When it comes down to classic racing games that stood out during the first half of the 10’s decade one of the many titles that come to mind is Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. As many people know the Need For Speed series has been around since ’94; since then arguably some of the best installments within the entire series has come within the 10’s decade. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit was developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts and was ported for multiple game systems since its initial release back in November 2010. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit was about two years removed from the release of the critically acclaimed Burnout Paradise title which was released in 2008. NFS: Hot Pursuit was often described by critics as a fun racing title since there was so much to do in single-player and multiplayer game modes. One of the few cons of NFS: Hot Pursuit was the fact that it lacked split screen co-op gameplay. That lack of split screen co-op gameplay was also considered to be a negative for Burnout Paradise; but the pros for NFS: Hot Pursuit outweighed the cons overall.
While NFS: Hot Pursuit had an online multiplayer mode that could feature up to eight players that was not the case as far as local gameplay was concerned. However the mid 00’s along with a majority of the 10’s decade was a time period where online multiplayer gameplay in general was very popular. The setting for NFS: Hot Pursuit known as Seacrest City had a nice touch to it since it was based off of real-life western states in America such as Washington, Oregon and California. The open world driving space within Seacrest City was more than triple the size than that of Burnout Paradise. Along with visual improvement from Burnout Paradise and online multiplayer gameplay NFS: Hot Pursuit had a Career Mode that allowed players to take on the role as a cop or an illegal street racer. Players could unlock performance tiers and vehicles by competing in events within career mode while being able to switch roles anytime throughout the game.
There were various event types that players could participate including Arms Race, Gauntlet, Duel, Interceptor, Most Wanted, Race, Preview and Rapid Response; with five different tiers of vehicles to choose from. While the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of NFS: Hot Pursuit were similar the Wii version looked more like Need For Speed: Nitro from 2009. Unlike, the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of NFS: Hot Pursuit the Wii version did not have the online multiplayer gameplay experience which made that particular port less desirable in general. The Career Mode for the Wii version of NFS: Hot Pursuit was also completely different; players had to compete in four different super tournaments with a Boss Race at the end of each. The Wii version of NFS: Hot Pursuit also allowed purchase multiple classes of cars with bounty while players a wide variety of customization options. The remastered version of NFS: Hot Pursuit was released in the fourth quarter of 2020 and is considered to be even better than the original game from 2010. As a racing game NFS: Hot Pursuit is an exciting game casual gamers and those who are huge fans of the genre itself. NFS: Hot Pursuit would also be within the top five of many people’s list as far as best game within the Need For Speed series is concerned.
Gaming Hearts Collection 