Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

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Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Developer(s)	EA Canada
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	Need for Speed
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows:[1] US September 27, 1998 JP June 18, 1998 EU September 27, 1998 AU n/a PlayStation:[2] US March 25, 1998 JP March 25, 1998 EU Late March, 1998 AU n/a
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player and multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (E)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (also known as Over Drivin' III: Hot Pursuit in Japan) is a 1998 racing video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third major title in the Need for Speed series, significantly returning police pursuits as a major part of gameplay. Hot Pursuit remains focused in racing using exotic sports cars, but features races that primarily take place in locations within North America, including varied settings and climates. In addition, police AI is significantly improved over its predecessor, utilizing several tactics to stop both the player and opponent.

The game title's suffix, "hot pursuit," is a term for a police pursuit.

[edit] Gameplay

With police pursuits reintegrated into the game, Hot Pursuit's gameplay now consists of two categories. The first encompasses standard racing, as it has been in its predecessors, The Need for Speed and Need for Speed II, in which the player is allowed to race against one (including split-screen races) or seven other racers in normal circuit racers, knockouts, or tournaments (which allow the player to unlock bonus vehicles and a bonus track). The second category is dubbed the "Hot Pursuit," where police pursuits are included in races; the mode allows the player to select a standard sports car to race against a single opponent in a police-scattered track, or select a police variation of a sports car to pursue and stop all six racers before they complete their race. Completing both Hot Pursuit challenges in every track of the game unlocks additional police sports cars.

[edit] Pursuit system

The player in the midst of a race filled with patrolling and pursuing police officers. (PC version)

Hot Pursuit's pursuit system significantly improved in terms of AI and police tactics over the first Need for Speed. The game now requires that the racer only stop near a pursuing police car to be ticketed or arrested by a police, as opposed to being overtaken by a police car, forcing the racer to pull over for the same punishments. Accordingly, police cars are now programmed with the ability to block a racer's car in an attempt to halt the racer's car. In addition, whereas the original Need for Speed would only have a single police car chasing a racer in each pursuit, Hot Pursuit allows more police cars to pursue a racer, opening up the opportunity for them to collectively stop the racer's car.

Tactical aspects of the police pursuits have also been improved. The police have the ability to deploy roadblocks (which simply consists of lining up police cars across the road) and spike strips (which puncture the tires of a racer's car than runs over the strip, and halts the car). Both tactics present weaknesses, specifically, gaps in the blockade that can be used by a racer to avoid collisions with police cars or tire punctures from a spike strip. The player may also listen to police radio chatter on the pursuits' statuses, revealing to them the current locations of racers, police cars, as well as roadblocks and spike strips. The radio chatter also reveal reactions to specific events, such as a racer's collision with a parked police car, as well as referencing the racer's passing speed and the occurrence of the race itself ("It looks like the cars are racing!").

Each track setting features unique police cars, including three sedan-based squad cars and a jeep. In addition to standard police cars, a handful of Chevrolet Corvette C5-based police cars are also included in each track, more equipped to engage in high-speed pursuits and capable of outperforming normal police cars.

[edit] Cars

Hot Pursuit's support for addition vehicles means that official or user-made vehicles, such as the pictured Ferrari 456M GT, can easily be made available in the game by simply moving relevant files into a designated folder.

As is The Need for Speed, all cars are divided into classes "A", "B" and "C", based on vehicle performance. The list of cars included in Need for Speed III consists of luxury sports cars, ranging from street-legal models to racing models. While Ferrari and Mercedes models are included in game, it is interesting to note they are not available in police pursuit modes. The game includes three police cars based on three of the game's existing sports cars.

Different versions of Hot Pursuit feature different sets of cars, and the PC version of the game, for the first time, permits the inclusion of additional cars, which includes four official models, and many more created by the modding community. Official cars featured in the game include the following:

[edit] Tracks

The player as a police unit, attempting to arrest the remaining two racers. The pictured track is Lost Canyons, driven backwards and set in the evening. The illustrated route is also shared with the Redrock Ridge track. (PC version)

A total of nine tracks (including one bonus track) are featured in Hot Pursuit, all of which are set in varied locations in the United States, are circuits and may be populated by traffic. As is before, all tracks present the players with varying degrees of difficulties, and may be set to be mirrored and/or reversed, with additional shortcuts and alternate routes present. Hot Pursuit introduces the ability to toggle weather and nighttime,^[1] with each combination of these conditions presenting the track in different atmospheres and challenges to the player (in particular, visibility in the dark and handling on slippery roads). Movable props introduced in Need for Speed II were foregone, leaving only planked props (i.e. road signs and fencing) that can be knocked down by racers.

A relatively new arrangement in Hot Pursuit is the use of one location for two tracks. This is made possible by including a route to be shared by the two tracks (including the starting and finishing line) that would connect to junctions leading in and out of each of the track's unique route, while the other route is closed. Each of the two tracks are presented in different times of the day (daytime or evening), or seasons (winter or otherwise). As such, eight of the game's nine tracks are only set in four locations. This feature would be expanded and standard in future Need for Speed games.

• Hometown: A Northeastern and Midwestern-themed countryside, which runs across farmland, lush roadways and a town (dubbed "Hometown"). The track is set during fall, and daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Country Woods track.
• Redrock Ridge: A desert track, which runs past rocky canyons and ridges, open patches of sand, a satellite dish, and minor business establishments. The track is set during daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Lost Canyons track.
• Atlantica: A track set within a futuristic and planned seaside garden city, with most buildings in white and tropical flora featured in numerous locations, running along a roadway dubbed "Atlantica Drive." The track is set during daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Aquatica track.
• Rocky Pass: A forest track that also runs along canyons and a town. The track is set during summer, set during daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Summit track.
• Country Woods: A rural trail, which runs across lush forests and a lake (dubbed "Crystal Lake"). The track is set during winter, and daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Hometown track.
• Lost Canyons: A desert track that runs across a national park, deep canyons, and an underground temple. The track is set during sundown by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Redrock Ridge track.
• Aquatica: A track that runs through high seaside canyons, a green belt (dubbed "Rapa Nui Park"), and an underwater (but transparent) tunnel (dubbed "Neptune Tunnel"). The track is set during sundown by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Atlantica track.
• Summit: A forest track that leads up and down to a heavily snow-capped mountain. The track is set during winter, set during daylight by default, and shares a portion of its route with the Rocky Pass track.
• Empire City (bonus track): An urban track set within a dark and run-down city, stretching across industrial, commercial and civic facilities. The track is set during either sundown or sunrise, and is the only track in the game which has none of its routes shared with other tracks.

The PlayStation version of Hot Pursuit features five additional bonus tracks, all set in fantastic locations. The tracks are only available using cheat codes, by entering the relevant codes in the user name screen. The tracks include:

• The room: A track set on a Hot Wheels track in a kid's bedroom. (Unlocked by entering "PLAYTM")
• Scorpio7: A track in an underwater tunnel. (Unlocked by entering "GLDFISH")
• Motocross: A track set in the forest with many jumps. Set in daylight by default. (Unlocked by entering "XCNTRY")
• Space station: Set on a space station, the track is backdropped against a blue planet and a green moon, and features a space ship flying overhead (sporting several blue jet engines at the back and aileron wings) and a hologram of an alien. (Unlocked by entering "MNBEAM")
• Caverns: A track set underground. (Unlocked by entering "XCAV8")

Of minor note is that two tracks featured earlier in The Need for Speed, the Autumn Valley Speedway and the Rusty Springs Raceway, are referenced on billboards from Hometown and Redrock Ridge (as well as Lost Canyons), respectively.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External link

• Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit at MobyGames