Cert: All
Platform: PS3/Xbox 360
Genre: Driving Sim
Unlike Codemasters' excellent reinvention of the F1 franchise, where simulation and realism were order of the day, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit approaches the consoles from the opposite side of the tarmac. Made by Criterion Games, makers of the famous Burnout Series, NFS is an out and out arcade racer.
This game's main objective is racing fast, extravagant cars and having and endless amount of fun doing it. There's no overcomplicated story and no sense of suffocation with endless menus: NFS is for racers who just want to look at McClaren F1's, Bugatti Veyrons and the like, and drive them at exorbent speeds through a beautifully created world, while trying to avoid the temptation of partaking in a spectacular crash whose beauty can only be something masterminded from the minds of Criterion Games.
Being a Need for Speed game there's also the chance to take the role of the police officer – in any of the super cars on offer – and chase down those illegally racing and thankfully this side of the law can be just as much fun.
Weapons such as spike strips and EMP's can also be deployed to illegally speed your way either to victory or capture, and its commendable that these unique tools never become monotonous and irksome. They just add to a title that doesn't take itself too seriously and is all the better for it.
Buy or Rent: Buy
Graphics: 5/5
Gamplay: 4/5
Replay Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Reviewed By: Simon Rubbathan
