Fxfreitas

While the PlayStation version gives one of the most atmospheric racing experiences, the PC version is one of the most fun games to play, even today. This is the second or third most mod able NFS game available and the community worked hard to bring cars, tracks and tools to raise the replay ability of the game to infinity, however even without any mod, this game holds very well. It has better graphics than the PS version; The handling is more like his predecessor (hot pursuit) while I like the realistic PS handling more, I know that this feature can appeal some players. More cars than the original PS if you include the official extra cars made by EA, however Titan and Phantom are absent, as the test drive chopper; More customizable HUD, sadly they are not as good as the PS version, but still work very well, you can select what you wanna see on the screen; Cockpit view made up here without need of cheats unlike the PS version; The cars have clear windows if you put the graphic settings on high (its 2023, who can't run this '99 game on high settings, right?) and you can remove the roof of some cars; All the tracks from hot pursuit come back on this PC version by default, what makes the career less repetitive, but harder sometimes; Unlike the PS version, high stakes mode is part of the career, and you can actually face rivals to get their cars (or lose yours!) pretty much like Most Wanted. The Hot Pursuit mode is expanded on this version, works more like the predecessor system, where you change around police cars on the track trying to arrest all the racers on a single race (the classic grab 1 racer at time from PS is also available), with that feature you can place roadblocks and spike strips easier; Overall the game can give a better experience than the PS1 version, however what this got in features it lacks in the atmosphere of driving a car on a city course, also the HUD and overall progression are just better on the PS1.

This game is the original Hot Pursuit multiplied by 100, one of the best menu soundtracks of all time, good race tracks, hot pursuit mode, solid career and arcade modes. What impress me more about this game is how they paid attention on the details back on PS1 days, you can turn the lights and hazards, car damage affect your performance, and the test drive mode just feels alive (try to crash on traffic, and do a couple laps, there is a chance of barriers being added on the site of the accident), the high stakes mode for 2 players is a great feature, but I think it was better used on the PC version career as a precursor of what we see on Most Wanted.