Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is the newest instalment in the need for speed franchise with Criterion taking the helm; taking the franchise back to its routes and branches off from the current Shift series.
Having criterion develop the game really shows from the start, most of all this is what the series needed. It had become stale and it felt like it was trying something new just to freshen it up and it seemed like it was drifting away more and more from what made the series great to begin with.
From the start up it is abundantly clear that they are really pushing the community aspect with the Autolog feature. It feels very much like a social network where you can connect, compare and challenge friends and other players. This is not just limited to the online multiplayer It carries over into the single player career where for every race event it shows your friends high scores and sometimes you will get challenges from friends to beat their time on a certain event and you can do the same thing. It turns out to be a neat concept where you are not just going for the gold medal place but the top spot on your friend leaderboard it also gives you the incentive of awarding points if you become the top player on a leaderboard. Autolog also features a wall that has a run down of any challenges issued against you and any photos your friends might have uploaded.
Overall, the feature is implemented well but relies on having a few friends playing the game to get the most out of it. Autolog does have a workaround of sorts where it offers suggestions so if a friend of a friend is playing the game it will show up to invite them to be a friend and it has multiplayer friend events so even if you lack friends playing the game you are sure to find others using this.
The main core of the game is the career that is laid out as a map of Seacrest County here events are displayed, as you complete races and rank up more are unlocked it feels reminiscent of previous Burnout games especially Takedown which has a similar layout.
Progression is spilt up into two, Police and Racers each with their own progression tree in which unlocks events, items and new cars and as you progress you will unlock events for faster cars. Each one has a maximum level of twenty and you earn points for completing events and performing well in them.
The levelling system is shared with the online portion of the game that I like it means not having to level up two sets.
The events between vary between Racers and Police each having similar aspects. They switch things up a little and this fundamentally means that as the Police you are hunting down racers or making a dash to a scene and as a racer, you are competing in race events duels and hot pursuits where you are racing a number of other cars while trying not to be busted. Hot Pursuit is the standout event in the whole game and it becomes quite crazy at times with the amount going on especially on some of the higher tier events. Playing as the Police in Hot Pursuit is a lot of fun too, it is satisfying chasing and taking down racers and when you are hitting over 200pmh with a helicopter overhead, dodging traffic all to get that takedown there really is not anything like it.
Having criterion develop the game really shows from the start, most of all this is what the series needed. It had become stale and it felt like it was trying something new just to freshen it up and it seemed like it was drifting away more and more from what made the series great to begin with.
From the start up it is abundantly clear that they are really pushing the community aspect with the Autolog feature. It feels very much like a social network where you can connect, compare and challenge friends and other players. This is not just limited to the online multiplayer It carries over into the single player career where for every race event it shows your friends high scores and sometimes you will get challenges from friends to beat their time on a certain event and you can do the same thing. It turns out to be a neat concept where you are not just going for the gold medal place but the top spot on your friend leaderboard it also gives you the incentive of awarding points if you become the top player on a leaderboard. Autolog also features a wall that has a run down of any challenges issued against you and any photos your friends might have uploaded.
Overall, the feature is implemented well but relies on having a few friends playing the game to get the most out of it. Autolog does have a workaround of sorts where it offers suggestions so if a friend of a friend is playing the game it will show up to invite them to be a friend and it has multiplayer friend events so even if you lack friends playing the game you are sure to find others using this.
The main core of the game is the career that is laid out as a map of Seacrest County here events are displayed, as you complete races and rank up more are unlocked it feels reminiscent of previous Burnout games especially Takedown which has a similar layout.
Progression is spilt up into two, Police and Racers each with their own progression tree in which unlocks events, items and new cars and as you progress you will unlock events for faster cars. Each one has a maximum level of twenty and you earn points for completing events and performing well in them.
The levelling system is shared with the online portion of the game that I like it means not having to level up two sets.
The events between vary between Racers and Police each having similar aspects. They switch things up a little and this fundamentally means that as the Police you are hunting down racers or making a dash to a scene and as a racer, you are competing in race events duels and hot pursuits where you are racing a number of other cars while trying not to be busted. Hot Pursuit is the standout event in the whole game and it becomes quite crazy at times with the amount going on especially on some of the higher tier events. Playing as the Police in Hot Pursuit is a lot of fun too, it is satisfying chasing and taking down racers and when you are hitting over 200pmh with a helicopter overhead, dodging traffic all to get that takedown there really is not anything like it.
If you have played any of Criterions previous games, you will be in familiar territory here, while it differs from the Burnout series there are defiantly some chart eristic that carry over and ultimately the game is better for it. Whether you are a racer or on the police side you will be using boost and it works in the same way as in Burnout, earning boost by drifting around corners earning takedowns and avoiding hazards. The driving feels nice with each car feeling different with some having better aspects such as having better handling while some are faster. A nice touch is when a car reaches top speed and it begins to feel a little imbalanced at its very limit as if you are on the very edge. The driving feels rewarding and it takes some getting use to especially with some of the faster cars due to the high speed and reactions needed to make turns and to dodge traffic.
On top of that, what really makes the game unique is the equipment. The Police have spikes strips that can be deployed behind your car, a roadblock and EMP that has a lock on feature that disables a car making them vulnerable for a takedown and last the helicopter, which shines its light at racers blinding them, and it drops spike strips. Out of the four, the helicopter just is not as effective as the others are as you have less control over it, since I have been using it rarely helps to get a takedown and is more a distraction.
As a racer, the spikes strips and EMP carry over and two that are unique to them are the jammer that jams Police equipment for a short period of time best and is most effective to hold the Police back or to stop and EMP lock on.
What I find the most fun to use is the Turbo. When fired it gives you a huge boost of speed, now when in a car such as a Lamborghini Gallardo the sense of speed is phenomenal it hits you like a punch to the face and your on your way, anything behind you will just see you vanish into the distance.
Equipment can be upgraded, this is based upon use and hot many hits or successful uses, such as the spike strip at level two it becomes a little longer and wider and launches faster.
The cars look great the pre race cinematic sequences really show them off and when the game smoothly cuts to the race event, it is amazing a game can look this good in motion. I really cannot find any complaints over the cars they look great they feel great each one has there own nuances.
There is a vast majority of cars on offer spilt between the racers and the police with most crossing over. I particular like the police cars more due to the fact they are kind of silly yet awesome and the same time the likes of driving a Lamborghini Mucilage with police colours and sirens there is nothing not to like about it. Throughout the range, you will find cars from Dodge Vipers, Porsche’s, Aston Martins and Zonda.
For licensed cars, Criterion has gone as far as they could to smash them up. The damage looks great with high impact camera angles following a takedown or crash, although you will not see a car totally crumple up they will smash up in a satisfying manner.
There is a vast majority of cars on offer spilt between the racers and the police with most crossing over. I particular like the police cars more due to the fact they are kind of silly yet awesome and the same time the likes of driving a Lamborghini Mucilage with police colours and sirens there is nothing not to like about it. Throughout the range, you will find cars from Dodge Vipers, Porsche’s, Aston Martins and Zonda.
For licensed cars, Criterion has gone as far as they could to smash them up. The damage looks great with high impact camera angles following a takedown or crash, although you will not see a car totally crumple up they will smash up in a satisfying manner.
So far from what I have experienced of the online, it is a mixed bag but that is not to say it is bad. The online is great it just has a few problems that could be fixed with a patch down the road.
Quite a few times I have wanted to go online or to use Autolog I have had problems connecting to the EA servers, this is the main issue, and it is not the first time I have had problems with the EA servers for other games. When it works though getting into a game is nice and easy, matchmaking is fast and for the most part puts you into games with similar level players. You can choose from the standard affair of race types found in the career but I think most players will be putting most of their time into Hot Pursuit. The matchmaking is far from perfect, with some level twenty players matched up against low level players and with the best cars unlocked at the very end it does cause some unbalanced and just feels frustrating as some events turn a simple walk over of the other team.
When it comes to presentation and attention to detail Hot Pursuit is a pleasure to look at. Hot Pursuit is a game that shines when in motion; screenshots do not do it justice. Some highlights are the weather effects, when it is raining the road will get a reflective sheen which looks amazing even at speed, the car will kick up a spray of rain it looks very natural. Thunderstorms take the cake, it really shows off how good the lighting is and combine that with the rain effects these events look amazing.
Speaking of the lighting it work really well the lights of the police cars look great especially when going through a tunnel at speed, on some of the night tracks it can be pitch black and you are having to spot out tail lights of traffic up ahead.
In the end Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is refined experience that offers a fresh rebirth of the franchise, it does have a few issues regarding online and some balancing issues but regardless it still offers something you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else the game will keep you coming back for more.
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