Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

"Good concept, but the graphics kill this game"

Need for Speed III is a new type of racing game that instead of just playing against others in a race, you actually can be in a pursuit. This means that you try your hardest to stay away from the cops putting it all on the line just to finish the race without getting caught. You can play as fourteen different cars, on eight challenging tracks, racing against friends in a two player mode, by yourself, being chased by the cops, or being a cop.

The fourteen cars in this game are very cool. You can choose from six high performance coupes ranging from a Chevy Corvette to an Italdesign Shighera(awesome car). There are four Italian exotic cars(Lamborghini's and Ferrari's), two race-bred super-cars, and two default pursuit cars. You can also download more cars to add to your collection from different websites.

Tracks are fairly good. Not what I think EA Games is really capable of bringing. EA Games could bring better and more challenging tracks like in NFS 2. There are really no tracks that pop out as me as excellent tracks in this game. They all just provide a mediocre look for this game.

Graphics
Wouldn't you think that as a series gets better, so would the graphics. Not in this case. Compared to Need for Speed 2, these graphics are a lot worse. They are much more primitive, and very blocky. This really makes the game kind of annoying to play. The animation wasn't as good as the previous two games and actually had a small blur when riding. Another flaw in the graphics is that if you skid in the middle of a lap, the next time when you pass it, it won't be there. Another cool feature in Need for Speed III is that the environment can change. One day it can be raining, the next sunny, the next at night.

Sound
Pretty good music...some good tunes in there. The sound effects are pretty accurate. You hear the acceleration, the horn beeping, and the tires screeching. The music and sound help out this gaming experience but don't perfect it though.

Control
The control is almost flawless in this game. There are different ways to control the car. One is simulation mode, the other is arcade mode. Simulation mode is a lot harder and will cause your car to spin out much easier. Arcade mode is a lot easier and is probably more fun.

Fun Factor
This game is almost fun. EA Games acts like this game is so exciting playing against other cars and being chased by cops. But it really isn't that exciting. The chases aren't very realistic either. For example if a cop is chasing you for fifteen minutes and then you get caught you get one ticket, and there's still two more waiting for you before you loose. Otherwise this is a pretty fun game playing any way, but not at all life-like and the graphics don't help this problem either.

Replayability
Well like in just about any racing game, of course you can play it over and still have lots of fun with it. Maybe trying different cars with harder competition, or playing against friends online would bring more challenge. I bought this game for $20 and I think it would have been worth about ten or fifteen. That is of course if you like the game.

Overall
This game is nothing special to me. There is a huge list of racing games I could put above it. This game does have some good sounds, and a great new line of exotic sports cars. The tracks are mediocre, not too exciting but having a few surprises, and the graphics are really quite bad. If you want a new racing game, I would get the earlier games in the Need for Speed series. They are a much better value and are much better games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/30/06