Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

"Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit", released in 1998, was a bright stage in the development of the series and one of those games that set the standards for racing arcades. The energetic gameplay, exciting police chases and impressive tracks made this game unforgettable, repeatedly improving the new (at that time) product.

One of the main advantages of "NFS 3" is its unique mechanics of racing with the police, which significantly added drive and dynamics. Chasing with police cars became the highlight of the game: breaking away from pursuers and avoiding roadblocks was a real challenge and gave adrenaline to every race. Such moments caused special concentration, and each step could decide the outcome of the race.

The visual style of the game looks decent for its time. "NFS 3" presented players with detailed cars that could be viewed in the viewing mode, and beautiful tracks running through picturesque locations. The variety of tracks, from mountain roads to dense forests, created a sense of scale and diversity, allowing you to immerse yourself in each race in a new way.

An impressive selection of cars deserves special attention. "Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit" features a line of elite sports cars such as Lamborghini and Ferrari, which in those days was a real treat for racing car enthusiasts. Each car had unique characteristics, which made choosing a car an important part of preparing for the race and influenced the gameplay.

The gameplay combines a balance between arcade simplicity and a sense of speed. The car controls are simple and intuitive, which allows you to focus on the race, and not on fine-tuning. The mechanics of drift and acceleration are made so that even if you are not used to racing simulators, you can enjoy the process.

Of course, the game is not without some drawbacks. For example, at some points, the physics of driving a car may seem too arcade, and not all cars feel realistic on the track. But for the arcade racing genre, this is more a feature than a problem.

The musical accompaniment in "NFS 3" is another significant advantage of the game. The soundtrack of dynamic electronic compositions and rock successfully emphasizes the tension of racing and adds atmosphere to each race. Music creates a good mood and helps to immerse yourself even more in the atmosphere of the game.

"Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit" is a classic of the racing genre, which has remained relevant years later. She offered players an exciting experience filled with speed, action and beauty. Despite its age, the game still evokes pleasant emotions and memories due to its dynamics, chases and atmospheric design.

7 out of 10.

At a time when gaming was probably at it's best, EA had a lot of projects on their agenda. This was by far their most memorable project. in a time where there's a new NFS instalment every year (and now they seem to be getting worse and worse) It's time we looked back at NFS III: Hot Pursuit and evaluate it Piece by Piece.

First, The single Race. This was supposed to be the main portion of the game, but most of my memories wern't here. You could pick any course, any car (that was available) and just race against 7 other racers.

Second, There was hot pursuit. Now here's where the game gets awesome, cause most people's memories were from here. There was only one other cop chase game around at the time people talked about - Test Drive 5. and that game's Pursuit engine was primitive (All the cop had to do on the road was pass you and the chase was over) here, things got really complicated for the time (the police would radio headquarters, deploy extra units, Roadblocks and spike strips.) and it usually meant you were hauled away in a cop car. this was the best part of the game, by far.

Third, there was the knockout race. This became a staple for NFS games to come. You race against your opponents, and as long as you wern't the last person to cross the line, you were okay. They might take a long time, but they're challenging and fun.

Those were the 3 most memorable parts of the game. Not having internet or any other cool things at the time I didn't do much multiplayer on the game.

Now, the Visuals...For 1998, they were pretty good. Nowadays, it looks really crappy on a Windows XP or a Vista (if you can run it on one) but Empire City still looks intimidating.

The sounds are where the game truly succeeds. I mentioned Before the Techno in the game sucks...I was being a loser. the techno brings the game an element of awesome. but the rock is by far better. Songs like "Little Sweaty Sow" and "Snorkeling Cactus Weasels" will make you headbang and drive over the limit in nanoseconds of hearing them.

The Gameplay? It's great. You've got wild courses to drive over and top speeds to hit. Just be careful to not be such a lead foot, cause a dramatic crash will be unforgiving.

The cars that are available? You've got cars like the Aston martin Db7, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ferrari Spider and Maranello, The Lamborghini Countach and the Diablo, and the Alfa Romeo Schigera, a Prototype that didn't see the light of day, and finally, El Nino, a car that EA made up.

Unfortunately, Ferrari does not Approve of their cars being involved in high speed Police pursuits, so you cannot drive a Ferrari in a Police chase.

Overall, I give this game a 9/10, and i strongly suggest that if you haven't played this before, get a copy somewhere.

This is in the top 2 PSX racing games. (I havent played Driver yet but if it is what I think it will be, it will top NFS III. Few times have I ever had more fun playing a video game than while playing NFS in Hot Pursuit mode. What could be more fun than driving an expensive sports car while eluding the cops? A great game. It will not let you down.

This is probably one of the better driving games for Sony. Once you get the passwords, you get better cars and a lot more tracks. This is also a very good two player game that allows users to race head-to-head in some pretty wicked racing. The game also has a hot pursuit mode where you out run the law in your $200,000 sports car. Try it out.

Simply incredible in almost all its aspects. Need For Speed 3 Hot Pursuit not only makes what made the previous two entries miles better, but also is what i think to be nothing short of the greatest racing game ever made. If racing games had almost always a problem is that you never feel like you are actually in control, with a bit of abuse on oversteering or cars stiff as hell (or extremely drifty in newer NFS), this is not the case in NFS3 however where the cars are very lightweight and feel actually in control. You have 100% control over your car in this game, combined with a superb track design, incredible graphics for the time, interactive soundtrack, intense pursuits and what racing games doesnt do that i really miss, being able to customize your own races, save replays and being able to watch some real info of the cars.

Unfortunately there are a few things that needed to be polished. As perfect as the handling of the game is, it is not as perfect as that of CTR. The walls and rival cars seem to have glue on them, and when you hit one of them it can take a while to get unstuck.

In short, a masterpiece. More games of the genre should aspire to be like this.

I really dont recommend the PS1 version of this game though since it has a lot of minor annoyances...... Just play on PC with modern patch and you will be fine.