PixlBit

Games of the Decade #29/Blog a Day #02

Hello gamers, how are you?

For this game, we are going back towards the start of the decade: 2010. Ah, I remember 2010, it was the beginning of the new decade, and was a fresh start for me due to some stuff that happened in the previous year. More importantly, 2010 was a pretty incredible year for games, I feel like by this point developers have finally gotten a good grasp of the hardware at the time and it showed at the amazing games we got. One game I will be talking about is one of my all-time favorite racing games: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

 

           Music in this game is pretty good so pump up the volume in your car

Here's a little backstory for you: This game came out in 2010, I didn't have a PS3 at the time. Since I finally had a PS3 in late 2010, I now had to acustom myself into buying $60 games, I was so used to paying $50 for a really long time, so I had to be really selective on which games I got at launch and which I had to wait for. However a big perk of being late getting a console of the current generation is all the games you can pick up for the cheap. I picked up this game for $20 brand new back in 2011. Was it worth it? You'll find out.

If you have played any Need for Speed before, then you know what to expect from this one. This one is developed by Criterion Games of the critically acclaimed Burnout games, I suppose their name makes sense in that regard. They brough back NFS back to its roots by making it an arcade racer. Gone are the customization options that NFS Underground brought to the series in favor of a more simpler approach. The only type of customization here is changing the color of your car and perhaps the nitrous boost, and a few other things I'll get to later on.

 

       If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away? Neither would I.

Races consist of playing as a racer and a cop and are divided as such. As a racer, you compete in races that you can select on a map, select your race and you are ready to go. Some races involve just getting to the finish line, completing 3 laps, to pursuits where you have to evade the cops. As a cop, your job is to bust racers to general stuff like answering emergency calls and getting there on time. Some even involve you evading traffic and get deducted points based on how you drive like if you hit a wall or a regular vehicle in traffic. As you race you level up your racer and cop level and this unlocks more races on the map as well as newer, faster cars.

Leveling up also unlocks equipment upgrades for your car like nitrous and stuff like EMP to disrupt other racers and cops and Spike Traps to flatten and spin out your opponents to this Turbo move that allows you to boost insanely fast but you got to be careful not to crash which renders it useless. Cops get spike traps too but they get the option to call in for roadblocks to calling a helicopter for backup. 

There's also an Open World mode where you can just race and explore the map of the game. You see in this game, just like past NFS games, you were confined to the level you were racing in, you couldn't go past the barriers. In this game too, but you have the option to explore the map should you choose with no restrictions nor cops, which is perfect to practice and get to know the map like I do. Or you can admire the gorgeous scenery from the different environments the game has and I will say this is a very pretty looking game from something released in 2010.

Sometimes you don't have enough time to appreciate the scenery in the heat of the moment

The game has online play as well and it was really fun from what I remember, but the online is pretty much dead now. You can still try to see if you can find people to play with but good luck. But I think my absolute favorite feature in this game has to be the then new Autolog feature. This feature tracks your progress in the game and it shows the stats of your friends as well. It even shows when they have beaten one of your times in a race and you can play said race to beat their time and it will notify them too that you beat their time. It also has a screenshot function that you can use to take pics and share them online using the Autolog app but that feature has since been removed.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Glad you asked hypothetical reader. You can play this game on the PS3, 360, or on PC via Steam. If you opt to get it on a console, try going for a new copy. You see during this time, EA decided to add online passes in order to combat used games sales. Each new copy came with a code that you had to enter to even play online, which is as ridiculous as it sounds. Eventually they did away with that absurdity, but I don't know if they have completely abolished the pass from games that included them. As in if it's still in effect now. But ignore the Wii version. Yes there's a Wii version but that was a very different game and wasn't good so don't get that one.

                     It's a little over 10 years old but still a very good looking game

Final Thoughts: When I first got a PS3, I was excited to try out what the "HD Generation" of consoles had to offer. One of the very first games I ever saw in HD was a racing game and it impressed the hell out of me and if that's what I was in for, then consider me excited. It was early in 2011 and I was buying games left and right for $20, a lot of them were recommendations that I had gotten. They were all really impressive and amazing but at the time, the only game genre I had yet to try was racing. I had seen Hot Pursuit during a presentation in E3 2010 and it looked really good so I took a chance on it. 

Honestly one of the best $20 I had ever spent. It was incredible. It had such an amazing sense of speed at the time. It looked gorgeous for its time, it still does too. The gameplay feels so good and the controls for the cars feel so responsive, every car feels different. You always feel in control, something that NFS games didn't have before. The music is good too, but this game had the option to allow for custom soundtracks if you had music on your PS3. Those songs get boring after a while so I changed the music to the Initial D soundtrack and it feels like a completely different game, it fits so well so thank you EA and Criterion for this feature. Cherish it EA because this is the only time I will say thanks.

I have gotten better at this game since that I know every single shortcut and every little detail of the courses to the point where I have beaten all my times by 1-2 minutes with the slowest cars in the game. Now imagine what I can do with the fastest cars? A car is only as good as its driver and it takes said driver to bring out the best of their car. Even the slowest most underpowered car can be the best under the right hands.

I feel like this was the last best NFS game that they ever made, which is a shame too. Everything after this game has been mixed but I am seeing some positive results with Need for Speed: Heat but only time will tell if they can get this series right on track again. The next generation of video games is upon us and we'll see what they can do.

 

    I love drifting this section so much and I can do so without barely touching the analog stick

So that is it for this one, stay tuned for the next blog post which will have game #28. See you again soon...