Need For Speed: High Stakes

Other products by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000038ABK
• Item Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 1, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,745 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation | Edition: Standard

Editorial Review

The Need for Speed series is already established as one of the best racing game series on the PlayStation. Need for Speed: High Stakes continues the tradition in fine style by adding several new elements to the gameplay, and offering a wide variety of tracks and cars.

Where the previous game in the series had you running from the law, this one has you racing for pink slips. Sure, you can still play cops and robbers (this time even playing the role of John Q. Law), but the real fun in this game comes from racing to win so that you can buy a better car. Once equipped with faster wheels, you can hook up with a friend to race for titles in the two-player mode.

High Stakes boasts the best graphics in the series, but they come at a price: slowdown. All too frequently, we found ourselves hitting a wall or an opponent's vehicle because the game stuttered as we drove into a graphics-intensive portion of the track. Good visuals are nice, but they should never come at the expense of gameplay. Still, when else will you get a chance to blow away a buddy's shiny new McLaren F1 in your "lowly" Corvette? --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Fun tracks and a variety of high-performance vehicles
• Playing as the cops can be fun
• Excellent sound effects

Cons:

• Suffers from slowdown too often

GameSpot Review

Need for Speed: High Stakes is a good example of how to do a sequel. It doesn't really mess with the formula of the last game, but adds enough new features and options to keep its fans excited.

For starters, the game is more cohesive than other NFS games. In High Stakes, you must purchase cars before you can drive them in the game's main mode, the tournament mode. There are several different tournaments, each one having different car requirements and track variations. Also, there are special events, which cost money to enter, but frequently have larger payoffs than the tournaments. Some events are geared toward specific cars, while others put you on the open road, complete with traffic. NFS3's knockout mode has been confined to the special events section.

Technically, all the tracks are available for one-player play right at the beginning of the game. However, since each tournament requires a different two or three cars, you'll have to own the proper car to see each of the later tracks. Suffice it to say, you'll be springing for new rides pretty frequently. Placing first in a tournament unlocks the final track of the tourney for two-player and hot pursuit mode use. The track design is fairly varied, and each track can be raced backward, in mirror mode, at night, in the rain, or any combination thereof.

Hot pursuit mode is roughly the same, except you can now drive the police car, much like in the PC version of NFS3. As the cop, you're given a set amount of time to stop ten speeding cars. The first few pull off the road without much of a fight, but the later cars won't pull over unless you smash them into the side of the track, forcing them to stop. You're also given the option to call occasionally for backup, set up a roadblock, or set up a tack strip, which pops the tires of the speeder if he fails to avoid it. There's also a two-player version of hot pursuit, but when you play cop vs. speeder in two-player, the cop is on his own. And without being able to call for assistance, the cop is put at an extreme disadvantage. All the speeder has to do is, well, not stop moving. As the speeder in a two-player match, you simply must remain on the lam until time runs out, so you can just get ahead of the cop, flip around, and drive back the other way. As long as you can play a decent game of chicken, you'll never, ever get caught.

The graphics in High Stakes are better than NFS3's graphics, but the jump isn't terribly dramatic. The lighting effects, including the sparks that fly after most collisions, are the real stars of the visual portion of the game. The tracks do look very, very nice, and there isn't a lot of pop-up, but as time goes on, the blockiness of the game is undeniable. Also, the framerate isn't constant. The game runs very well in the first-person camera angle, and for the most part, it runs fine in the other two angles. But drive through anything more complex than a simple forest road (for instance, a town), and the game starts dropping frames left and right.

NFS:HS has really terrific sound. Most of the music fits the game perfectly, and the sounds of driving (engines, tire squeals, scrapes, and crashes) are all done extremely well. The hot pursuit mode has the bulk of the game's sound, with constant police chatter keeping you aware of The Man's constant vigil. The cops will even speak in their native tongue, which, of course, varies depending on where the course you're driving on is located.

The game controls quite well with the dual shock controller, and those of you still playing driving games with the digital pad will also be satisfied with the game's digital control. That said, it still would have been nice to see EA support Namco's Jogcon controller. The game starts off at a nice, easy pace, but eventually the difficulty becomes pretty unforgiving. The later races force you to drive nearly perfectly to win, and scraping a wall or opposing vehicle can be the difference between first place and third.

The game's main two-player mode is the game's namesake, the high stakes mode. HS is a two-player matchup that pits your cars against the cars of a friend. But you aren't just racing for mere prestige. In HS mode, you'll be racing for pinks. The winner gets the loser's car to race, sell, or just smile at. Some precautions have been taken to deter some cheaters from keeping their cars after losing them (both players' cars are removed from their cards at the beginning of the race), but you can still simply copy your saved game onto another card before putting your garage on the line.

All in all, Need for Speed: High Stakes is a great driving game, but a few of the game's smaller problems keep it from being all that it could be. The inability to call for backup in two-player hot pursuit games is completely unforgivable and keeps the gameplay score from being even higher. The framerate problems and generally pixelated appearance of the game simply show the age of the PlayStation. I, for one, hope the next NFS game appears on a system that can handle a complete graphical overhaul. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Street racing the way it should be., December 11, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

The first Need for Speed, on the 3DO, was an impressive game, but somewhat limited. Throughout the series, EA has expanded the dimensions of the game until now, with the wonderous NFS: High Stakes.

Control in the game is superb. The earliest avaiable cars handle great, but lack the acceleration or top speed of the top-of-the-line cars earned throughout the game. This allows for players to advance their skills while having fun and does not give the game a sharp learning curve; anyone could pick up a controller and have a blast.

The graphics are stunning, especially at night during a thuderstorm. Lightning illuminates the sky and realistically flashes to show off the terrain around you; rain strikes the windshield in the first-person camera angle. The cars have a life-like appeal and suffer real-time damage, adding to the quality of the title. EA did not miss a thing with this title in the graphics department.

Music is more of the usual EA style, with a mix of rock and techno, keeping you aware of the track and focused upon the game. Also, the inclusion of different languages in the pursuit mode, along with the ability to play as police, adds more realism, something gamers are sure to appreciate.

EA has a gold mine with this game, and it is sure to please the racing fan, while being a great game for new-comers to the racing genre.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Gran Turismo?, December 5, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

YES! Even though this game doesn't have 8 million cars, it is better-in my opinion- than Gran Turismo. First off, this game has control, the main part of the game. In here, you don't spin out after turning. It has more modes of play: test drive-where you pick a car and drive around a course once; single race- think about it; Hot pursuit- the main attraction. You can be chased by the cops, or you can lay down the law as a cop. This mode is especially fun when you have two people,one as a cop and one as the felon;tournaments and special events- series' of races where you earn money to buy or upgrade cars, gain access to new tracks, and to unlock special edition cars; high stakes- you and a friend duke it out to see who looses their car and who wins it. Your car is permanently deleted from your memory card when you loose. This game also has wonderful graphics WHILE YOUR RACING.gran turismo only has good graphics during the replayshe soundtrack is also better. On NFS there are 20 songs that you can race to. You can even pick which one you would like to listen to. On gran turismo there are 3 songs. The car upgrades are also very cool. When you upgrade your wheels, they turn from crome to gold. Spoilers and the such are also added to the car, and engine upgrades add pinstripes to your ride. The tracks are international, and look very great.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and better than NFS3, April 28, 2002

By	"palcerion" (Los Gatos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Definately better than Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit. The car control is back into the much better form of Arcade racing which categorized the original Need For Speed which started the whole thing off. The tracks are interesting, taking from many aspects of racing strategies. Shortcuts are minimal, but fun to use and easy to find.

The development of the game requires the player to beat certain challenges in order to unlock more tracks. In addition, the hot pursuit mode requires you playing the cop to pull over the speeders before your time runs out to earn faster police cars. Something I enjoy is the choice of "Local Cops." It's an option under the track select. Depending on where the track is set (Germany, France, Great Brittain etc.) the cops will speak in that language. (Believe me, Electronic Arts makes fun of the British here). It adds to the realism and extras.

Playing as a cop you have the option of calling in for backup, setting a roadblock, or requesting a spike strip (or "stinger" in British). The radio between the HQ and your car is realistic and keeps you well up to date on what's going on in both modes of play.

The cars are your standard array of sports cars using everything from the Jaguar XK8 to the Porsche 911 Turbo, all the way to the McLaren F1 racecar (of the Mercedes GTR, whichever you like better).

The police have become smarter and the cars they drive are directly related to the track and the car you are driving. In America, the cop cars are the standard Caprice, the Corvette, and, of course, the Diablo. Foreign soil has the M5, the Porsche 911 and the Diablo. The cops will radio in for a faster car if they have trouble catching you and will set roadblocks (good ones this time) or lay spike strips to catch you.

What can I say? It's the next one out, and its pulling strong. No complaints.

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