these features into small gimmicks you quickly get bored of.

NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 Multiplayer

As far as multiplayer gaming is concerned things look really good. Everything is easy to set up and the game is just as enjoyable as it is in single player, if not more so. Only two small issues, the first being that you can't be part of the police or even have the police trying to catch you and the second being that online gaming can leave a lot to be desired due to the opponent's lagging.

NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 Graphics and Sound

When it comes to look and feel, NFS: HP2 really stands out. There's quite a bit of detail in the maps, the textures are very good, the cars look and sound realistic and all of this happens under a very nice and non-intrusive soundtrack. However there are no daylight changes, there's no such thing as weather conditions and you can't change the tracks with your own so not everything is perfect.

NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 Overall Impression

Overall, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 may not be the best thing you've ever played, and sadly that's because not enough attention was given to the game's details. It appears as if its designers were under a very tight schedule, and a bit more polish would really have done wonders.

The nice graphics and sounds, the multitude of gaming modes and options, the many cars, the beautiful tracks, the well thought-out AI and the fast pace this game has to offer should be well worth the small frustrations you'll come across. However, if you have a choice between the PS2 version of Hot Pursuit 2 and the PC version, you should pick the PS2 version without a doubt. PS2 boasts better graphics, framerate and controls…along with having more chatty cops.

NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 Pricing

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 is available for as little as $5.75 and is well worth the purchase.