Customer Reviews

Need For Speed: High Stakes

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

before the need for speed series, i wasn't a fan of computer racing games. after getting nfs 3 i became a fan big time. need for speed 4: high stakes takes the title further into greatness by improving already amazing graphics. in fact, if you're not careful, you'll crash 'cause you'll be more focused on the scenery than the road ahead of you. try playing with the weather effects on for an even more beautiful game. the music and general sound effects are great too. controls are as easy as using the arrrow keys. the number of available cars is great, but some aren't available until your beat certain courses (same goes for some levels). you can't go wrong with this one, and if you have a home lan, you'll love the multiplayer option (which works over the internet as well).

As an avid driving sim gamer, I love the NFS series. The latest in this series, High Stakes, has great tracks, good special effects, and a killer Hot Pursuit mode that lets you chase or be chased. But, I have to say, the cars could look better. I guess I have been spoiled by Need for Speed 3. Don't get me wrong, any of the NFS games are better than any sim out there, but I still find myself playing NFS3 more than this one.

As with 3, you can download cars, or even build your own! And a great plus about High Stakes is that all the tracks that are in 3, are in this game. All in all, it's still a must have!

I don't know what the problem is for the other people. I have a 266 Mhz PII w/64 Megs of RAM and a Voodoo 2 12 MB graphics card. The thing runs great. The framerates are excellent at 640x480. If I run it in 1024X768 then it gets choppy if it is raining or snowing. Nothing new there. Too much oversteer on the cars? I don't think so. I have slid my real car on dry pavement and it's about the same. ('98 Contour ... (0.82 G skidpad)) I personally think the game kicks some butt. I think that there is a hardware compatibility problem for the other people. You need the most up to date glide drivers you can get. Just an opinion. By the way, I have NFS1,2, and 3, so this is old news for me. You have to have a proportional input device for steering or you will do very poor, however, you can use the keyboard for the accelerator. (you just have to be more careful, because it's either on or off)

This game is incredible! The car selection is fantastic, especially when you tap into the endless supply of "aftermarket" cars on the internet. Driving physics are almost perfect. The many types of game play will keep you busy for weeks and weeks. You'll never get bored with this game. The ONLY flaw is it's almost impossible to drive in the dark. Forget the headlights. You'll do better by just turning them off or following one of the computer-controlled cars (who aren't affected by this phenomenon of course). This is a must have for any driving sim fan.

I hesitated to purchase this title because of the previous poor review. I am truly sorry because this game "ROCKS!" The opponents have personalities and adaptable driving styles. They actually try to cut you off and try to prevent you from passing. Heads turn to look at you and the smooth framerate pulls you into the action. The graphics are fantastic and the sheer inventory of cars to choose from is amazing. Gameplay is enjoyable and the ability to race against your opponent and win his car makes this the my racing sim of choice. Many times I have found myself blurting out the words "YOU ARE WALKING HOM FROM THIS ONE" after entering the final stretch of "High Stakes." Running on a PIII450 with 192MB RAM, 7200rpm ATA66, Voodoo3 3000, soundblaster live at 1024x768 using an MS Sidewinder there are no hesitations or "cyberburps" in any way. I have not encountered any problems except understeering conditions which since I have never really driven the cars in question, cannot be contributed to the game. The incorporation of the previous tracks along with the new will please the veteran NFS fan as well as challenge them...they only picked the tricky ones. I was lucky to pick this game up for $14.88 in the markdown bin and would have paid more if I had driven a demo prior to release. This game is a must have if you have the hardware to fully enjoy it and if not, it will look okay but must be run at lower resolutions.

What do I look for in a car game? Speed, room for error, exhilaration and cars - lots of them. There have been many great Driving games this year but the one that really does put you back in your seat is NFS RC. The tracks and cars are radiant and the different modes of play give enough lasting appeal. Career mode and car damage are improvements over NFS3 but there could have been more tracks buts thats being picky. Want a laugh? Midtown madness. Want Rally? Colin Mcrae. Want Touring? Toca 2. If ever you need to get in your Ferrari on a Sunday afternoon and go 200Mph down a county lane you wont find a better sim then this. Adrenalin rush for the fastest drive of your life.

This is one game every car or car game fan should have. The car selection is excellent, and is even further enhanced by the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR and the McLaren F1 GT-R. This game is the sequel to three other games [The Need For Speed, Need For Speed II, Need Speed III: Hot Pursuit, (all of which are great games, and they may cost less money if you buy them)]. If you aren't a fan of exotic cars pushing to extreme levels in beautiful places (My favorite is Dolphin Cove), then don't put out money for it. If you do, then make sure you buy it right here.

I'm not sure if it was my computer, but the graphics in this simualtion were terrible. I wasted my money. There is no comparison between this one and "Midtown Madness".

I had read that sometimes it does not work if you have any version of Windows after XP. Apparently its true. If you are running Vista or Windows 7, it WILL NOT RUN. I use to love playing this game. Now I have a game that I can't even play because my system is "Too new".

This game has lots of modes like Career Play (buy cars and pay for the damage), Hot Pursuit (runaway from the cops or become a cop and chase speeders), Knockout & Tournament. You can race a Ferrari, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Porsche, Chevrolet, BMW, Jaguar, Pontiac even a McLaren. Plus you can download cars from needforspeed.com. Yet the game lacks graphical inprovement from Need For Speed III: Hot Pusuit (some tracks tend to be dark and gloomy). Some features are: you can listen to music from your own CDs, night racing & race a friend on the same machine.