#Nfs hot pursuit pc multiplayer mod Offline#
And while the offline game will doubtless be comprehensive – although Criterion aren't showing too much of it just yet – it's online where Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit's focus is, and it's the Autolog that'll be its very heart. Best of all, it's persistent both online and off. It's topped up by familiar feats driving into oncoming traffic, checking cars and maxing out the speedometer. Overlooking all of this is an XP system – here called Bounty – that informs the levelling system that runs through Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Power-ups add strategy the d-pad houses four of them, ranging from the cop deploying a helicopter to keep eyes on the suspect or calling in a road block to a radar jamming device that renders the mini-map useless and an EMP blast that temporarily immobilises the opponent. The win states are self explanatory – for the chaser, it's about pummelling the suspect into submission, and for them it's just about getting away. It runs deeper than that though, and there's a surprising level of nuance to the chase. The low-slung Lamborghinis soon reveal themselves to be a delight to throw around, swinging their plump posteriors around corners simple yet satisfying. It's initially galling, especially to anyone schooled in Burnout's own unique model, and is much weightier than Criterion's past games. YES NO The thrill of the chase is intoxicating within itself, thanks to an exhilarating sense of speed that's amplified by a rechargeable nitrous boost and some sublime handling. The only one on display today, however, is Interceptor, taking in the game of cat and mouse that took centre stage at EA's conference. There are two sides to take – the cops and the suspects, both of which feed in to a selection of game modes.
True to Criterion's last effort, the hugely impressive Burnout Paradise, Need for Speed Hot: Pursuit is an open world racer – but this world is much more expansive, taking in 100s of miles of road. It's the joy and unfettered beauty of the open road as so wonderfully embodied by the 1994 3DO original, and it's being torn apart by the kind of high speed chase that was a feature of arguably the best instalment since, 2002's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2.
There's a love of the classic Need for Speeds that's apparent as soon as the demo begins – two Lamborghinis play a lethally fast game of cat and mouse, a Murcielago tailed by a Reventon decked out in black and white cop colours and their pursuit taking them through the verdant Pacific Midwestern roads of the fictional Seacrest County, lined with big firs under a clean blue sky. Criterion, master of the arcade racer as attested by the Burnout games, have been given the keys to EA's series, and the results are incredible – an artful blend of the old and the new, it manages to acknowledge Need for Speed's glorious past while mixing in an inspired level of connectivity.
If last year's Need for Speed: Shift rekindled the long-running racing franchise, then Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a full-on resurrection.