Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

The game is cool the only thing that i have gripe about is having to pay
to play the game online and this is thru EA

I like that this NFS title has a more realistic driving experience than previous versions. The physics crash engine looks terrific and the cars look more realistic than ever. The only downfall to the game is its lack of balance between playing as a criminal or a cop. As a criminal, I can do 200mph+ in a McLaren F1 and yet the cops can pass me and throw down spike strips. Yet when I play as a cop, I can hit 200mph and barely keep the criminals in my sight. There are a few more imbalances such as this between cop and criminal but not enough to destroy the entertaining game play. I would definitely recommend this title to other racer-game enthusiasts.

Was this game not play tested? The steering is terrible. I swear I'm not mashing down the gas button the whole time. Even at low speeds your car goes across the road when you try to make minor adjustments to your steering. The more expensive a car is the worse it gets. You know a game is bad when a Crown Vic handles better than a Lamborghini Reventon at 80mph. I use to love the Need for Speed games but now they are putting to much effort into making them look pretty and not enough into making them fun games.

If your renting the game, you have to pay EA ten bucks for online multilayer. I know they want to get back some of the revenue from the rental and used game market. On both points. If you don't want Game Stop making all the money on used games than make more quality games like Mass Effect 2 and people won't want to sell them back to the store. If you make quality games as well as Mass Effect 2, people like us that rent form Game Fly will buy the game if it's that good after we rent it! The reason Game Fly is so successful is that there is to much cheap junk like Need for Speed Hot Pursuit on the Market or a game might be good to play though once or twice but not much replay value beyond that. All the gaming industry has to do to kill the used market and put game fly out of business is make fun games, that have replay value, and don't treat people that rent your games like criminals. Build a reputation for making good games again and I'll start buying games without renting them first.

Until then make mine Game Fly! If I can't play your game full online multilayer as a rental first, I will not buy your game!

From what I understood you were supoosed to be either a bad --- racer or hard case police officier but all I find my self doing is time trials or rapid response races where you are racing against a clock, if I wanted a game like that I wouldnt have traded Shift. I have owned every Need For Speed since way back in the 90's and this as been the far worst one I've ever owned. It has its fun parts when you can be the cop and bust racers or be the racer and out run the cop but those events are few and far between. The racer time trials aren't that bad just to many of them, the rapid response cop races suck, you get a two seconds penalty for hitting a wall and three seconds for hitting traffic (which traffic doesnt even come close to avoiding a collision with or without sirens and lights), I find more and more I will be drifting around a corner and find traffic in both lanes and no where to go or be on a narrow straight and have traffic in both lanes with no choice but to graze a wall. Also the AI cars seem to defy the laws of physics it seems no matter how hard you slam into them you can barely move them, yet your car is more realistic and goes flying when you get hit. The game needs a story line like the past, if they didnt have enough room on one disk maybe they shouldve done a racer disk and a cop disk. I am not sure if I plan to finish this game the time races are so boring and frustrating, I will probably trade it in for something else. I feel very dissappointed I pre-ordered this game and had very high hopes. The creaters failed to deliever

wow ea you have got to be joking. Why rob people of hard earned cash so they can go online and pay to play the game they just bought and or rented ? What a scummy move thanks but I wont be buying this game after I rent it. the game is a FAIL. plus no 2 player splitscreen lame. EA equals scrubs. Im a huge NFS fan but this game seriously disappointed me.

FAIL for having no split screen.
FAIL for having to pay to play online.
FAIL for the soundtrack.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit strikes a nice balance between sillier "kart" games such as Mario Kart and Blur, and the super-detailed world of Gran Turismo. No purple energy missiles, no need to constantly tweak your car - just being the law, or running from it.

The single player gives you two career paths - cop and racer. Each has its own level progression, with new cars and better equipment being unlocked as you get further in. Racer missions are either races against other cars, or "hot pursuits" where you're up against other racers while all of you run from the police. Cop missions include timed "rapid response" levels, one-on-one pursuits, and one-against-many hot pursuits where you're tasked with taking down multiple racers.

The multiplayer is where the game shines; 8-player races for those who just want head to head competition in superb cars, interceptor missions where two players alternate cop and racer roles, and hot pursuit, where teams of up to 4 a side alternate roles as cops and racers. Cops have to bust all racers to win, whereas only one racer has to finish for the team to win, but racers also compete amongst themselves for 1st place (and more points.)

There are some minor problems with the game; crashing a racer sometimes causes them to spawn away from you, and make it harder to pursue or bust them. And very often, civilain traffic gets in the way. But despite the occassional frustrations, it's a wonderfully fun game to play.

this game shouldve never been though about. it is the sorriest of all the NFS games ive ever played from the first one all the way to date.

I found that the new NFS was not very fun at all, and that's what games should be: FUN.
First of all, the graphics were not that great. You got some cool cars, however there was no customization. Second: the cars handled terribly. Trying to turn my car resulted in little more than a 5 degree turn, and hitting the handbrake for more than a tap resulted in my car spinning out of control and ending up backwards on the track. The only thing I can say that was cool about the game, was the information they had gathered on the cars. It was interesting to learn about the different cars, their engines, and make and model, ect.
To wrap it up: The game was just not fun for me.

I don't usually write reviews because I believe most people only write them to gripe, which is why there are so many negative ones out there. But, this game honestly warranted a griping about, so here goes.

I am a fan of the Need for Speed games but this thing really bummed me out. Most of the courses are recycled from older versions.. some only in part, but still couldn't you come up with brand new material?

The thing that totally bummed me out, was the driving though. It has the worst driving game play of the Need for Speed games. You feel like you're hydroplaning the WHOLE TIME! There is too much focus on the drift.. not enough on actual driving. All the cars handle pretty much the same. No allowance for 4WD, RWD, or FWD they just all drive the same, with no differentiation. Also, there is no way a Lambourghini Gallardo with superior horsepower and handling should not only have better handling than A Ford GT, but with superior horsepower, it shouldn't go through the shortcuts (which is ABSOLUTELY necessary if you want to pass a level) and have the Ford still in it's rear view mirror when it gets back to the course and get passed at will.

Also, for a game named Hot pursuit, there are too many time trials and speed laps that you do solo.. no cops one way or the other. I am just thoroughly bummed with this game.

I'm a big Need For Speed fan. There's no avoiding it. I played the original Hot Pursuit, and loved it! :D
Carbon was fantastic, and Pro Street was as real as it could get.

This one, however, was awful in comparison. Turning felt unrealistic, and unresponsive, or even overresponsive at times. It just didn't feel like a racing game.

I know the point wasn't necessarily racing, but more or less using a cruiser to hit a car multiple times (or in vice versa, running from the police). This was a pretty interesting take on the gameplay, albeit it needs tweaking. If you do a pit manuever on a car...what do you expect it to do? Spin out of control like it does on TV, and in that "real life" thing?

Right. But it doesn't in the game. It's like the cars on constantly anchored to the ground. I heavily despise this and it takes away from gameplay.

Not worth recommending. Sorry NFS devs :/
Better luck next time.

I was excited to play this game but when I did I was let down. Although there are a lot of cars to race with and a lot of different courses, it all kind of seems the same. The worst part is that the controls are not smooth and the camera angles seem really out bland and last generation. There really isn't anything exceptional about this title. I kind of wish I never played this game.

This is by far the worst game i have ever played in my whole life i was so happy to finally play a new game in 2 weeks right when i turn the game on and played through a lot of the levels i understood this is the most mind annoying game in the world so i recommend don't get this game!

This game was so bad that it went back into the mail box 2 hours after I got it. The steering was horrific, the missions were unbearable. You pretty much just do missions to get cars so you can get more missions to get more cars and missions. Its ridiculous, there is no story like in need for speed most wanted and also no customization. The fact you need to pay to play their poor quality game online is also stupid. With most games that I hate I will stay around to get some achievements but I didn't this time around because it was just that bad. I wouldn't recommend even RENTING this game let alone buying it, try harder next time EA.
1 out of 10.

Like many, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for this game to arrive from my que, especially considering the many high review scores the game has recieved from critics. However, once I started playing, two things instantly turned me off:
1) EA's stupid 'Online Pass' that basically makes people register/pay for things they used to get for free
2) An advertisement before the game starts for NSF Shift 2. Why make the new release game I just got feel like old news already?

To give credit to Hot Pursuit, the actual "Hot Pursuit" mode is really fun. The ridiculous scenario of Lamborghini cop cars taking law-breakers down by ramming them at 190mph is simple boyhood fun. But unfortunately, the Rapid Response, Interceptor, and Preview modes that take up 70% of the cop side of the game are not fun; mostly just annoying to get through.

Another issue that detracts from the amount f fun to be had is that there is little sense of real "speed" in this game. Other racing games accomplish the illusion that you are traveling at extremely high velocities even when you are sitting in your bedroom at standstill. In NFS HP, it is clear that you are just sitting in your bedroom, and the car on the screen is actually not moving, regardless of what the speedometer says.

I think the lack of speed illusion stems from the fact that there is hardly any acceleration in the game: races begin at a rolling start. Let's say you start out at 140; even if you get to 190, you have only accelerated 50mph over the course of the race. Not thrilling compared to other titles where getting from 0 to top speed is half the fun.

I have been playing the NFS series for many years now and I was looking forward to this one since it was announced. I was disappointed and it fell short of some of the previous titles like NFS: Most Wanted. It had potential to be a great game.

Career mode: Racer or Law
I enjoyed the concept of playing the role of a law enforment officer, especially with the additional tools you have access to but both modes got pretty repetive to me really quick, especially once I familarized myself with the maps.

Controls:
The controls for me were too loose. At first I thought it was the controller I was using but I received the same loose response on 3 other controllers. This made it very difficult to avoid vehicles or objects in high speeds and controlling some of the more powerful and fast exotics.

Opening credits:
Be prepared to watch videos of an upcoming game and information about the game that you can not skip. I wish EA would have considered a skip function for those of us that played the demo because I just wanted to get in and play. I have my profile saved on a USB memory stick because I play between 2 XBOX 360s and I had to watch them over again, even though my starting point was where I left off on the other system.

Online:
EA's Online Pass is not included in the rental (you do get a 48 hour pass).

Online Multiplayer:
This is why I gave it a 7 instead of 4-5. The modes are entertaining and I spent a much longer time online than the game itself. I'm not one that says that every game should have an online mode to it. I believe that there should be a balance but this one tips in favor of the online play.

ok well this may qualify as a spoiler but ya u cant play online but 2 days...and then if u want to play more online u have to pay. This new system for playing online will surely make my gamefly account go into the gutter...only reason i rent games is to play online really and if I have to start paying to play online for a game im just renting well thats ridiculous. I fear now thats its been done every game will try to make more money like they do with DLC packs but now DLC packs AND online. How greedy can people get...i'll change my hobby before i start having to pay this much just to play a game online for a few hours a couple days a week....idiotic of gamefly not to mention this before u wait x amount of days to recieve it, u guys should counter this somehow or im done and hope others follow.

BIGGEST pet peeve ever. Let me skip the lame cinematics. I know the cinematics are 99% of the game in this case but I really could not care less about the specs on a car that drives the same as every other car. Why does restarted the same track in the same car take a good 15 seconds? I am sure I watched more videos then actually played.

Every car has just about the same challenge of catching the criminals in the police pursuit. The helicopters have about a 5% chance of working. The biggest problem is the AI. There is no real AI in this game. You have just about 2% chance of stopping the vehicle without destroying it. I even tried blocking in a Z06 and the game reset the car in the middle of the road going 200 mph. This game is for your 4 year old who doesnt care what happens on the screen. Good reminder of why I stopped buying games in the NSF brand title.

If you have played a NSF game then you have played this one. Just think of the game you played in arcade mode.

To play this game online you must buy a 10 dollar "pass" from EA even if you are an xbox live gold member. This should be illegal. We pay for online through xbox live and now EA wants to charge us even more!

The game is fun, but options are at a minimum. You cant even customize your cars. The physics in this game are from a 5year old, idont care who you are, you cant whip a lambo around a 90 degree turn at 130mph. The speed is over exagerrated it'll say 100mph when your actually moving at 40mph. The game is flashy and fun, but the reality is dulled like cartoons, which is why its for kids. If you're a man, try Forza 3.

I love racing game. I prefer racing simulators but with a street feel. In. the past, I've bought several NFS games and loved them. However, this game has fallen short.

For the sake of tl;dr ....here is a list of what I saw.

-Absolutely NO customization option for your vehicles. The cars are pre-made.

-Absolutely NO realism to the driving aspect of the game. Every turn requires drifting. Drifting has been dumbed down that any can do it perfectly first try and apply's no sense of skill.

-Since the cars are pre-made, everyone (online) masses the same car. (for example: the 370z is best in its class... so everyone is driving the 370z)

-(online) both racers and cops are given "weapons" to use against each other. However, there the same weapons. The cops have spike strips and emps.... the racers have spike strips and emps...Wut? What street racers has spike strips and emps??

All in all this game provided about 1 hour of fun... and that was including the 2 min advertisement YOU ARE FORCED to watch at the beginning.

Only rent this game if you wandered what mario kart would be with a Bugatti.

Okay, so first thing first. The developer has changed to Criterion Games, the makers of Burnout.

Before I go into specifics, here are my breakdowns.
Graphics: 10
Gameplay: 9
Sound: 10
Music: 3
Multiplayer: 6

Graphics: By far the best I've seen in ANY game. Realistic looking cars, locations, explosions, even the freaking cracks on the road.
Gameplay: Great for both sides of the law, except the pesky Rapid Response ones, which are annoying in my opinion.
Sound: Realistic, fluent sound effects.
Music: Mostly garbage. The best song is Edge of the Earth, the game's theme song. All the others are meh, or horrible.
Multiplayer: Basic Hot Pursuit, Interceptor, and Race gamemodes. These are well enough designed (I wish we could have weapons in race like we do everywhere else), but the lack of variety of modes and no voting system on events keeps it down.

Overall: Don't even rent this game. Grab your wallet, your keys, and go to Gamestop. Now. If you buy the game while the store is still on their first shipment, you will get the limited edition for the price of the regular one. This just adds a few cars.

I first want to say that NFS:Hot Pursuit is a well-balanced game from the Single player to the Multiplayer. The single palyer introduces youchoosing the role of playing as ethier a racer or a cop.

Single-Player:

Racer: You are mostly in for a lot of racers with other CPU cars taht are very equal and balanced in terms of AI driving or you will be invited to test out exotic cars that go over 200 MPH and will have to make it to a finish line within a certain amount of time.

Cops: For cops you get the choice of ethier busting racer with the use of using unique weapons line Helicopter that drop spikes, Spike Strips, EMP's, or Roadblocks (some of the racers can use these weapons also). Or you can like the racers play a rapid resopnse which is you must act to an emergancy call and try to make it to a finish line with an exotic car(usually).

SinglePlayer also offers a unique system which allows you to show your record on a device called an autolog and it recommend that you try and beat your friends record if yours has been beaten.

In Singleplayer, there are Ranks that go up to 20 for each Racer and Cop.
Overall the singleplayer is a solid hit in my opinion.
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Multiplayer: Multiplayer features one of the funest online expirence i have faced in a while.

Hot Pursuit: Wich is my favorite game mode offers a lobby of 8 and divides 2 groups of 4. 4 Playes being a Cop and 4 Players being a racer. The objective of this game is that the races must cross a certain distance to the finish line without being busted by the cops with the use of weapons like Spike strips, Helicopters, Jammers, Turbo, Roadblacks, and EMP's. Ethier win or lose the game is the most fun with friend that own the game because they offer more of a sense of competition.

Interception: Which is basiaclly a 1 on 1 fight between a Racer and Cop which is pretty similar to the rules of the hot pursuit game mode.

Hot Pursuit is a must Rent.

I'm not someone who goes out and buys every racing game that comes out, but I was a fan of the NFS Hot Pursuit game when it came out for Playstation 1 over 10 years ago. I've played this game for hours at a time at certain points, and I don't get bored of the game. There's some add-ons that are good too, but for me the game itself is definitely worth a rent, for me I thought it was worth buying.

I love how you can race or become a police officer trying to shut down races. It's one of those games where you find yourself 2 inches from the screen before you even realize what you're doing. It's very addictive and the graphics are impressive.

Criterion is the genius developer behind the Burnout series. When I heard that they were to take the reigns on the next Need for Speed title I was no less than ecstatic, even after the flop that was Burnout Paradise. I was hoping that Paradise's habit of taking control of the camera for a more cinematic angle of crashes would have been scrapped since it was mocked by nearly every review I read at the time. Sadly this is not the case. When you are flying down a road in excess of 240 miles per hour, mere seconds from a police roadblock and hairpin turn, having the camera zoom in to show a new officer is entering the battle thus leaving you defenseless to handle the upcoming obstacles is a terrible, terrible idea. Sure, the game may direct your vehicle through the roadblock, I use the word "may" purposefully. I would give it about a 50 percent accuracy rating. All of those split second maneuvers made up until this point, thrown away so the game can be called "pretty." I'm hard pressed to believe that this issue was not brought up during quality control. Well, kudos to whichever of the two is to be deemed the idiots. My money is on EA.