Need for Speed hot Pursuit 2

[Innotech]

WARNING. THIS IS VERY LONG

OK, I am a "cubitE" but I will honestly tell you that the XBOX version of this game is nothing at all as its supposed to be. Im not so sure about NFSHP2, but in the original NFSHP on computer, (I have all 5 nfs games in the series) I can tell you right now that the XBOX version as well as GCN version are totally missing out.

Heres IGN's review, and following it, I will tell you what it left out, judging by my experiences with NfsHP. Comparisons to the PC version will follow each paragraph with parenthesis.

If the Xbox has one thing, it's quality racing games. You've got sim-heavy racing (Sega GT 2002), your rally racing (Rallisport Challenge), arcade racers (Burnout), and even racing games that don't really fit in a traditional category (Project Gotham Racing). EA's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is an arcade racer that needs little introduction. The Need for Speed has spawned a number of racing titles, including High Stakes, Porsche Unleashed, and, of course, Hot Pursuit. The games, Hot Pursuit 2 included, typically involve driving at unhealthy speeds in exotic sports cars while being pursued by the police. Is Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 worth your time and money, or should you avoid like the new O-town single? Well, that probably depends on what you're looking for.

((first off, if you must get this game, buy the PC version. I highly recommend NFS2SE, NFSHP, and NFSPorsche))

Gameplay
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 has several game modes, including Hot Pursuit, Championship, and Single Challenge. Within the Single Challenge mode, there are other sub-modes such as Free Run, Tournament, and Be the Cop. Hot Pursuit and Championship are almost identical, and consist of thirty-three races divided into two tree structures each. Receiving a medal in a race will unlock the branch/races below it, and so on and so on. Each race is set in a controlled environment where the cars, number of laps, and track are all predetermined. Examples of the kinds of races you'll face in these modes are Convertible Cruise Race, where you and five opponents will all race different types of convertible sports cars, or Ferrari 360 Spider Delivery, in which you will have to complete the race under a specified amount of time. Receiving medals will also award you NFS points, which can then be used to unlock cars and tracks for the Single Challenge mode.

The fact that all racing factors in the Hot Pursuit and Championship modes are chosen for you leads to my first complaint. You always have to choose one of the up to four or five cars that have been pre-selected for the event. Now I know each race has it's own theme choosing any car would defeat the whole purpose, but this results in some very unrealistic races. For example, two of the cars you can choose from in the previously mentioned Convertible Cruise Race are a BMW Z8 and a Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pinifarina. I don't know much about cars, but there's no way the BMW has a chance against a high-end Ferrari. Yet in the game, I won the race using the Z8 without any problems, first try.

((First off, the complaint is a problem ,but only on this version. On PC in NFSHP, you could drive ANY car during hot pursuit or championship, but in NFSHigh Stakes, the career mode allowed for special races involving a certain CLASS of vehicle, perhaps htis is what the XBOx version was doing. But in NFSHP, the races are open to any car. Apparently, now Ferrari and Porsche have allowed their vehiclesto be chased. Before, they were actually locked out of hot pursuit mode! (Nothing a little hacking couldnt fix though, and now I can drive any car I want in the game) Also, about the BMW. That particular bimmer is a beast, top[ping out at a rev limited 155 mph, compared to the Barchettas 186, BUT 400 BHP and 0-60 of 4.2 seconds is actually comparitive to the Ferraris 485 BHP and 4.6 second 0-60. a very worthy comparison, and meaning that XBOX IGN needs to get knowledgeable CAR enthusiasts to review its driving games )

Also thrown into the mix of races will be events where you are the police, and must give out a certain number of tickets within a time limit. To give out a ticket, you must first find target and turn on your siren by pushing in on the right stick. The car in question will then have an energy bar appear above them. To empty this bar, all you have to do is continuously ram them, very much like in Wreckless. Once their energy has depleted, you will have given them a ticket. You typically have a five-minute time limit to give out as many tickets as you can, the greater the number resulting in a better medal.

((this energy bar is new, and in NFSHP you had to keep ramming the car until it stopped, sometimes not waiting long enough to back off and stop, and the car would break loose again. I reallyl ike this new energy meter feature))

My main complaint about this mode is how shallow it is. Every time you are the cops you will do exactly the same things. While fun the first few times, it grows old fast. You start out racing down the road for a speeder. The first car you see will always be the one you target. You can't risk passing them up for any reason due to your time limit. You don't even know if they were really speeding. You then proceed to ram them until you have given them a ticket. Repeat as necessary. Granted, you can call for backup (more police, helicopters that drop bombs, or road-blocks with spike strips) using the directional pad, but you won't need to most of time, and sometimes they just get in your way.

((I agree, this mode needs work, but it is the only racing game that allows you to do these things. This mode is actually VERY hard to beat normally )

Controlling the cars in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is, thankfully, not a chore. While the control is not perfect, the cars have a decent sense of weight and handling, albeit a hair floaty. Most of the cars feel similar, with only minute differences in handling characteristics. When selecting your car, you can press the Y button to hear a showcase on the car, which is pretty much a cheesy announcer reciting a few specs about the car. Unfortunately, it is not very helpful in the decision making. I would've liked it more if there were bars or numbers displayed for each of the cars stats, as this helps when comparing which car you want to drive. I pretty much went into each race blindly, picking the car I thought looked coolest. It didn't seem to matter much anyways, as each car feels very similar, and I got first place in almost every race on the first try.

((control has always been very very good, if a little loose in the NFS series. no problems at all with them using NFSPorsches 4 point physics though! I was really waiting for htis and my dream has come true. Most cars in this league of exotica actually DO handle simlarly, being they are all SUPERCARS. again, they needed to pick a car enthusiast to review this game))

The AI in the game is decent most of the time. The police use different tactics to try and stop your bad driving habits. They will call for backup, setup roadblocks, and even call in helicopters to drop explosives to slow you down. And that's all that they will really do. Slow you down. To actually get busted, they must stop you dead in your tracks for what seems like a few seconds. You can almost always avoid this. Want to drive right through the roadblock? Go for it. If you crash or spin, just press the black button to reset the car and speed away.

((The AI seem more ruthless this time around, but when they are after you in a slower car like the Opel (or Merc SLK in NFSHP), if you manage to get the Murcie cop on your tail, you better drive perfectly or God help you. Roadblocks in NFSHP were VERY heavy, and they slowed you down a LOT, oftentimes actually allowing enough time for the Lambo SV cop to catch up to you. This has hopefully NOT been changed. If you reset your car too close to the cop chasing you, you are caught with no chance of escape.))

When the police are chasing you, there is meter that slowly starts draining. As long as the police are not right on your tail, the meter will continue to drain until empty, at which point they will say over the radio that you are too dangerous to chase, so they're going to stop following you. Imagine if that's what real-life policemen did...

((This "meter" is a distance radar, and indicates how far away the cop is from your location. Once the meter drops to nothing, the cop loses sight of you and aborts the chase. (in NFSHP, when YOU are cop, the same happens. You must keep up with the speeders, or your radar will lose them, and your siren turns off. You have to then reacquire a reasonable distance from the speeder to chase them again. also, he does not mention that the cops do not just quit, they drive slowly until either called upon for backup or until they get you in sight again. Usually there are about 5 cops and 1 to 2 supercops out on the road, spaced out roughly evenly.))

On a side note, even if you are not speeding, the police will chase you. I went a casual 35 mph down the track until I saw a copper, only to have him call for backup and bust me. Silly police.

((I have seen that in NFSHP, there are 3 different hot pursuit modes. one is called classic, where you are one of 2 cars trying to go through a set # of laps and you can get one more ticket than the # of laps, secondly, a time trial, where you have a set time to catch or run, and 3 getaway, which uses time trial, but they are ALWAYS on you even if you slow down. I think maybe he was set on getaway. In classic mode, you can drive the whole race at below 50 mph and no cop will chase you, they will drive right by. However, you WILL lose the race unless the other car gets arrested (not often)))