Need for speed III: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit is a racing game developed by EA Canada and published by EA. The game was released in 1998 for Windows and Playstation. The police plays a big role in this game, because they try to arrest you and your opponent while racing on several tracks.

This game has no storyline, but has several game modes in which you can earn new cars and a new track. These modes are: Single Race, Tournament, Knock-Out and Hot Pursuit. Single Race is self-explanatory. Tournament is championship mode, in which you have to race on eight tracks against seven other racers. In Knock-Out you also have to race on eight tracks, but in this elimination mode the racer who finishes last is eliminated. In Hot Pursuit you can race against one racer, but the main objective is to outrun the police or to arrest six AI racers (Windows version). If you manage to outrun the police for a longer period, they will set up road blocks and spike strips to slow you down.

Tactical aspects of the police pursuits have also been improved since the last game. The police have the ability to deploy roadblocks (which simply consists of lining up police cars across the road) and spike strips (which puncture the tires of a racer's car that runs over the strip, and halts the car). Both tactics present weaknesses, specifically, gaps in the blockade that can be used by a racer to avoid collisions with police cars or tire punctures from a spike strip. The player may also listen to police radio chatter on the pursuits' statuses, revealing the current locations of racers, police cars, as well as roadblocks and spike strips.

It's also possible to play this game split-screen. In split-screen Tournament mode there are only two other racers instead of seven in singleplayer. In Knock-Out there is only one other racer in split-screen, but both players have to finish ahead of the AI racer in order to proceed to the next track. In Hot Pursuit both players can race each other to the finish or one player can be the police and has to arrest the other player (only in the Windows version).

When starting a track, you can change the weather conditions. You can also race in day-or night time, or change the amount of laps you have to race. When playing Hot Pursuit you can get more fines when racing more laps, but when you aren't fined for a long time (let's say four laps on an eight lap race) you're arrested right away when you get caught.

The graphics of this game are, considering that this game is made in 1998, very good. I have only one complaint. When you drive behind an AI racer or police car, it seems that they're floating above the track, since they change driving lanes much faster than you can change lanes.

The sound of this game is okay. The soundtrack playing in a race changes when something happens to you.

I own this game on my Playstation, and I have to say that I had a lot more fun with that version of the game than the Windows version. The difference between these games is that the police talks to you, and not to each other, just like in the Windows version and when they talk to you it's more fun. For example, when you hit a police car he screams (mostly when he crashes) or you can hear him say 'Hey, this is a new paint job' and you don't hear that with the Windows version. However, the graphics of the Windows version are a little bit better. The gameplay itself however, is very funny. It's even more fun when you play it with a friend.