Pursuit Force
| Pursuit Force | |
|---|---|
 PAL game cover | |
| Developer(s) | Bigbig Studios |
| Publisher(s) | SCE |
| Composer(s) | Richard Jacques |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Car combat |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Distribution | UMD |
Pursuit Force is a video game for the PlayStation Portable. It puts the player in the role of a police agent who joins up to a law enforcement agency known as the Pursuit Force, to restore order to a city overrun with crime. This elite unit specialises in direct armed encounters with adversaries, whether it be on foot or on the bonnet of a speeding car. The player has to try to seize cars and motorbikes while engaging in gun battles at speeds of over 150 miles per hour (240 km/h). It is set in fictional Capital State (which includes Capital City) in America where there are various criminal gangs to contend with.
Plot
The story opens with a news report showing a rise in vehicle related crimes across Capital State. There are five gangs to blame, "The Capelli Family", "The Warlords", "The Convicts", "The Vixens", and "The Killer 66". The report also states that a new kind of police; The Pursuit Force has been organised to destroy the threat posed by these gangs. There are a total of thirty missions, six per gang. These missions include escorting, protecting and destroying the enemy on foot, by speedboat, in a car or in a helicopter. The game also includes a race mode with several different courses and scenarios and a time trial mode, setting you across all the games' tracks. These two modes are completely independent from each other and will not help nor hinder the gameplay of the other game modes. There is also a wide variety of unlockable content such as pictures and videos to access. The amount of content you unlock, however, is completely dependent on the scores you get playing the career mode.
The Pursuit Force
The Pursuit Force is the elite state police division that the player's character is a part of. It was created in response to the growing number of crime from powerful gangs in Capital State. In the video game you can earn different ranks which unlock different content while completing missions will unlock new ranks which will unlock new gang missions and different abilities to help make the game easier (e.g. once you get to a certain rank, you are able to recharge your health bar while keeping still).
Gangs
The Gangs are the enemies of the Pursuit Force and aim to keep Capital City under their grip despite the threat that the Pursuit Force bring them.
Capelli Family: One of the two gangs that are first available at the start of the game, the Capellis are a mafia style family headed up by Don Capelli. According to the chief they have been around for at least 20 years before the game's events. The other significant member of the Capelli Family is their best sniper Stefano De Tomaso, also known by his crime name 'Deadeye'.
Warlords: The second of the two gangs that are first available at the start of the game. The warlords are a group of mercenaries and rogue soldiers who feel that they were betrayed by the army. They focus primarily on hijacking military equipment and are led by 'The General', with the other significant member of the gang being 'Lieutenant Davies'.
Convicts: The Convicts are a group of psychotic escapees who are out to cause as much chaos as they can and make an escape from Capital State to cause havoc on a much larger scale (many of their missions involve stopping them from crossing the state border). The Convicts are organised by an escapee who is only known in the game as 'Hard Balls'; the other significant member of the Convicts being the Lieutenant 'Billy Wilde'.
Vixens: The Vixens are an all-female group of professional thieves with a high-tech arsenal. Many of their missions focus around theft, from priceless artifacts to luxury speed boats. The Vixens are organised by their leader known as 'Whiplash', while the other significant member of the Vixens is her second-in-command 'The Fox'.
Killer 66: The Killer 66 are an all Asian group and the most powerful of all five gangs in Capital State. They focus primary in vehicle theft and drug dealing. They are led by 'Monster Toshima', the other significant member of the gang being the second-in-command 'Sudeko Arakawa'.
Cheats
Cheats are a hidden addition to the game that are achieved by achieving A Ranks in certain missions in Career Mode. These cheats can make the game easier or harder (depending on active Cheats) but with any of them activated you cannot progress through the career, the 'Cheats' feature was also implemented into the sequel Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice
Reception
The game was well received by critics, IGN[1] gave Pursuit Force an 8.4, and Gamespot gave it an 8[2] out of 10, accompanied by positive comments on its "stellar visuals and animations", as well as its "great voice acting". However, Gamespot did comment on how a multiplayer mode, or even an additional singleplayer mode would have been beneficial to the game and players have stated that the difficulty of the game can be a higher challenge than they should be at some points.
Sequel
A sequel titled Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice was released in 2007 and received slightly more positive reception than the original.[3]