Product reviewsNeed for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PC: Windows, 2002) - European Version

Excellent choice of racer for older PCs and connoiseurs of older games

ACTUALLY RATED: 4.5/5 (half-a-star off for the controller issues).

This game is one of the BEST-ever PC racing games (I have experience going back before NFS ever existed as a series). It is an older release, but is very playable and worth a look even today, even with a reboot of the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit series out there. I highly doubt the latter is as good in every way as this older release. It would be exceptional if it was.
Driving is fairly predictable in the control response - and is fun, with different-spec cars feeling appropriately-different (at the the top end, the F1 practically flies itself round corners). The game is a GAME, not an annoyance; it is nicely playable by PC standards.
Tracks are nicely varied and scenic. Shortcuts are common, and evading the police is fun (and tricky sometimes). The challenge/learning curve is pleasant and fun. Playing as the cop is also fun, although there's only a couple of different cars to choose from.

Technical:
It needs a relatively-powerful graphics card (DX 8.1-era) vs. the minimum specifications, in order to get the best from it and super-fluid frame-rates, but has always behaved well on my systems regardless of specifications. It has one patch available which should be applied. It works easily over a LAN.
The only technical issue is the usual controller compatibility issues. I have had to hack the configuration files via a web how-to guide in order to get my popular steering-wheel working. I think I had to do the same for my popular gamepad(s). (I use analogue acceleration/braking, not buttons). Force-feedback is available, although compatibility issues abound, I'm sure.

The graphics are good, when turned-up high (not sure of the max res. supported but I use 1280x1024 at least); and frame-rates are respectable as long as you don't use features that your graphics hardware doesn't support.

Sound is good, supporting DirectSound 3D and EAX in different speaker configurations. The soundtrack, as usual for NFS, is good, although not customisable (I play mp3s in another application whilst playing the game).

You need one disc per multiplayer client, which gets checked both on running the game and then again when joining/started a game. CD-swapping isn't really convenient, so I bought multiple copies (it's on CD-ROM). They're not often sold 2nd-hand though.Read full review...

Great retro value

Great game for the period.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: the-treasure-vault