Though
NFSHP2 does an incredible number of things correct, they would all be for naught if they had failed to capture an accurate sense of speed. Of course since this is EA we’re talking about, they’ve captured that feeling of being hurled at 150 mph down a city highway with some truly impressive results. It’s the sense of speed that really makes this game worth playing, going 50 really feels like going 50 and going 100 feels like you’re going 100. All of this is reflected in not only visually, but it also hampers your ability to maneuver at high speeds. This game is just awesome, it doesn’t just look like your hauling some major ass down a highway, it feels like it.
Many of the game’s more interesting facets are unlocked via a system of point accumulation. Though this is nothing new to the genre (
Project Gotham did this as well) it has never been so well executed. While
Gotham’s kudos system basically forced you to go back and replay the tracks to garner a better score,
Hot Pursuit II rewards you for just merely playing the game. This means that every time you hop in for a quick race, decide to square off against a buddy or participate in the tournament modes, you’ll be earning points towards the unlocking of newer and speedier vehicles. You’ll gain points for moving up in positions, running road blocks, outrunning the cops, catching some major air and all sorts of wacky things. There are many ways of earning points, most of which are second nature and occur naturally in the game such as the running of the road blocks. This is definitely the right way to reward people and probably one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Racing in the game is simple and fun thanks to an excellent set of controls. Everything you need is right at your fingertips, left thumbstick for steering, right thumbstick for throttle and brake, R1 for handbrake and viola, you’re set. Each of the vehicles handle very well and do an admirable job of recreating the feel of their real life counterparts, just with some majorly dumbed down physics. You’ll need some excellent controls if you’ll want to maneuver in these high-speed chases and of course, the game delivers with astounding results. This is a fun and easy game that even the most casual of fans can get in to, even my non-gaming friends became hooked to this game. They keep coming over to “borrow things” and end up staying for hours, hooked on this game. It’s that damn fun.
What really ups the fun factor is the set of excellently designed tracks that come packaged with the game. Learning from prior mistakes in the past years, EA has opted to go with tracks that allow for the most speed and the least amount of braking. Sure there are plenty of curves but they’re nothing that a well-time downshift and E-brake motion couldn’t handle. Most of them are long, some of them 10+ miles so you can expect to spend lots of quality time on each one. There are plenty of them too, 30+ variations I believe, an awesome number of unique paths to travel on. This year’s tracks also feature multiple paths, most which will lead to you shaving off a few precious seconds you’re your final time. They’re not true branching paths though as they’ll always lead back to the main course but they’re pretty awesome nonetheless. My favorite has me driving on a dirt road and launching my vehicle off a ramp and through a huge billboard. It’s like something out a cheesy over the top 80’s flick but hey, who said this game was about realism?
Though there are quite a few absurdities in the game (helicopters will fire missiles at you) they always find a way of fitting into the context of the game. If there was ever a game that you should not take seriously, it’s
NFSHP2 and you’ll probably come to this realization right from the start. What you’ll get when you purchase
NFSHP2 is a game that is a pure arcade racer. This means cars that retain their grip on the road even while going 200 mph, vehicles that don’t suffer from stupid oddities such as understeer and gameplay that really wouldn’t be out of place at your local arcade. Don’t come here expecting to read telemetry charts that calculate your front to rear transfer ratios because it just ain’t gonna happen. The name of the game is Speed and if you’re like me, it’ll feel like heaven.
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