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Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Review - PS2

20th January 2003 by
78%
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There's only one thing bad about having a powerful sports car, and that is cops trying to spoil your fun with something called "road laws". While unfortunately I don't have the former, the latter somehow still manages to haunt me. Electronic Arts obviously realised this obvious contradiction in driving terms, and hence the Need For Speed series was born, allowing you to race the world's most famous sportscars and outwit the police in the privacy of your own home.

Each Need For Speed game has offered exotic cars, arcade style road racing, detailed tracks, and fast speed, all packaged in an rather slick feel. Each brings that extra 20% over the previous incarnation – just enough to make you think "is this really worth buying over the last?". Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is no different, continuing the series by building on the strengths of the former NFS:HP, while offering just enough new features to keep fans coming back for more.

While I remember there were many detractors for the original NFS:HP on the original Playstation, personally it was one game I did find myself coming back to many times due to it's very accessible gameplay and pure arcade fun. It never was too realistic, the handling of each of the cars was "optimistic" at best, but it had some good graphics (for the era), fairly unique gameplay modes, was fairly entertaining and was enough to keep me coming back again and again. NFS:HP was also an interesting spin on the series, in that while offering the normal racing modes, you could also play as the cops and this time try your hand at the other side of the law.

While it's been a long wait, EA has finally brought the series to the current generation. As the title would suggest, it's more of a revision to the series than a totally new game, giving Playstation2 owners a chance to play the game with revised graphics, tracks, a slightly different game mode and the latest cars.

Gameplay

One of the things that has always carried the Need For Speed series in my opinion was the fact that while the driving aspects were never realistic, NFS offered what Gran Tourismo could never offer: the exotic Eeuropean cars such as Ferrari, Lambogini, Porsche and the like, and the ability to race them on the road at breakneck speeds. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is no different, allowing you to play 21 of the world's hottest road cars:

  • Aston Martin Vanquish
  • BMW M5
  • BMW M3
  • Chevy Corvette Z06
  • Dodge Viper GTS
  • Ferrari F50
  • Ford Mustang Cobra
  • Ford TS50
  • Ferrari 360 spider
  • HSV GTS Monaro
  • Jaguar XKR
  • Lambogini Diablo VT6
  • Lambogini Murci