Need for Speed: Road Challenge

"Need for Speed: High Stakes" 1999 leaves me with contradictory impressions. Against the background of its predecessor, "Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit", the game feels like a step back in several key aspects that still pop up in my memory regarding this toy.

The first thing that catches your eye is the graphics, which surprisingly seems worse than in the previous part. While "Hot Pursuit" offered a bright and detailed picture, "High Stakes" looks dimmer and less expressive. Cars and tracks do not have the degree of elaboration that would be expected, and this noticeably spoils the overall impression.

The tracks also do not add points to the game. They seem monotonous, and although at first they can captivate, as you progress it becomes obvious that there is not enough variety. As a result, the races quickly lose their appeal, and the player plunges into the routine of monotonous races.

Driving cars is another point that is disappointing. It does not seem as responsive as we would like, and sometimes there are moments when cars do not obey the intuitive expectations of the player. This aspect is especially felt during difficult turns and maneuvers, where precise control is important.

Overall, "Need for Speed: High Stakes" failed to impress. Not only did she not bring significant innovations to the series, but, in a sense, she lost some of what made the predecessor successful. Although the game has its positive aspects, it remains personally in my memory a passing project.

5 out of 10.

Need For Speed High Stakes is a very interesting but unique experiment. The game which i have owned off and on for several years has always been a go-to time waster for when I'm in the mood to simply have a good cop chase. While I do like NFS Hot Pursuit II High Stakes (HS) offers a more unique twist. Graphics are fair for a PS1 game, and the controls are enjoyable.

Unlike NFS II, NFS HS take a place in several Europe regions, with a few in the United States. When starting the game you will have all cars (Which are all modeled uniquely) unlocked, except for one, but, I don't spoil it! To unlock it, or to simply do more then race for a top time you can enter one of the several tournaments offered in game. While I do admit the tournaments can be harsh, they are rewarding with their prize money, yes there is money in this game, money can be used to upgrade the car with 3 presets or *will* be used after every race to pay for repairs for cosmic damage.

Another notable feature of HS is the full voice acting in the radio chatter, which has been almost common place in hot pursuits. A notable exception to this in HS is being able to change the option to have the police speak in their native languages. For example if your in Germany, you can very well have the police units bark orders in full German, and even the British have their own voices, despite being very annoying to me. On the note of voice acting, the Vehicle specs of every car is fully voiced, just as it is in NFS Hot Pursuit II, one thing to note is there is extra emphasis on the specs, you can sit by for about 2 minutes with the narration going non-stop.

But despite some technical hold backs, and some repetitive gameplay, I highly recommend NFS High Stakes to any NFS fans who are looking for a slightly different take on the franchise.

Cheers,

• Sasha