For those of you who have been dying for this game, wait no more…Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 is now available on the Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox.
There are several modes of play which include:
Hot Pursuit where you can be chased by cops or be the cop and give chase.
World Racing mode covers the globe as you compete against computer controlled cars to unlock tracks and cars.
There are tons of cars to choose from, such as Ferrai, Lamborghini Porsche and much more…there are even some fantasy cars which don’t really exist in the real world to unlock.
Need for Speed has always been the mecha of racing games…nothing comes close to the sheer speed and game play modes that EA has to offer in the series. Sure, you can’t soup up your car like in Grand Turismo, but this game isn’t about tuning…it’s about hopping in a fast car and hitting the road.
One of the cool editions to the game is the "Jump Cam" where the game suddenly goes into slow motion and a matrix style rotation occurs around your car as you leap through the air!
Ok, let’s get back to the modes. Inside the main menu there are lots of race types:
Single Race is the classic one time around and see if you can win mode.
Let’s not forget the pant wetting Knockout mode where if you end up last, you will be out of the race.
Free Run is a great way of exploring the track.
The Hot Pursuit mode allows you to be the cop or be chased as I’ve said before…
One of the really cool modes it 2 player split screen…now I am a racing nut case…yes, NUT CASE. If you play this game with a controller, you ought to be shot. Unfortunetly, your options are limited if you only own an Xbox or a Gamecube…the racing wheels are not out yet! There are two amazing wheels for the PS2 already, both have force feed back which is supported in the game. Force Feedback wheels actually fight back when you are making a turn, just like a real car.
There are various difficulty levels in every mode, so if you find you are always in 1st place…you can crank up the aggressiveness of the racers or police. You DO NOT want to mess with the cops in the higher levels, you’ll see helicopters dropping bombs…you heard that, bombs. This is besides the crazy roadblocks and spike strips!
Now it is time to rant, EA…are you listening…what happened to the 2 player cop mode? EA has removed the mode completely, you BOTH can not be police cars and hunt down CPU racers like in Need for speed Hot pursuit 1. This was THE best mode in Hot Pursuit, you and a friend could hunt down and team up against racing cars. Frankly…EA just took it out. You can now only give case to your friend…not as fun as both being police. This game was near perfect until I noticed this mode missing…well I’m docking points for this!
There are differences between the 3 different consoles…you’ll notice a few lighting effects missing from the Gamecube and Xbox versions. Let’s say you own all three consoles, I’d buy the PS2 one…this is because of the slightly better graphics and the MOST important is the steering wheel’s from Logitech and Madcatz.
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