Gaming Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Review

to be honest i prefer bit-tech ratings - they are, well i can't tell if it's down to my taste for games but usually they're spot on, not overrated like the others (ign for example) and what i like is that you (bit-tech) look at games as a whole package not just small bits and also lasting appeal. this is correct rating for this game as with most of the games you've rated.

 

burnout team worked on it so no surprises here i prefer shift more - but it's personal preference. i like more sim racing games.

 

But how does it compare to Most Wanted? Hovis seems to think not so great. I was hoping HP would be a good successor to MW, as there hasn't been a good NFS game since MW. I'm excluding Shift here because it doesn't fall in line with all of the other NFS games.

 

Whaaaat

 

like squashed vw beatle i guess

 

The big difference I found between it and Most Wanted was the sense of growth, narrative and just immersion. Most Wanted had better chases, more sensible cars, customisation, that kind of thing. After a few hours in Hot Pursuit I'd driven things like the McClaren F1 and half a dozen close to unique ultra-high end supercars. And to make it worse I'd had to drive them in time trails. I mean if I'm playing a game called Hot Pursuit I expect to be doing some chasing, or fleeing, or something. A time trail on a simply A to B track I can find in almost any driving game. If they'd stuck to what they do right, the Chase HQ meets Burnout offensive driving stuff, that would have been good. But no, they have to dilute it down with masses of tedious time trails and races that you can find better elsewhere.

I suppose Hot Pursuit is a different sub-series to Most Wanted, but it's still disappointing.

 

Bang on, absolutely bang on. Its inferior to Most Wanted in almost every way which, unfortunately for Hot Pursuit, is the mile stick I was judging it against.

 

I had to laugh at the sum up, loosing interest faster than an Irish bank.

 

so I see plenty of pre-rendered images here but no in game images??? anyhow I love this game, its simple so it just makes it a fun game to pick up and play BUT why Direct X 9? I mean it looks good but this game could have looked amazing if they did it in DX11... oh well I still like it, Im up to a level 10 wanted now the races are starting to get a bit more difficult before they were fairly easy to complete.

 

Quick question......... is there a behind the wheel view as you drive ? ( like in NFS Shift ) Or, what views do you get ?

 

I will probably pick this up if the price drops for the ps3 as my little lad loves burnout paradise (not for the gaming he justs sits on me lap while I ram everything). Bit dissapointed though that it does not make much more of the hot pursuit angle especially trying different modes and styles of missions but I guess that would be too risky in case it crashed and burned.

In regards them review from the description I would suggest a 6 possibly 7 is about right certainly not a 9. The problem with most places is that one good feature is used to justify a top score rather then looking at the game as a whole

 

I'm very happy you gave this a lower score than you gave NFS: Shift. I know they're completely different but I still would have been annoyed!

 

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that. Truth hurts.

 

unfortunately no behind the wheel view.

personally I'm really enjoying this 200mph in a lambo is making me squeal like a piggy

 

Side issue, but I also happen to think that Bit-tech takes after the highly respected Edge review system by being very conservative about giving out 9s and 10s....but I think you take it a step too far. My opinion of course, as is this review and every other review.

 

I picked this up after seeing the other reviews and I'm really disappointed, it's no where near as good as the excellent Most Wanted, which was pretty much as good as an arcade racer can get.

Not a good season for games so far, very disappointed in this, black ops and GT5

 

That sounds disappointing. I loved Most Wanted and was really hoping this would basically be a sequel. Thanks for the comparison

Eh, I might still pick it up since it's $35 tomorrow at most retailers.

 

I had all the original Hot Pursuit games. This one is quite good, but the very basic arcade driving physics let the initial fun factor die out fairly quickly. This game is good for maybe a day or two.

In my opinion, this game is much better than Burnout Paradise.

However, I prefer racing games to be a lot less arcade and more closer to the simulation category, where I get much more depth of gameplay and more of a long-term experience of fun.

 

Another bit-tech review goes against the grain.

*sigh*

 

I have the PC version. It runs well and unlike others it seems I got lucky because many are having problems with quad-core CPUs which cause the game to crash. Criterion have acknowledged on their website that there is a problem with the game code that meant the game shouldn't have ran at all! A bit alarming to be sure.

Also the PC build has missing graphical effects such as rain and coronas not to mention no native anti-aliasing support (even the PS3 and Xbox 360 have some AA). There is a patch due out early next week to fix the graphics and multi-core issues though.

Those issues aside, I think the game is great personally, very addictive for sure with real one more go appeal but it is very shallow with little or no depth to the gameplay so it undoubtedly won't last long. However, I can see myself returning to it every now and then for a quick race or two. It's also a lot more thrilling and enjoyable than any of the recent NFS games, including SHIFT (the NFS games have always been about high-speed arcade thrills so that game along with the abysmal ProStreet always felt out of place using the NFS name).