Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Multiplayer Racing - Point-and-click hook up via LAN, modem, or serial cable.
• Download Free Cars - Start with 13 of the world's most spirited supercars. Add to your personal showroom from the NFS3 website.
• Race Eight Challenging Tracks - Exotic real-world environments test your skills.
• 13 Licensed Cars - High Performance Coupes: 98 Corvette C5, Aston Martin DB7, Jaguar XK8, Mercedes SL600.
• Racebred Supercars - Jaguar Sport XJR-15, Mercedes CLK GTR. / Italian Exotics - Ferrari 355F1 Spider, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Lamborghini Countach 25th, Lamborghini Diablo SV, Italdesign Scighera. / Pursuit Cars - 98 Corvette C5 · Lamborghini Diablo SV.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001NTSG
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 12, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,644 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #68 in Video Games > PC Games > Racing & Flying
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot Review

I don't usually play racing games on the PC. Either they're pale imitations of the arcade and console racers, or they're boring 50-lap simulations. I mean, why play Need for Speed II and Test Drive 4 on the PC when I can play Super GT in the arcade and Gran Turismo on the PlayStation? For ages, I told friends that the PC had nothing on the arcade, even venerable classics like Daytona and Sega Rally. Well, I think I'm going to be eating crow for the next few weeks... and loving it. Not only is the latest Need for Speed miles ahead of the last NFS game, but it approaches (and dare I say surpasses?), the best of the consoles in terms of sheer fun and speed.

Need for Speed III is a great game. It has an exhilarating sense of speed, clean and beautiful graphics, polished production values, and trackloads of unadulterated fun. In many ways, Need for Speed III has that same addictive quality I found in Quake II, Starcraft, and Heroes of Might and Magic. That's pretty celebrated company, but I don't think it's an unfounded categorization. Need for Speed III has that same "just one more turn or just one more deathmatch" quality that the other games have. And just like in those games, the action in Need for Speed III is so engrossing and rewarding that the next time you come up for air, you'll find that two hours have whizzed by.

While Need for Speed III shares an addictive quality with those games, it has something of its own: pure speed. This game is fast and fun. The frame rate is fast and incredibly clean. I've played my fair share of PC and console racers where the pop-up was horrible, as cliffs and buildings would suddenly appear out of thin air, many seconds after you should have seen them on the horizon. Whether it's the smart track design or the beautiful engine, the bottom line is that I only saw one or two instances of minor pop-up. And multiplayer is as fast and fun as the single-player experience. The sound of your revving engine and the fast frame rate both combined to create the illusion of breakneck speeds, although the replays didn't look quite as fast I would have liked.

Aside from the speed and addictive quality, Need for Speed III has the requisite list of features that marketers like to put on boxes, journalists like to list, and consumers always look for. There are many cars, with subtle differences, and the ability to tweak more than a few car qualities, such as steering speed, aerodynamics, and suspension. And, surprisingly, the tweaks will affect your car noticeably.

In classic Need for Speed fashion, there are more than a dozen supercars to race, including several bonus cars that open up with sustained excellent race results or cheat codes. The range of cars is a fascinating gallery of every car enthusiast's dream vehicles: Corvettes, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Jaguars, Mercedes, and an Italdesign prototype car. There are also roughly ten tracks, including the bonus track, encompassing several different environments and difficulty levels. You'll race through a canyon, snowy mountain caps, urban utopia, and forests. You can race during nighttime and in rain to add further to the track variety. Visibility takes a huge hit in either condition, making races on the harder courses incredibly treacherous. Unfortunately, I didn't experience any noticeable difference in driving under rain; the road didn't appear any slicker and handling was pretty much consistent with perfect weapon. If there was a difference, it was too subtle for me to notice.

The single-player game modes include a single race, knockoff (where you eliminate the last place of each race), tournament (where you race through the entire circuit for points), and hot pursuit. Hot pursuit is EA's answer to all the critics who lamented the loss of the cops in Need for Speed II. You aren't only trying to outrace an opponent, but also escape the pursuing cops. Three tickets, and you're out. Or alternatively, you can play the cop in pursuit. The radio chatter alerting you to the cops' presence and their strategies (pursuit or roadblock) are nice touches.

The graphics in the game are pretty amazing. The reflection on the cars is outstanding, as is the rain, and the leaves and dust that follow in your wake. The lighting is especially impressive during the night and rain races. Best of all, everything, including the up to seven competitors, animating background objects, and your rearview mirror, can be packed on screen with barely a hint of a performance hit (OK, sometimes, it will slow down slightly, but not by much). The production values on the track briefings and the car gallery are also first-rate.

There are a few problems. For one, the dashboard doesn't light up at night, and there are no windshield wipers at your disposal during rain. It's disappointing that there's no damage to your cars. I understand that none of the car companies want to see their poor little vehicles hurt in this game, but what's the excuse for not being able to dent the nonsupercars you crash into? And unlike in the latest Sega arcade racers, the cars in Need for Speed III, while maintaining an effective illusion of high-speed driving, sometimes appear too much like they are gliding on the road rather than actually driving and hugging the road. And why not just open all the regular cars (not the bonus cars) in hot pursuit, knockoff, and tournament mode? Still, it's a testament to the game's addictive fun factor that when I was racing, none of these shortcomings ever bothered me. While the arcades still have the edge in racing games, Need for Speed III goes a long way toward giving PC gamers a real taste of exhilarating arcade speed and action. --Elliott Chin
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Product Description

Drive cool cars and experience the ultimate racing excitement on your PC! Cars include the <b>Aston Martin DB7</b>, Ferrari 550 Maranello, and the Lamborghini Diablo SV, and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need for Speed III, May 14, 2003

By 

Stanley W. Pfister "Fist" (Tukwila, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit (CD-ROM)

This is a great game for the money. Easy to load, easy to navigate, and very addictive game play. Works excellent on the XP platform which has been an issue with me. Keeps ya going back for more, changing options and starting over again and again. I'd recommend into to anyone into casual game play.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Relatively Fun but Too Basic, July 25, 2005

By 

C. Chetty - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit (CD-ROM)

Overview:

As a summary, I think Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit is relatively fun but it should have a lot more realism than it does. It is low in realism especially when concerning graphics.

Cars:

The car selection contains a good variety of driving characteristics including top speed and handling. The cars maneuver realistically.

Locations:

This is where I downgrade the program. The graphics look too simple with few color shades. All of the race tracks seem to follow the same style. There are a lot of cool shortcuts though!

Racing Dramatics:

The dramatics are great in the hot pursuit mode. Otherwise the race is dull. In the regular race modes, there is no concept of getting ahead of behind the AI players. The AI cars never crash. You can either get ahead and stay ahead, or fall way behind. There are not many strategies to keep you ahead.

Pursuit Mode:

The getaway pursuit mode is fun. The AI police are challenging and set roadblocks as well as spike strips that flatten you tires. You cannot work with other police in be cop mode which does not make the chase exciting enough.

Conclusion:

For a conclusion remark, the software is acceptable. It just is not dramatic enough at times. It would be a game to consider buying, but I generally would suggest other games more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Game I Ever Played, April 19, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit (CD-ROM)

Need for Speed 3 is the best game I ever played. It has awesome graphics and great gameplay. In Pursuit mode you can race against others and become "Most Wanted" at the same time. I reccomend this game for everyone. It is truly a fun and thrilling experience.