Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 845 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 444 out of 845
  2. Mixed: 256 out of 845
  3. Negative: 145 out of 845
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  1. Ansatsu83
    Apr 29, 2012
    9
    This will be my second 9 out of 10 for any game, I only have one 10 out of 10 but its not listed on metacritic. I will explain all of the reasons I really cannot give it any lower than 9 out of 10 so please bear with me. First of all, the game play is amazing if you like street racing games, the campaign is moderately long and you can be either a cop or a racer. Both of which areThis will be my second 9 out of 10 for any game, I only have one 10 out of 10 but its not listed on metacritic. I will explain all of the reasons I really cannot give it any lower than 9 out of 10 so please bear with me. First of all, the game play is amazing if you like street racing games, the campaign is moderately long and you can be either a cop or a racer. Both of which are incredibly fun to play with different types of races/missions. The controls might be a little quirky but they are moderately easy to get used to. The cops vs racers game play is fun in it self, even though some players can use cheap bs tactics and it kinda takes the racing element out of a "racing game" when they drive around in circles and are not timed. Aside from this, unethical and cheap shot tactic, its a fairly fun mulitplayer mode to play with your friends. Multiplayer is moderately dead right now but the single player is fun as can be as well. People who say every car has issues driving or feels heavy, or some delay, they either got the game and it was patched after or they did not give it a full chance. To those who say it has beautiful graphics, I gotta give them two thumbs up as it is incredible. Even the cars have different moving mechanics, including different drift speeds, how easily you drift, how fast you can go, how soon you can drift you are just turning and not hitting the brakes, etc. The controls are the big issue for newcomers here, the scheme is a is accelerate and z or s is brake (I forget which off the top of my head), and the learning curve is moderately high, it is a very good game once you get past all of this. The only complaint I have, there is only one race that takes longer than 10 minutes to complete, on average, and its the Seacrest tour. The game needed more of these very long races for racers as they are fun. Even the seacrest tour goes from morning till night, it feels awkward but at the same time its a seamless transition so you sometimes do not realize the time that it takes. The races get progressively harder and the ai is actually fairly good at racing you. Only complaint about the ai is that they keep up with you but if you crash you dont keep up with them, sometimes. It would be nice to be able to break away 30 seconds ahead of the ai when they crash like they can do to you in certain duels. But yeah, all things aside, incredible game, incredible graphics, great controls, great racing in general, and even some combat racing using spike strips, helicopter spike strips, emps, roadblocks, jammers, and nitro to either escape the cops or disable the racers cars. Despite this, the racers would have likely died in the crash but somehow they are unharmed. So here is the breakdown. Graphics 10/10 Music 10/10 Sound Effects 10/10 Controls 9/10 Lasting Appeal 9/10 Gameplay 9/10 Overall 9/10 Fantastic title, EA, quite possibly the only series you have not ruined.… Expand
  2. Daviator
    Apr 8, 2012
    10
    Need 4 Speed HP 2 for the PS2 was very fun. The best NFS was one of the Underground/2/Most Wanted. I expected much from this one. This is a big dissapointment for all the NFS shift players because it is brutally arcade! But proper arcade it is! I really love it. Smash around corner with insane drifts and wrecking opponents with spike strips. The last stages are kind of hardcore 2 get goldNeed 4 Speed HP 2 for the PS2 was very fun. The best NFS was one of the Underground/2/Most Wanted. I expected much from this one. This is a big dissapointment for all the NFS shift players because it is brutally arcade! But proper arcade it is! I really love it. Smash around corner with insane drifts and wrecking opponents with spike strips. The last stages are kind of hardcore 2 get gold but it is really really good!… Expand
  3. erwin_raptor
    Apr 6, 2012
    7
    Great graphics and the feeling of the original Hot pursuit series with a plus: Nitrous, Powerups and the great fun of a Burnout title (thanks Criterion). The choice of let Criterion Games to try to save de Need for Speed series was a great idea because they have created an awesome game. The car models are highly detailed, you can even see the animation of the Air break of the BugattiGreat graphics and the feeling of the original Hot pursuit series with a plus: Nitrous, Powerups and the great fun of a Burnout title (thanks Criterion). The choice of let Criterion Games to try to save de Need for Speed series was a great idea because they have created an awesome game. The car models are highly detailed, you can even see the animation of the Air break of the Bugatti Veyron.

    Pure arcade gameplay, it feels good with a Gamepad. Don't expect for many camera angles or for manual transmission shifting (both available with modifications). If you want to use a Steering Wheel, you have to look for a non-official modification, because the original game just can't work with a Steering wheel.

    I purchased this game on a "Steam Daily Deal" expecting a great racing game to play with my friends on LAN parties... It was a very bad idea, because all the stuff on this game is Online. EA introduced the Autolog feature to stay in touch with your friends and compare your records, also offered to connect with facebook to make easier the way you find friends, BUT, the autolog feature is unique in the Need for Speed Series, so i couldn't use Autolog because Need for Speed: The Run uses Autolog, so I cannot find my friends in Facebook, making it a disposable multiplayer game if you buy it nowadays, unless you like to see that the 1st and unique records on the leaderbords are yours.

    It could have beed great to play this "Cops vs. Bandits" game in a LAN party, but that will never happen. If you want a good LAN party game, you could look at GRID, Dirt 2/3 or Blur.

    I don't know if it really worthed for 15 USD i payed for it.    … Expand
  4. TheDeviantPro
    Apr 1, 2012
    9
    Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is one of the best selling Need for Speed game in the series. And one thing like about Need for Speed is fast cars and high speed pursuits and racing and Hot Pursuit deliver its all. Criterion Games delivers us one of the best Need for Speed games ever with bringing the series by bringing back the roots of Hot Pursuit. There a lots of game elements that madeNeed for Speed: Hot Pursuit is one of the best selling Need for Speed game in the series. And one thing like about Need for Speed is fast cars and high speed pursuits and racing and Hot Pursuit deliver its all. Criterion Games delivers us one of the best Need for Speed games ever with bringing the series by bringing back the roots of Hot Pursuit. There a lots of game elements that made this game great like the graphics, the tracks and new and fun ways to take down cops. I like how Criterion has used Burnout's takedown mechanic to take down cops and racers I felt that fitted quiet well, I also liked use of technology that the police has was used in the game. Although I found one thing a bit annoying was the soundtrack. The soundtrack has dull and slow paced song with didn't the game's atmosphere with only a few good songs. Anyway the great game is high trilled with speed.… Expand
  5. ChoicestGames
    Mar 3, 2012
    8
    This is no Need for Speed: Underground 2, Carbon or Most Wanted, but that might be a good thing for those wanting a refreshing, back-to-basics arcade racer.
  6. Mikeee
    Feb 9, 2012
    9
    Bring back the old parts of the atmosphere. Expensive cars, speeding wildly, police officers, wonderful landscapes, beautiful graphics. The Criterion games did a good job.

    One disadvantage is that sometimes it can be difficult.
  7. hit925
    Dec 30, 2011
    6
    Ok, this game didn't really set out to be a driving simulator. It is fun though there are problems. Controls and graphics have been compromised when being ported to the PC and it can get repetitive. Still, seeing a Bugatti police car crash is quite satisfying.
  8. WookieLove
    Dec 3, 2011
    9
    I enjoyed the crap out of this game. I'm not much of a racing-game guy at all. Back in the day, I got "Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit" in a bundle with my freaking VOODOO graphics card. Yeah that's right, 3DFX. I played the crap out of that game. Getting away from, and playing as, the cops was fun as hell. Running cars down, setting up road blocks, smashing cops off the road, makingI enjoyed the crap out of this game. I'm not much of a racing-game guy at all. Back in the day, I got "Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit" in a bundle with my freaking VOODOO graphics card. Yeah that's right, 3DFX. I played the crap out of that game. Getting away from, and playing as, the cops was fun as hell. Running cars down, setting up road blocks, smashing cops off the road, making your escape... physics and realism be damned. This is the kind of racing game I need, I suppose. I'm not a Gran Turismo guy. After playing that game, I thought all Need for Speeds would be equally fun so I bought the next one I came across, "Porsche Unleashed"... and was subsequently bored to tears. I didn't go back to NFS, or racing games in general, until I heard about this "reboot", I guess you could call it. When I heard about it I got so excited, thinking about all the fun I used to have with the original Hot Pursuit. I tried it out and YES, awesome, they captured the original spirit of the first game very nicely. Yes, yes, I see all the complaints. The AI grants the cars sudden bursts of speed, it's not realistic, yada yada. Dude, who GIVES a crap? That is not what this game is about. This game is about going full throttle, sliding around corners, and smashing cars to bits, which it delivers in spades. I liked the graphics, liked the car physics, liked the weapons, liked the new "open world" style (it's not a looped track anymore, there's just a huge county that you could technically drive around forever, they just section off bits of that county to be that particular events track). If I were to levy one complaint against the game, it would be that I find it annoying that brake-checking a car that's behind you into your rear bumper always seems to do more damage to you than them. Always having to ram a car with your front bumper (from the side doesn't seem to work out too well either) was a little annoying, if for no other reason than I could've set up some really sweet swoop-and-swats if the game were coded otherwise. 9 out of 10.… Expand
  9. nitro912gr
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    I'm sure many newer players will not be satisfied by this turn of the game.

    However, older players like myself, who have played since the begging of this series and remember what Need for Speed used to stand for, will love this game. NFS back in early days it was just 2 simple things. Exotic cars, racing at exotic places. Add some cops for a spicy note and here we are. The last NFS with    I'm sure many newer players will not be satisfied by this turn of the game.

    However, older players like myself, who have played since the begging of this series and remember what Need for Speed used to stand for, will love this game.

    NFS back in early days it was just 2 simple things. Exotic cars, racing at exotic places. Add some cops for a spicy note and here we are.

    The last NFS with this recipe was the Need for Speed 6, a.k.a. Hot Pursuit 2 (because the original Hot Pursuit, was NFS 3).
    After that Underground and Most Wanted were good games, but the only common they did had with the past of this series were just... that you drive cars.

    Sorry guys, I enjoyed UG and MW but I never felt them like NFS games.

    Now NFS is back to the root and I can't give less than 10 for this great game. I wish the series will get separated, 1 at classic style like this game and one with tunned imports. Everybody will be satisfied, including myself.    … Expand
  10. buzer
    Nov 16, 2011
    7
    decent game, graphic is good, crashes looks cool. If you're bored try it or grid, bot very decent games. specially good time to test it now since price dropped significantly.
  11. grandpajoe6191
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit" is a great racing game with clean, smooth graphics and solid gameplay. However, the controls are kinda buggy for PC and if you're not playing online there really isn't much to do with the single player. If you want a solid racing game, NFS: HP might be your best choice....for now.
  12. mrshytle
    Nov 2, 2011
    0
    FAIL! GARBAGE! This is what happens when you join forces with losers like Criterion! I regret buying this piece of garbage, shame on you EA for allowing this trash to have your name on it! Great graphics? Is everyone on crack? Graphics are shameful for a game this new, it causes hardlocks in xfire/sli, No, AA settings, constant FPS stutters, this is definitly designed for weak consoles. ItFAIL! GARBAGE! This is what happens when you join forces with losers like Criterion! I regret buying this piece of garbage, shame on you EA for allowing this trash to have your name on it! Great graphics? Is everyone on crack? Graphics are shameful for a game this new, it causes hardlocks in xfire/sli, No, AA settings, constant FPS stutters, this is definitly designed for weak consoles. It is a weak game, so it's fitting. I love the police chasing and running from the pigs, but this is embarrassing! I thought Undercover was weak, but OMG! I guess Crtierion needed EA funding to use actual cars this time instead of fake made -up rides, I don't know what happened here, but it's embarrassing, I'm half tempted to make a new steam account just so I won't have to look at this POS on my screen anylonger. Physics? Where are you? Holy Pixelation Batman! Get my drift here? Don't waste your time or precious money on this junk! If you rate this a 10 for whatever reason you defintily need your head checked, even the good features suck. I'm a die hard NFS fan, and I really wish I was dreaming when I bought this, or seen the NFS logo on it. It's reincarnated Burnout. There's absolutely no NFS identity here whatsoever, I really hope and pray to everything holy in the universe that Criterion is never allowed to touch another NFS title again! Actually they shouldn't be allowed to touch anything that runs on a PC.… Expand
  13. kristoffer15
    Oct 11, 2011
    6
    never a fan of DLC games! I just find it unfair! after buying an expensive game...we need to buy more to maximize the fun of the game?! did we bought a demo game? I just hope someday, EA will just sell a game that has everything for us buyers to explore, not to swipe before we explore
  14. Finraziel
    Sep 16, 2011
    4
    I went into this game knowing it was an arcade fest, no sim genes at all, but that's ok, I love both NFS and burnout. When it was on sale on steam I finally snapped it up.
    I've played a couple hours and have won everything effortlessly. Nitro (boost) is refilled easily by driving against traffic (which is easy because there's like 1 civilian car per KM), you can use it nearly all the time    I went into this game knowing it was an arcade fest, no sim genes at all, but that's ok, I love both NFS and burnout. When it was on sale on steam I finally snapped it up.
    I've played a couple hours and have won everything effortlessly. Nitro (boost) is refilled easily by driving against traffic (which is easy because there's like 1 civilian car per KM), you can use it nearly all the time reducing any strategy to not wasting it when you're at top speed. The way to play this game is not like NFS at all, you play it like a burnout, so pedal to the metal and any corner can be taken at top speed. The moment I went into a corner too fast I played with the boost and just pull through it easily (instead of just sliding of the track which it should do). Later I decided I should try what the handbrake button does and discovered it's mislabeled, it's really the instant drift button making cornering even easier, which saves your boost (really it's boost from burnout, has nothing to do with nitro) and even gives extra for drifting. If you hit something, the worst that can happen is you crash, which costs you about a second or so because you're instantly respawned on the road and already driving and going pretty fast, you still have your boost so just rocket off and you'll overtake your opponents soon enough again.
    When you finish a race and you were any good, odds are you will unlock something, either a new car or a level. For everything you unlock, you are tortured with an uninteresting flashy sequence that is unskippable and takes about 15 seconds. So, gain a new level and raise in rank and I'll just put down my controller and look outside for a bit. If this wait was a loading screen the game would get totally trashed for it. I guess if you stick with the game long enough to unlock everything this will go away, but it's just totally retarded not to let the player skip these loads of crap. In the same vein, while you're driving, if something happens like a crash or a cop pulls onto the road as you drive past, the camera switches to the action and no longer shows you what you're doing. In other games, this was an option to be switched off asap by myself as I want to keep my eyes on the road, but no such option is to be found here.
    Now then, you do unlock a lot of cars, so that should be good right? Honestly, so far I tend to just stick with the same car because the new cars don't seem to be any better actually. Also most cars feel like they weigh 5 tons (steering barely does anything at high speed, but still you can take a hairpin turn at 200 kph by drifting), so I tend to just stick with the same light agile cars all the time. Also, if you have a race where only one or two cars are allowed, you'll still get the whole list to choose from but all the other cars will have some message over them saying you can't pick them. Was it really that hard to only show the elligible cars?
    Ok, so maybe it's better if I drive as a cop, maybe I can do some more of those lovely pit manouvers I loved in NFS MW... NOPE! Taking down a car is just as moronic as in NFS Undercover, just bump into the cars until their health bar is all the way down. The only thing that seems to matter is how hard you hit them too, not where. Ramming them a couple times from the back is an excellent way to make them stop, taking the effort to try and spin them out just makes you slower at catching the bad guys. You do also get weapons, but the spike strip seemed to me to be of more use to the racers (yes, the racers get the same on vehicle weapons as the cops...) than to the cops, because as a cop you'll be chasing. You can try to overtake the racer and hit them with the spikes, but again, it's easier to just ram them a couple times from behind (especially because cops automatically gain boost at a pretty high rate). Then there's a targettable EMP, you can call for roadblocks and I believe later on you can call in a chopper? Not sure because before I got there I had to stop because I felt my braincells committing hara kiri... Anyway, it all comes down to gimmicks and no race skill required whatsoever.
    Cops also gain bounty, just like racers... Couldn't you have come up with some other term for cops? Really, why would a cop rack up bounty? It's silly.

    So, am I just ranting because it's more burnout than NFS? No, because if it actually was burnout I would LOVE that, there hasn't been a decent burnout for too long. But it's not burnout, it's way too tame compared to burnout. Burnout is exhilerating, so bleeding fast that you feel like crawling into your screen, totally focussed on what is appearing at the horizon because you're going to be there in half a second. This... this is just, boring, way too easy, and... well, seems to have been made for some kind of braindead gamer that cares more about social network features than a decent challenging racing game, wether realistic or arcade.    … Expand
  15. Subby
    Sep 8, 2011
    8
    Great fun and heart stopping action. Very well made, I wish I'd bought it sooner but like a lot of EA games it's over priced in every store except Amazon.
  16. Fiddy
    Aug 19, 2011
    2
    I had such high hopes for this game, loved the original on PS, High Stakes, Most Wanted, Carbon and my most favorite of all, that perfect combo of music, gameplay and arcade, Hot Pursuit 2. Then Criterion got a hold of it and just made Burnout Takedown with real cars that handle like crap.

    Explain to me how my computer controlled opponent slams into another car, hits a wall and still    I had such high hopes for this game, loved the original on PS, High Stakes, Most Wanted, Carbon and my most favorite of all, that perfect combo of music, gameplay and arcade, Hot Pursuit 2. Then Criterion got a hold of it and just made Burnout Takedown with real cars that handle like crap.

    Explain to me how my computer controlled opponent slams into another car, hits a wall and still wins by 10 seconds with me running a nearly flawless drive? Cops dont seem to slow the cpu cars down a bit yet i have three Mustangs treating me like I'm Rodney King. Online mode isnt much better especially with the cop mode because its now just Mario Kart with high speed dump trucks. Instead of a banana peel i drop a spike strip, instead of a turtle an EMP blast. Which by the way does nothing to CPU controlled opponents, they dont slow down, they keep going. You dodged that thar roadblock like the Duke Boys on meth, yet the car in front of you didnt and he respawns ahead of you. Im really disappointed in this pile of poo that bears the NFS brand. I thought about giving it a 4 but even thats too generous. I lump it in with Underground2 and Pro Street. I dare say the NFS brand is dead to me, never again will they get my money.    … Expand
  17. BRUNO_cz
    Jun 22, 2011
    10
    real nfs game like a first hot pursuit. not simulation but pure fun with fight between racers vs cops. plus very nice graphic and arcade gameplay. with MP is really addicted. (who want sim : buy Rfactor and who want semi-sim - go for Shift 2. this IS ARCADE) for me 100% fun
  18. ILFM
    Jun 20, 2011
    10
    This game is amazing, the graphics are amazing, the scenery is amazing, and the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. Online especially is so fun, online is amazing, NFS has gone back to its original style. The game has so much to offer, so many different places to race, a wide variety of cars, and online you race as a cop or the racer, the cop trying to catch the racer, the racer trying toThis game is amazing, the graphics are amazing, the scenery is amazing, and the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. Online especially is so fun, online is amazing, NFS has gone back to its original style. The game has so much to offer, so many different places to race, a wide variety of cars, and online you race as a cop or the racer, the cop trying to catch the racer, the racer trying to get away, with friends this is so fun, I love it. Anyone who disses this game don't know what up. Really though, give it a shot, it's like $30 bucks max, and it's so worth it, very fun.… Expand
  19. Bulldog6565
    Jun 17, 2011
    9
    NFS Hot Pursuit is a game where players get play as both cops and speeders. I like the game and it provides a very unique experience as players get to test out new super cars while evading the law, this wouldn't be the best game I've ever had but it's worth buying. It will test your driving abilities.
  20. bone333
    Jun 6, 2011
    2
    This game is repetitive to the point of boring. The physics sucks and the adjustments are non-existant. I can't emphasize enough what a waste of money it is. DONT BUY THIS GAME.
  21. theshonen8899
    May 13, 2011
    8
    Not sure where all the hate is coming from. I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are making up reasons to hate it just because it's new and has good graphics. Make no mistake, this game has unbelievable graphics AND gameplay. The cars feel great and react smoothly, that is in the hands of the right player of course. The police chases are incredibly intense as are the races. TheNot sure where all the hate is coming from. I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are making up reasons to hate it just because it's new and has good graphics. Make no mistake, this game has unbelievable graphics AND gameplay. The cars feel great and react smoothly, that is in the hands of the right player of course. The police chases are incredibly intense as are the races. The stunning environments and scenery coupled with the near perfect soundtrack makes races and test drives euphoric. The little things you get to sabotage other racers or your pursuer are sinisterly fun. And boy are the police cars beautiful. All in all, it's a honest step forward in the series and NFS fans should love it just as much as I do.… Expand
  22. Colonel_Panic
    May 3, 2011
    0
    It is very rare that I find myself actually angered by a game, but what EA has done with this one has more than earned my ire. Before I could even begin playing, I encountered a several-minutes-long unskippable ad for another game, which prevented me from just getting in and starting playing--a bad sign of worse things to come, but deserves a mention all its own, because when someone paysIt is very rare that I find myself actually angered by a game, but what EA has done with this one has more than earned my ire. Before I could even begin playing, I encountered a several-minutes-long unskippable ad for another game, which prevented me from just getting in and starting playing--a bad sign of worse things to come, but deserves a mention all its own, because when someone pays to play a game, they're NOT paying to watch ads. If a publisher is going to force their customers to watch ads, then the game should be free. So for respect for customers, this game scores a 0. An online login is required for the offline single-player campaign, as if I didn't have enough logins without legitimate uses cluttering up my password wallet, and if you lose your internet connection while playing, the campaign menu will fail to load. This is the most unacceptable variety of DRM, so in this category, the game scores a 0. The gameplay and mechanics are clunky and unintuitive. EA boasts that future NFS games will use the same engine as Battlefield 3. Newsflash: no game engine can possibly be ideal for both racing games, AND FPS games. This is a big part of the problem with EA's approach to game development, and it really shows. Instead of intelligent AI opponents, we have rubber-band racers, which will teleport ahead or behind you if they fall too far behind, run off the road, crash, or otherwise are boxed in and immobilized. Yes, this includes suspects when you're playing hot pursuit mode, so, all you will accomplish by doing the intelligent thing and pinning a suspect to a barrier, is allow them to escape by teleporting back into the middle of the road and speeding off. Contrary to the instructions given right in the game, the ONLY way to stop a suspect is to total their car with full-contact juggling. Spike strips do not damage tires or slow them down, and your opponents can absorb stupid amounts of damage like being struck against a barrier at 200MPH. The teleportation thing gets really out of hand at times, and you can actually watch them jump around in your rear view mirror or ahead of you on the road, or, of course, from between your front bumper and the guardrail you have them pinned against. Hitting the nitro causes your opponents to speed up, and they can go far faster than the top speed of their respective cars in the interest of pissing you off. Drifting is the fastest way to go around a corner... whose idea was this, anyway? FWD, AWD and RWD cars all drift the same.. in fact, all cars handle equally on the road for the most part overall, and the car selection is drab and boring, despite the number of exotics to choose from. In fact, most of the exotic pursuit cars are only available for special "time trial" stages, and not for pursuit at all... there's a distinct shortage of fun and engaging multi-car racing and pursuit stages in this game, so they really should have just called it "Need For Speed: Boring Arcadey Racing Game" So, for game mechanics, AI, and all around fun, this game scores a 0. I'm just going to stop here, because I really have nothing nice to say about this game. Sure, the graphics are passable, but if you really care about that, you should be playing Crysis or some other sandbox tech demo. I'd promised myself in the past I would never buy another EA game again, and I should have kept that promise, as this is just another reminder as to why. I picked this game up for $15 on steam, and I really wish I could just have my money back. Don't buy it. Don't even rent it. It's not worth it.… Expand
  23. wildstoo
    May 3, 2011
    8
    My favourite NFS incarnation remains the classic Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, and this is very much like that.

    The torrent of hate spilling from many other reviewers seems to just be shock after the hardcore sim-ness of NFS Shift. EA marketing have screwed up because people don't know what NFS means anymore. Hint: it doesn't mean anything now except "EA driving game". Anyway. this    My favourite NFS incarnation remains the classic Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, and this is very much like that.

    The torrent of hate spilling from many other reviewers seems to just be shock after the hardcore sim-ness of NFS Shift. EA marketing have screwed up because people don't know what NFS means anymore. Hint: it doesn't mean anything now except "EA driving game".

    Anyway. this game looks really nice, runs fast and smooth on my not-so-hot-anymore rig (with AA forced on in the nVidia drivers even!) Admittedly, the car handling takes some getting used to, and it's definitely Burnout under the bonnet, but once you've accepted it for what it is, it's fast and fun.

    If you're looking for a racing sim, there are plenty of other games (even other NFS games) to appease you. It's not the best arcade racer ever, but if you're looking for a pre-Paradise Burnout-style arcade racer then you should give this a look.

    I can see why people who paid full price and weren't sure what they were getting might be pissed off, but for £15 in the Steam sale, it was well worth it.    … Expand
  24. Dee383
    Apr 27, 2011
    2
    I Bought This Game Because I Thought This Was Going To Be Like Most Wanted ... How Wrong Was I Graphics Are Outstanding ... Gameplay Has No Real Goal .. After Playing This It Seems To Be So
    Much Like Burnout Paradise .... No Car Modifying At All .. I Used To Love Tweaking My Car With Performance And Visual Mods But Thats Not Possible .... You Cant Use The Same Car For All Events You Have    I Bought This Game Because I Thought This Was Going To Be Like Most Wanted ... How Wrong Was I Graphics Are Outstanding ... Gameplay Has No Real Goal .. After Playing This It Seems To Be So
    Much Like Burnout Paradise .... No Car Modifying At All .. I Used To Love Tweaking My Car With Performance And Visual Mods But Thats Not Possible .... You Cant Use The Same Car For All Events You Have To Use Group Based Cars For Events .... All In All If You Loved Most Wanted Like I Did You Wont Like This Game .... As Far As Im Concerned The Best Game Ive Played From
    The Need For Speed Series Was Most Wanted And It Still Is ...............    … Expand
  25. TUN3R
    Apr 22, 2011
    0
    Ok let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Graphically it's probably the best game I've ever seen, the environment and especially the cars are almost life-like, it doesn't require a monster PC to run and look good, there are invisible walls only enough to keep you on the road, and the dynamic time / weather are amazing. The car choices are also great even if there aren't anyOk let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Graphically it's probably the best game I've ever seen, the environment and especially the cars are almost life-like, it doesn't require a monster PC to run and look good, there are invisible walls only enough to keep you on the road, and the dynamic time / weather are amazing. The car choices are also great even if there aren't any Ferrari's (FYI that's Ferrari's fault, not EA) (their loss as well) and although some cars can't race with each other although they would be able to (ex: The ultra light Zonda vs that brick Bugatti). Music is also great, especially the theme song.

    Now on to the bad stuff, and I hope you're sitting comfortably cause you'll be sitting for a while.

    First thing that I noticed even before the game was released is the crash / game moments camera. Yes, that anomaly that EA keeps putting in every f***ing NFS and Burnout game that makes you crash and hit spike strips by taking the control of the car away from you. But unlike the previews NFS games, you can't disable it, and unlike in Burnout it only works in your favor 10% of the time, the other 90% you'll be hitting roadblocks, spike strips and pretty much everything else, costing you the race most of the time. And as if that wasn't enough, Criterion did THE DUMBEST THING POSSIBLE: They added the moments camera ON MULTIPLAYER! Can't comment any further on this, it's bad.

    The moments camera by itself wouldn't be enough to ruin the game, after all, it backfired in Burnout Paradise sometimes as well. But combine it with one of the worst rubber band / catch up features in history and you'll achieve the highest level of frustration since Contra. Again, the NFS and Burnout series are no stranger to rubber band, but again, old NFS games let you disable it and Burnout does it right.

    If the game moments camera and rubber band still aren't enough to make this game the most frustrating racing game ever (nah kidding, 2nd most frustrating after Most Wanted) then the final piece of this painful puzzle will: controls. I don't know how they are on the Ecks Bawks or the Pee Es Three but on PC they are terrible. Steering is way too sensitive and if you try to slow down (or get forced to slow down by the moments camera that refuses to trigger in a crash) and steer you'll end up doing donuts.
    And these weapons, they work in every way possible except how you want them to, why the hell does that EMP target helicopters when they are impossible to hit unless you bring your car to a complete stop, or racers if the damn cop is right in front of me??

    The absence of a reset feature doesn't help things ether, but taking all of the above in consideration, a reset key wouldn't make a difference.

    And now comes the biggest kick in the b*lls (no offense girls) for PC gamers: yeah I'm talking about the DLC's. EA claims they can't bring the DLC's to PC because they lack the resources. It's enough to Google ''EA'' to know they have enough resources to buy Canada and still have enough for the Niagra falls. Proof that they DO NOT WANT to bring the DLC's to PC is that the Crew Edition / SCPD Rebel / Dr Pepper / Etc cars actually exist in the PC version. Ok ok if you don't wanna make new DLC's for PC fine, but why not unlock these since they already exist in the game?

    I hope other people don't get tricked into buying this piece of crap.    … Expand
  26. GregA
    Apr 10, 2011
    4
    After having not played a NFS for some time, I figured I'd give Hot Pursuit a chance. My mistake. Maybe I miss the old NFS: HS days, or back when the AI wouldn't block you from working your way up the pack in a race. Maybe I liked it better when I could pick what weather I wanted, or what time of day, because with Hot Pursuit you can't. Maybe it's because I could pick my competition andAfter having not played a NFS for some time, I figured I'd give Hot Pursuit a chance. My mistake. Maybe I miss the old NFS: HS days, or back when the AI wouldn't block you from working your way up the pack in a race. Maybe I liked it better when I could pick what weather I wanted, or what time of day, because with Hot Pursuit you can't. Maybe it's because I could pick my competition and actually have a fair race, unlike in this title. Maybe it's being able to use whatever car I wanted to in a race, not what they tell me I have to use. If this game changed the above, stripped the NOS, spike strips, EMPs, and all the other gadgets from the cars(including the racers), they might have something here, but so far, this game is going on my "won't play after a few days" pile. A shame.
    Perhaps I'm just old school, but I really hoped for more from this title, and I'm still waiting for it to be delivered.    … Expand
  27. Ajpur
    Apr 8, 2011
    4
    Driving in this NFS totally sucks. Cars feel like heavy vans or trucks, every turning makes drift. Career mode is boring, near every race you get a new car, races are not satisfying.
  28. Baosas
    Apr 4, 2011
    3
    Just registered this account for this review. I just don't get it that how could IGN give it a goddamned 9. SP is bland and empty, MP is uninteresting, the city is empty, very poorly featured, and don't even get me started at the controls. This game successfully broke the negative record of NFS undercover in my opinion. Congratulations EA.
  29. Dax
    Mar 28, 2011
    5
    First thought: This is worse than the GTA4 port. My system is mega fast, but cant play NFS hot pursuit.
    The game looks good. Gameplay is fun. BUT what is wrong with EA? I have a lot of problems playing the NFS series. Hot Pursuit is choppy and slow, while Crysis 2 plays perfectly on extreme settings. I managed to do patches and resource settings(switching 2 of my 4 cores off) and it runs a    First thought: This is worse than the GTA4 port. My system is mega fast, but cant play NFS hot pursuit.
    The game looks good. Gameplay is fun. BUT what is wrong with EA? I have a lot of problems playing the NFS series. Hot Pursuit is choppy and slow, while Crysis 2 plays perfectly on extreme settings. I managed to do patches and resource settings(switching 2 of my 4 cores off) and it runs a bit better. The same happened to me when I played NFS Underground.    … Expand
  30. pawwilon
    Mar 22, 2011
    10
    I've set up the account just to make a review for this game... I'd say it's an epic product if you are playing it on an older machine like mine (core 2 duo 2.13///2gb of 'mystery' RAM///8600GT). I am playing it on 1280x1024 with HQ textures on and it is perfectly smooth with some odd shortcuts where the game goes down to 15-20 FPS.
    As for the gameplay, it is the true meaning of words Need    I've set up the account just to make a review for this game... I'd say it's an epic product if you are playing it on an older machine like mine (core 2 duo 2.13///2gb of 'mystery' RAM///8600GT). I am playing it on 1280x1024 with HQ textures on and it is perfectly smooth with some odd shortcuts where the game goes down to 15-20 FPS.
    As for the gameplay, it is the true meaning of words Need for Speed, if you're looking for some cheap simulators go play toca race driver or gran turismo... It is a pure speed-based game. Just like the HP2 from ~2000 it is about getting to the finish line 1st.
    There are two storylines, one - the racer and second - the cop; after 2 days of 5+ hrs of playing im not half way through the ranks, but have unlocked almost all events.
    For the game physics, its the 1st game where I noticed it takes time for the driver to turn the god damn steering wheel - stop whining about it, its the way it should be. For the drifting part - find an explanation of words 'Need for Speed' somewhere on the internet... this game is about pure speeeeeed
    The 4 'weapons' are IMO a funny solution that replaced the tuning progress.
    Overall, game features something new, like undercover, but much better (well yeah UC was a fail), with a wide variety of cars, rapidly unlocked one by one at the early stage the game allows you to test all of them on different tracks... and dividing cars into 'series' is a perfect solution separating all BMWs and similar from Veyron and Koenigseggs.
    If you are not after realism and some crap simulators but looking for a game that introduces something new to the market i'd deffinitely recommend it to you.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best PC Game of 2010
20
#20 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
12
#12 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. PC Format
    Jan 29, 2011
    91
    Intoxicating. [Jan 2011, p.104]
  2. PC Games
    Jan 12, 2011
    82
    Criterion Games hits the old and trusty NfS-Series with a welcome and refreshing blast from the past. It offers fast and furious oldschool-action, plenty of mileage and an overall good ride. A lack of modes, some rather bland racetypes, the always present rubberband-A.I. and a lack of challenge bothered us. But overall we liked what Hot Pursuit had to offer. A lot!
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  3. Gamers.at
    Jan 12, 2011
    82
    NFS Hot Pursuit will not reinvent the genre but it is great fun and perfect for quick races inbetween. If you aren't the competetive type however the game starts to lack soon.
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