Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a rehash of the games that brought the series to the front of the racing game genre. I’m talking about Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, the originals. Electronic Arts (EA) must have put out three or four different titles with minuscule variations in their titles. Due to their popularity, Electronic Arts decided to produce yet another Hot Pursuit (haven’t you seen the commercials?) which, frankly, I was excited to get my hands on.
What do you Expect?
I downloaded Need for Speed Hot Pursuit from the App Store on Christmas Day during Electronic Arts’ $0.99 sale, so my expectations weren’t as high as they would’ve been had it been a $2.99 app, its regular price. The app itself took about 10 minutes to download and install on my 3rd generation iPod Touch, obviously not a dinky app like Doodle Jump (I love that game by the way).
This is what I Got…
A full-blown version of the original with upgraded cars, re-designed interface, motion and touch controls, and graphics that exceeded that of the original Xbox games. There are about 23 different cars to choose from, 15 available for each career (racer and cop) ranging from the Mazda RX-8 to a Pagani Zonda Cinque on the Racer side and the Nissan 370Z Coupe to a Lamborghini Revention on the Cop side (obviously more are available for a small fee). There’s a mini-map in the top right with Nitrous and health bars around it. On the left is the timer, bounty (rewards) earned in the race so far, as well as your goal completion level. You steer the car by tilting your device and activate power-ups, Nitrous, and the brake/hand-brake by touching the screen. The game boasts 3D graphics that would, I’m sure, look a whole lot better on a retina display-enabled device.
The Career
There are two playable careers in the game, cops or racers. Each career consists of 4 levels each with 6 different events. At the beginning of each level is a small display that alludes to increasing difficulty. Each career has 4 different event types that range from straight-up racing to taking out as many racers/cops as possible. By completing each race and performing different moves, you gain bounty which is used to level the driver up (15 in all), unlocking more cars. Before you can move on to another level, with 6 more events, you have to complete each unlocked level up to a 1 star rating.
Multiplayer
It’s there and it’s fun. By syncing up your device with Blue tooth, you can race head-to-head with a pal. You can choose terrain, time of day, and who will be who. The objective is to either knock your opponent’s car to immobility or prevent your opponent from utterly mangling your ride. Either way, you are sure to have a good time.
The Verdict
Playing this game brings back good memories of time spent playing the originals. Electronic Arts has made another carbon-copy that improves on the old just enough to make it worth the $2.99, and definitely the $0.99 I spent, it costs to download. I’ve probably spent 6-8 hours playing the Cop campaign and I still haven’t hit level 15 yet, not to mention I haven’t started the Racer career either. Multiplayer is good for a little while, but the lack of different game types limits its entertainment capacity to 20 minutes. Overall, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is a great game with a low price tag. That’s how we like ‘em, is it not?
5/5
Heck, I enjoyed my time with this little App.
This review is based on the App Store App and was run on a third-generation iPod Touch.
