Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)

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***Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit*** is a 2010 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by mh:crappygames:Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, iOS, Android, webOS and Windows Phone. A decade later, the remastered version was soon announced for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with crossplay on November 6 with a Nintendo Switch release the next seven days after.

## Why It's A Hot Pursuit

1. This game returns to the **real** roots of the franchise: grand touring in supercars on freeways since *Hot Pursuit 2* (2002), instead of the urban street racing and customization (between *Underground* to *Shift*) that a lot of people believe.
2. Beautiful graphics with beautifully designed Seacrest County. Chameleon engine still looks very impressive as the years go on.
3. The driving model is also very fitting to the environment. Because the map is mostly wide highways, you are constantly going at full speed. And the brake-to-drift physics is extremely easy to learn, making driving in this game very pleasant.
4. This game ditched some of the realism factors that the series previously boasted to make way for more fun factors, which is the main reason this game is so positively received. In fact, the *Burnout* series which Criterion worked on previously also followed this formula except MUCH more exaggerated.
	* The previously mentioned brake-to-drift is one of the key examples of this. This is taken directly from *Burnout* series.
	* Because the combat nature of this game, everyone has a health bar now. While this does adds more fun since you can't blindly smash your car now, there is also artificial difficulties involved where in later events player's car just becomes unreasonably fragile.
	* Also, weapons system adds a lot of spice to the gameplay since both racers and cops can use it, with different weapons on each side. Spikes and EMP are available for both sides. There are also jammer and turbo boost (which gives your car a radical boost) exclusively for racers, and roadblocks and helicopters exclusively for cops. These weapons are very fun to use and requires some strategy, making the game very exciting. However, spikes don't have anything to do with tires anymore. They just slow you down and decrease your health by a certain percentage.
5. Awesome soundtrack, such as "Edge of the Earth" by 30 Seconds to Mars, "Watercolour" by Pendulum and "Stronger" by Lazee ft. Dead By April. Pursuit scores are also amazing.
6. Lots of great cars to drive. Some manufacturers that were rarely/has never featured in *NFS* games before are present such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Carbon Motors, and so on. The Lamborghini Diablo SV from *Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit* returns in this game. (If you have the *Lamborghini Untamed* DLC pack or *Remastered*.)
7. Cop cars has a lot of well designed liveries that adds a ton of variety to the faction, unlike *Rivals* later where cop cars have basically the identical boring look.
8. This game is clearly designed mostly towards multiplayer. Because of the added fun factor mentioned above, multiplayer in this game is very engaging. There are also a lot of multiplayer exclusive game modes and tracks that makes the game even more fun to play.
	* Thanks to the *Remastered* version, online multiplayer can still be alive for even more years to come.
9. The iOS and Android release is very fun for mobile, except for some broken physics and repetitiveness.
10. The recent update for the *Remastered* version brought back the Wrap Editor, which allows players to make custom liveries from their cars with vinyls and decals, potentially recreating liveries of iconic *Need for Speed* cars, like Darius' Audi Le Mans Quattro from *Carbon* or the BMW M3 GTR from *Most Wanted*.

## Bad Qualities

1. By taking Criterion and *Burnout* elements (like brake-to-drift and crash cutscenes) into Need for Speed series, this game unfortunately started the trend of spiritually merging the two series into one, with Most Wanted (2012) being the worst offender by being just a blatant *Burnout Paradise* clone yet is somehow worse than its original counterpart. Although later games tried to get rid of some of them, they never reached the height where the series once was.
2. Some DLC items are overpriced and console exclusive. The SCPD Rebels Pack, which is also a console-exclusive DLC, is finished in the main game and like the previous titles, can be found in PC files (you can use them by modding), yet again **On-Disc DLC**.
	* Thankfully, all the DLC (including the cars that were in the limited edition as well as the one in the Dr Pepper promotion.) are in the *Remastered* version free of charge.
3. The PC version's optimization is mediocre, especially when playing on a low-end computer.
4. Not being a *true* open world (you CAN free roam, but you can only drive around, that's it) is kinda a missed opportunity, yet there isn't too much to explore anyways since the game is not designed for it.
5. The Wii version is just a reskin of *Need for Speed: Nitro* with heavier physics. Because it is never treated seriously, it is **extremely** frustrating to play.
6. Although *Remastered* version makes this game alive for longer, it is a pretty lazy as a remaster and comes with several downsides comparing to the original version.
	* The Carbon Motors E7 Concept, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition, and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss Edition were absent from the Remastered version, possibly due to Carbon Motors who went out of business in 2013 with the car never entering production and Mercedes-Benz having creative differences and not being in good terms with McLaren anymore. The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento took the unlock requirements of the aforementioned SLRs.
	* The Gallardo LP560-4 in original has a real Italian police livery, but since EA lost the license, it now sports an extremely lazy-designed livery that is clearly not in line with the original liveries.
	* Some of the textures in the Remastered version are downgraded.
	* While it is great to have a Wrap Editor, the liveries that the player make themselves cannot be shared online. Plus the presets are lazy-designed generic liveries that don't look good on most cars.
7. There is no manual transmission option in both the original and remaster, which is pretty inexcusable for a Need for Speed game.