I like nice graphics and cool gameplay. Luckily for me and many others Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit 2 (NFS - HP2), which is the latest edition in the Need for Speed series, has plenty of both. It comes at a price, however, and that is the realism which cannot be said always to work to the player's advantage.
Test Specifications
CPU
Pentium III 933 MHz
RAM
512 MB
Video
GeForce2 32 MB
Audio
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 + stereo speakers
CDROM
40x
OS
Windows98 SE
Controller
Logitech WingMan Cordless Gamepad
NFS - HP2 is the first in the series I have played. But after having seen and tried a live demo, I knew that this game was worth taking a closer look at. And so I did.
Nice looking car - without a scratch.
The three levels of difficulty and the options for allowing traffic and police to interfere in the racing together with a handful of custom types of races help to keep the variation and challenges up for some time. When it all becomes second nature or you just wish for some human competition, you can turn to the multiplayer part of the game. This has, however, not been part of my test.
The race courses are varied and offer many impressive sceneries. It is clear that the developers have looked to both the US and Europe for inspiration. The first time you drive along a Mediterranean-looking road you cannot help feeling a little mystified by the pursuing American police car. The easy answer is that you get used to it, and so you do.
Each of the levels can be raced in four ways - forward, backward, and mirrored variations hereof. Together with a few and sometimes well hidden shortcuts, which it really pays to get to know, this creates opportunities you have to learn how to master in order to beat the competition on the highest difficulty setting.
Outrunning the police by taking a shortcut.
You begin the game with a puny Opel Speedster. This you drive on the only available course. If you want to move on and try other and better cars or some of the other courses, points have to be earned. These are won in a number of ways. For example, by outrunning the police or by finishing in the top three in a custom race. In addition, there are two big championships where massive points can be won. This is also a necessity if you are impatient and want to race in some of the expensive cars or experience the exotic sceneries.
Leading the race and pursued by a police helicopter.
The cars are unique in more than one way. They are all recreated in great detail and accept a good deal of punishment without showing a scratch. Did I hear the word realism? Anyway, their behavior, road handling and engine sounds are distinctive to each car. Getting to know the cars is therefore crucial. At the same time, this makes it possible to gain a small advantage by selecting just the right car for certain courses.
In conclusion NFS - HP2 is a good arcade game, offering excellent entertainment and an ample amount of challenges. The downside is that the challenges are mastered after a while and when you know all the courses, shortcuts and cars, it is limited how long you want to keep racing. For the next installment in the series I wish for more realism and a larger number of courses and cars.
Rating
Graphics
4 of 5
Beautifully rendered cars and sceneries
Audio
3 of 5
Effective sounds and lots of music
Gameplay
3 of 5
The missing realism becomes too big a disadvantage.
Value
3 of 5
The number of courses and cars is limited, and could easily have been twice as large.
