Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

Developer: Electronic Arts

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Genre: Racing

Players: 1-2

Difficulty: Adj.

Rating: E

Memory Card: 2 Blocks

Analog Compatible: Yes

After a somewhat dissapointing showing last year with Need for Speed II, the Need for Speed series is back with it's outstandin third title, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. Electronic Arts realized what wasn't so great in NFS2, and made sure it didn't happen again in NFS3, and that's what makes it the best game out of the whole series so far.

 

You choose one of several modern day super cars such as the Lamborghini Diablo SV, Ferrari 355 F1, and the Italdesign Nazca. The new C5 Corvette was added later in development, but it has a hard time keeping up with the forementioned cars unless you're a skilled driver. There are 8 different tracks to race on, not including the secret ones. You only start off with four of the tracks and two of the fastest cars are locked, but after you beat the Tournament mode you are awarded the locked cars and tracks. One thing that hinders the single player gameplay a bit is the insanely difficult A.I. opponents. Beginner mode feels like expert and expert mode is near impossible to win. The main draw to this game is the Pursuit Mode where you must avoid the unusually intelligent A.I. police to keep from being fined, and eventually arrested.

 

The graphics are the best in a Need for Speed game to date, or any racing game for that matter. The cars themselves are nicely rendered and by using a few tricks reflect the environment around them, giving an unbelievably realistic look to the cars, they actually look shiny. The track graphics are also outstanding. The tracks are wide and they each have a unique feel depending on where the track is located. There are also hidden shorctuts in each track, some are easier to find than others. The skid and smoke effects are still in place and look as good as ever. Even the split-screen mode looks good, there is much less pop-up and slowdown than you would expect. An added feature to NFSIII is the night racing mode. You can actually switch from low beams to high beams, and the traffic will swerve if you come at them with your brights on. The light from the cop cars looks awsome in night racing mode, they light up everything around them with with red and blue light, which adds intensity to the chase.

 

The sound is also a fine piece of work. The music consists of above-average Techno and some good Rock tracks as well. Sound effects are crutial in a racing game, and NFSIII pulls them off nicely. The engine sounds are great, and this time all of the engines aren't V12's, which gives more variety to the engine sounds. Each track has some sort of cool little sounds added in, like when you drive through a gas station the service bell rings. Dogs bark and there are environmental sounds like rivers as well. The cops also add some dialog into the game. They will shout at you things like "pull over!" and "get on the right side of the road!." The cops also have different accents for each region you are in, their are also female cops who will shout things at you.

 

The game controls well, and the controls are a big improvement over NFSII's control. NFSIII also supports the analog controller, which I don't own, but it's supposed to work great. The digital pad works just fine though. It seems to me that the control is a little less tight, alowing you to pull some mean powerslides around tight corners. The game's controls are responsive, so on those hairpins you won't hit the wall even though you started to brake and turn way before the corner.

 

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit is a must buy for any racing fan. This game is a ton of cop-eluding fun. Just the Pursuit Mode alone is worth the money, the other great game modes are just icing on the cake.

 

You'll definetly find yourself playing NFSIII over and over again, if it's not to unlock all of the tracks and cars or to beat your best lap time, it will be to whoop your friend's ass in the two player split screen mode. I'll be playing this game until Need for Speed IV is released.

 

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