Video Game Vintage Title: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a 2010 racing video game developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, iOS, Android, webOS and Windows Phone. The Wii version was developed by Exient Entertainment. Hot Pursuit is the sixteenth Need for Speed title and was released in November 2010, with digital download versions released within December 2010.

Hot Pursuit's gameplay is set in the fictional Seacrest County, in which players can compete in several types of races. Players can also compete online , which includes additional game modes such as Hot Pursuit, Interceptor and Race. The game features a new social interaction system called "Autolog", which is a network that connects friends for head-to-head races and compares player stats for competition. The game also features paid downloadable content in the form of new cars, new race and pursuit events, and new trophies/achievements. As of 07/30/2012, the Web Dashboard for Autolog was shutdown for all games except Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Hot Pursuit was well received by critics at E3 2010 and was most notably awarded with "Best Racing Game" from the 2010 Game Critics Awards as well as several other media outlets. Upon its release, Hot Pursuit was met with high critical acclaim averaging 90% on both review aggregate websites Metacritic and GameRankings, making it the highest-rated game in Need for Speed series history and one of the seventh generation's highest-rated racing games. It won several Best Racing Game awards, including Best Driving Game at Spike�s 2010 Video Game Awards. The game also won a BAFTA Award for its Autolog multiplayer component. Critics praised the game�s graphics, visuals, crashes, sound and soundtrack, excellent presentation, dramatic races, high-speed chases as well as the new Autolog feature and that it brought the series back to its roots.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Gameplay

Hot Pursuit goes back to the Need for Speed series' roots and takes on the gameplay style of earlier "Hot Pursuit" titles in the Need for Speed franchise with exotic cars and high-speed police chases. It is primarily inspired by the original Need for Speed on 3DO. Hot Pursuit lets players be either a racer or a police driver, and features a full career mode for both roles. The relationship between the cops and racers is described as "a dog chasing down a rabbit"; the police being more powerful while the racers are faster. Each side has several power-ups including calling for roadblocks and radar jamming. According to Criterion the single-player section is somewhere between 12 and 15 hours long, but with lots of replay value.

The game takes place in a fictional location known as Seacrest County. It's an open world and features over 100 miles (160 km) of open road, four times larger than that of Burnout Paradise, Criterion's previous title. Hot Pursuit features a new social interaction system called "Autolog" which is described as "Facebook for the game". The game features both single-player and multiplayer game modes with up to eight players; as an option to live multiplayer racing, players can post records and achievements on the Autolog feed for friends to see, which they then can try to beat. Autolog also contains an experience system called "Bounty".

The driving mode of the game is described as "fun, accessible, okay", however not as arcade-styled as Burnout Paradise, but far from a simulator. All vehicles in Hot Pursuit are licensed real-world cars and SUVs, described as "all the cars you dreamed of driving, in the way you dreamed of driving them". Most vehicles are available in both racer and police variants, but a few cars are exclusive to each side. Also exclusively featured in the Hot Pursuit is the Porsche 918 Spyder. Ferrari however, last seen in a Shift DLC-pack but notably absent from all other Need for Speed games since Hot Pursuit 2, is also absent from Hot Pursuit. There is no car customization and tuning, "just because the game really focuses on the Hot Pursuit element." Unlike previous Need for Speed games which use unbranded, fictional models, real cars like the Audi A4, Chevrolet Cobalt, Porsche Cayenne and Nissan Frontier are used as traffic cars.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was well received by critics at E3 2010 and was most notably awarded with "Best Racing Game" from Game Critics Awards as well as several other media outlets. Other games in the category included Forza Motorsport 4, Gran Turismo 5, Test Drive Unlimited 2 and MotorStorm: Apocalypse. IGN stated that it had "an inspired level of connectivity", while 1UP.com claimed that "the other racing games at E3 never had a chance". This was the first game in the Need for Speed series since the original Hot Pursuit to win an E3 award. Hot Pursuit was also nominated for "Best Xbox 360" and "Best PS3" game by IGN, and "Best Graphics" by Gaming Excellence.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit received critical acclaim upon release, review-aggregating websites GameRankings and Metacritic hold the average score for the PlayStation 3 version at 88.86% and 89/100, the Xbox 360 version at 87.21% and 88/100 and the PC version at 86.19% and 86/100. While the Wii version was met with mixed or average reviews receiving 45.83% and 50/100. In the 8 November 2010 edition of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, the first review score was given as 10/10. The reviewer said "It's consistently challenging without feeling difficult. It's immensely rewarding without ever being taxing."

IGN gave the game 9.0 out of 10 and an Editor's Choice Award, praising the game's "pure over-the-top driving entertainment. The cars and environments are gorgeous, the crashes are spectacular, and the new Autolog feature breathes new life into the time-honored tradition of video game competition among friends." Eurogamer gave the game 9 out of 10. Reviewer Tom Bramwell said "It's stuffed with content but rarely for the sake of it, and knowing Criterion it will be handsomely supported for months to come, even though it's already the best pure arcade racing game since Burnout Paradise." GameTrailers also scored the game 9 out of 10. The reviewer stated Hot Pursuit was "excellently crafted, letting you take the world's fastest cars across miles of stunning landscapes. Chases are exhilarating from either perspective, and the autolog feature completely changes how you compete with friends, keeping you hooked until you've wrecked all of their scores." Destructoid gave the game 9.5 out of 10. Reviewer Nick Chester noted that "it delivers a near-perfect competitive experience, in a way that few games - racing or otherwise - can. Hot Pursuit is not only a defining moment for the series, but for arcade-style racing, period." Reviewer Randy Nelson of Joystiq was the second reviewer to give the game a perfect score of 10/10. Reviewer Chris Antista of GamesRadar also gave the game 10 out of 10. Chris stated that "with so many modes and diverse rewards to uncover in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, it almost feels like 2.5 games in one package." Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewer Brett Bates gave the game 9.0 out of 10, which felt much the same as GamesRadar's Chris Antista, stating "In effect, you're getting two games in one: What you do as a racer has no bearing on what you do as a cop."

Reviewer Tom Orry of VideoGamer gave the game 8 out of 10, and stated "the core driving is never anything but exhilarating, visually it's almost flawless and the Autolog features are genre leading. There's still something missing, though - a reason to explore the open world." GameSpot awarded the game 8.5 out of ten and said "This fast-paced racer keeps you glued to the TV and on the edge of your seat regardless of which side of the law you're playing on." Official Xbox Magazine gave the Xbox 360 version 7 out of 10, and said "Hot Pursuit feels a little too safe for its subject matter, limited by pedestrian road design that doesn't express all the playfulness that we'd expect in car combat." However, the UK edition of the magazine gave the game a 9 out of 10, and said "It pays respect to the classic NFS games, borrows the best bits from Burnout and is a technical masterpiece. The chase to reclaim NFS's once legendary chart topping form is well and truly on."

PlayStation Lifestyle reviewer Thomas Williams gave the game 9 out of 10, and stated "What Criterion Games has done with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is develop the best entry in the series in the last 5 years of release. Once you start playing this game, there is no way you can play just one race." PlayStation Lifestyle writer Mike Hartnett declared Hot Pursuit better than Gran Turismo 5, and concluded with "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is just downright more fun than anything rolling out of Polyphony Digital�s garage. There is certainly no shortage of epic moments in this game. Whether you're tearing through single-player mode to rank-up as a cop or a racer, throwing down spike strips to take out your friends online, or just relieving a bit of stress by driving around in free-ride mode."