Here comes in to play the much-talked-about Autolog system, which features in the marketing today as much as it did back then. Keeping your foot down, picking the right shortcut, and refilling your boost is the key to posting the fastest times. True to form for Need for Speed, tracks are rather forgiving and invite you to maintain a high speed and slide around every corner. Hearing ‘Opposite of Adults’ by Chiddy Bang was a throwback.Īs far as the gameplay checks out ten years on, it a rather unobtrusive, easily accessible arcade racing game. In itself, it’s a bit of a musical time capsule.

These are all cars designed to go fast, and that’s where the variety ends.Īs far as I could tell, the soundtrack is mostly the same too. Nothing feels like it handles any differently the speed and acceleration sliders are just adjusted here and there. With the Super Sports Pack, Lamborghini Untamed, and Porsche Unleashed, the game’s DLC, now integrated into the main career, expect more than your fair sure of Porsches and Lambos stocked into your garage.ĭisappointingly, they all feel exactly the same to drive, however. With only a handful of exceptions, the roster of cars is mostly the same as they originally were. Of course, with the cops hot on your tail, you’re not likely to be taking in the surroundings. Going back to the original PlayStation 3 version was a shock to the system seeing how far we’ve come since then.Īll the licensed cars look as good as you’d expect these days, but the surrounding environments - which are the same sections of forest, coastline, countryside, or desert on repeat - all seem rather flat and lifeless. As you’d expect from a remaster, the graphical fidelity is hugely improved. Of course, this is a far cry from what I spent hours playing back then. Long time listeners of the Press Start Podcast might remember I played so much of Hot Pursuit 2 on the PlayStation 2 that the pause screen was permanently burnt into the display. Whilst I still dream about a return of the Carbon or Underground subseries - albeit with a new game and not a remaster - the Hot Pursuit games are among my favourites. Perhaps this is more of a pitstop, refueling for bigger and better things ahead.

Solid an arcade racer it may be, it’s worth noting the first remaster in Need for Speed’s history comes on the precipice of the next-generation of consoles. Needless to say, this feels like a bit of a stopgap. Much like last time, they’ve remastered and repackaged the original game, updating the visuals for the current generation of consoles and bundling in additional DLC. Marking the tenth anniversary of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Criterion Games and Stellar Entertainment have once again come together, as they did for Burnout Paradise Remastered back in 2018. It’s hard to believe that 2010 was already a decade ago.

Need for speed hot pursuit multiplayer