14 DAY TRIAL // EA's Need for Speed racing game franchise is extremely popular, with millions of fans all over the world, but 2010 was a very special time for them, as the company promised that it had learned from its mistakes and would make up for the exploitation of the series by releasing a great game with the help of Burnout creators Criterion Games.
That is how Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was born, as a back-to-basics approach to what made the racing series stand out over the years: the competition between underground racers and cops on the streets of a fictional county.
Many fans eagerly awaited the title, and, after completing all of the single-player campaigns, spending a lot of time online and challenging friends through the Autolog system, I can safely say that the NFS series is back in a big way and that it is the best racing game of 2010.
While it won't match up to the technical features of runner up Gran Turismo 5, it seriously beats it in terms of fun and thrills.
You can't describe what it's like to escape from the cops with just a sliver of health left and then floor it as you pass over the finish line, or how it's like to use all of the police equipment to take down illegal racers before they escape.
But while that may sound pretty good, Criterion did what it does best, and added a damage system similar to the one in its Burnout series, which adds a whole new scope and allows for some hectic online matches.
Sure, it's not realistic, you don't follow a racing line or buy hundreds of cars, but Hot Pursuit brings the fun back to racing games, without adding a complicated (and cheesy) story or complicated tuning options.
You just select your event, your car, its color, if you're a racer, and just go wild.
It's a great system due to its simplicity, so anyone can just jump in and enjoy tearing up the virtual streets of Seacrest County in some of the most expensive performance cars in the world.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is available for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.