Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

There was a time when Need for Speed was king. The first Hot Pursuit title, the Underground games; just a generation ago these were amongst the best racing titles out there. They were extreme, they never took themselves seriously, and they were hard to beat as splitscreen racers too. Oddly, however, the series began to lose steam after the release of Most Wanted, my favourite of the series. Carbon and Underground both failed to capture the essence of such brilliant street racing games, and despite an acceptable attempt at reaching out to the simulator audience with Shift, gamers were beginning to lose faith in Need for Speed. It seems that to remedy this, EA have placed the latest title in the hands of Burnout developer, Criterion. The over-the-top aggression that Criterion are so well known for seems to be just what the dying brand has needed.

The premise of Hot Pursuit is similar to that of Most Wanted, minus the plot. The goal is to reach the top of the local police's wanted list by completing a long set of races and challenges, but that's only when playing as a racer. The main twist in Hot Pursuit is that you are no longer restricted to just running from the cops, as instead the game is split in half, and the other fifty percent of races is spent playing as the police. Fear not however, as although you may start with nothing more powerful than a classic Ford Queen Vic, the police of Seacrest County have wised up to the local street racing culture and have in their arsenal everything from Porsches to Lamborghinis. It's no surprise that such a place (albeit fictional) has been chosen as a racing spot, either. Windy alpine roads, lush redwood forests, and huge arid deserts - Seacrest has all the best racing terrains within driving distance, built with care due to the collaboration between Criterion and DICE, creators of Battlefield's huge natural vistas.

Speeding through Seacrest isn't just easy on the eyes, either. Hot Pursuit is an incredibly finely tuned racer, sitting in a blissful sweet spot between smooth and sensitive, and fast and intense. It wouldn't be wholly true to say 'every car feels' different - in fact, one of my main issues with the game is the lack of depth and detail with each vehicle - but the way a $400,000 supercar glides gracefully down a straight, and an all-American muscle car roars along an offroad track is stunningly immersing. Such fine mechanics make for a great experience in races and time trials, but as the name suggests, the main pulling power of the game is in its police chases, and to say this in short; the Hot Pursuit race type is some of the most fun I've had in the entire series. If you're playing as a racer, your job is not only to win the race, but also avoid the oncoming convoy of police, who will use everything in their power to shut you down. Using spike strips, EMP blasts, a Jammer and Turbo boosts, you'll remember once more that feeling of satisfaction in Burnout as you annihilate a nearby car attempting to overtake or ram you. Racing as a cop, your objective is simply to shut down the whole race, meaning you have to take down as many as eight racers using spikes, EMPs, roadblocks and helicopters. Weapons are at the touch of a button, blend perfectly with the driving, and double the excitement.

Interestingly, everything that is done in singleplayer is also integral to the game's multiplayer. Criterion have developed the brand new 'Autolog' system, a network which tracks all your stats and times and shares them with your friends. I've no doubt that this is something that will be catching on and becoming standard for racing games, making every race you play a race against the people on your friend's list, the leaderboards shown after every finish giving it that extra edge of competition. Every time I sign on I am shown who has beaten me and where, giving me personal business to attend to before continuing against the computer. Then, when I move over to multiplayer modes, all my unlocked cars and stats are still there, so I can show off that new Lambo I just won in Career mode. The line between a solo and online experience is blurring, and for the better. This is a social game, achieving what Blur hoped for and more.

Forza 3 and Gran Turismo may be the cream of the crop for racers at the moment, but simulators can only deliver so much. Hot Pursuit doesn't fail to give a near endless stream of fun and competition at every turn, without having to answer to realism, and Autolog making the challenges continue far beyond finishing the Career mode. This is the future of racers, and what a bright future indeed. 9/10