Hot Pursuit Multiplayer

Hot Pursuit

Racers must get to the finish line to win. Cops need to stop them getting there.

By far the best mode of the three available. Simply driving the car perfectly does not always result in a victory. You need to adapt your strategy to what is going on with the other cars, so keeping an eye on the radar is crucial. As a racer it goes without saying that you need to avoid the cops like the plague, attempt to make it more appealing for them to target others racers. Sometimes this mean dropping off the pace a little, especially on long routes, so you can avoid a lot of the action. Also try and avoid unforced errors such as hitting hard obstacles full on and others cars - these will expire some of your precious energy. Working as a team when playing as the cops really pays off, there is nothing more frustrating than when another cop attempts to bag a capture at the expense of the greater good.

Interceptor

One racer versus one cop in a head to head pursuit. The weak link with regards to the online modes, certainly nowhere near the adrenalin rush you get from Hot Pursuit mode. As the racer just try and get out of the radar of the cop. If you are the cop then simply try and take down the racer.

Race

Race the world's most exclusive cars to see who will be the first to the finish line. It would have been nice to see the 'gadgets' enabled as a toggle option for the races, allowing spike traps and road blocks to slow competitors down. Quite simply the fastest car wins.

Car Series in online mode

Sports
Performance
Super
Exotic
Hyper

Location and events

Locations

Grand Ocean Coast
Mission Beach
Carson Ridge Reservoir
Coral Bay
Oakmont Valley
Memorial Valley
Boulder Desert
East Gorge Canyon
Eagle Crest
Fox Lair Pass
Big Timber Forest
Rockingham Point

Events

Cut to the Chase (Grand Ocean Coast)
Ocean Blue (Grand Ocean Coast)
Roadsters Reborn (Grand Ocean Coast)
Future Perfect (Grand Ocean Coast)

Close Call (Carson Ridge Reservoir)
Razor's Edge (Carson Ridge Reservoir)
Spirit of Performance (Carson Ridge Reservoir)
Dark Horse (Carson Ridge Reservoir)

Escape to the Beach (Mission Beach)
Self Preservation (Mission Beach)
Sand Timer (Mission Beach)

Charged Attack (Oakmont Valley)
Highway Battle (Oakmont Valley)
Coast to Coast (Oakmont Valley)

Sun, Sand and Supercars (Boulder Desert)
Hit the Beach (Boulder Desert)
Shock and Awe (Boulder Desert)
Pedal to the Metal (Boulder Desert)

Dust Storm (Memorial Valley)
End of the Line (Memorial Valley)
Porsche Patrol (Memorial Valley)
No Substitute (Memorial Valley)

Untouchable (East Gorge Canyon)
Calm Before the Storm (East Gorge Canyon)
Blacklisted (East Gorge Canyon)

Summit Assault (Eagle Crest)
Complete Control (Eagle Crest)
Snowblind (Eagle Crest)
Tough Justice (Eagle Crest)

Run to the Hills (Fox Lair Pass)
Extreme Truth (Fox Lair Pass)
Into the Fire (Fox Lair Pass)

Midnight Run (Big Timber Forest)
First Offence (Big Timber Forest)

Arms Race (Rockingham Point)
Snake Pit (Rockingham Point)
Fight or Flight (Rockingham Point)
Lakeside Dream (Rockingham Point)

Law and Disorder (Coral Bay)
Slide Show (Coral Bay)

Positives and Negatives

Positives

Hot Pursuit mode is a genuine online masterpiece. Playing as a racer is a complete joy when attempting to outrun, outthink and outmanoeuvre the enemy police vehicles. Although, playing as the cops is extremely good fun as well. Simply driving well does not always win the event, staying out of the way of others and striking at the right time are just as important

• Autolog function keeps track of all your stats when playing the game and links to the Hot Pursuit part of needforspeed.com
• There is an App for the iPhone and iPad that allows you to keep tabs on your stats and compare them to friends
• Easy to find a game on Hot Pursuit
• New cars awarded as you level up
• Real cars used (NOTE - it would be great to have a game that combines the graphical power of Gran Turismo 5 with the playability of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit)
• The game oozes style, having a feel of 'The Fast and Furious' film series
• Superb 'Pick up and play' gameplay, the rapid amount of online races you can get through in a single session compliments the fast, pulse racing experience when playing
• Online is more fun than Gran Turismo 5
• Most Hot Pursuit races don't tend to fizzle out
• The game is very addictive. It has the 'Just one more game' appeal
• Easy to grasp the controls and use of the weapons
• Lots of different routes - around 40
• Once you are out of the race in Hot Pursuit you can spectate other cars - this is a nice feature. When you are the cops you find yourself gripped to the screen willing your remaining team members to catch the racers
• No disconnections experienced

Negatives

£6.80 (800 Microsoft points for Xbox 360 users) for an Online Pass. Buying the game second hand can become expensive if the previous owner has redeemed the code (that is if you wish to race online)

SCPD Rebels Pack, Racer Timesaver Pack, SCPD Timesaver Pack cost £2.72 each (320 Microsoft points each for Xbox 360 users). These give you 7 new cars, all unlocked Racers cars, and all unlocked Cop cars respectively. So £8.16 all in all. Plus if you have a copy of a game that has seen the online code redeemed and want to play online (costing £6.80), this totals £14.96

• Replay function (like GT5) rather than snapshots would have been a lot better. Having replays would really add another level to the online experience
• More than 8 players on Hot Pursuit would have been awesome
• Interceptor mode is the weak link in the modes - there is no real buzz to one on one competition
• Teammates disrupting your good work when you are a cop can be so annoying
• Can be difficult to find a 'race' event where there are the full quota, or near the full quota, of people
• Interceptor mode is difficult to win when you are a cop
• Would have been nice to see the 'weapons' in 'race' mode at least as a toggle on/off option
• Helicopter gadget does not yield enough significant results