Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (Xbox, 2002)

I originally started playing Need For Speed when it first came out for the PC. The graphics were stunning, the cars were amazing, and I've been hooked ever since.

This title, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 for the Xbox is EA's latest title in the series. This game features a few different modes of play, a lot of great exotic cars to choose from, and a staggering number of tracks, which can also be run backwards (the track is reversed) for even more variety.

In a twist to the old standard, you not only can be chased and arrested by police who also drive exotic cars, you can BE the cop in certain gameplay modes. You get points based on how many speeders you bust and you can call in backup cars, helicopter support, and even set up roadblocks.

As I mentioned before there are a few different modes of gameplay. You can start a quickrace, which gets you right into the action. You can start the Hot Pursuit mode, in which you enter a series of events and compete for bronze, silver, or gold medals to move to the next event. You must unlock easier events to move to the harder ones by placing at least 3rd in the race.

You can also race one on one with the computer, and you get to pick what type of car it drives, what type of car you drive, the track, number of laps, put traffic on the road, and whether the police will be out or not.

Of course you can also play head to head with a friend on splitscreen, but only 2 players may race at a time.

All the racing you do accumulates points, which are used to unlock the exotic cars. You can choose which car to unlock, as long as you have the points available. Tracks are unlocked as you win events, and there are cheat codes available to unlock all the tracks. I have not found one for the cars yet, though I am sure it exists.

If there is a con to this game, it's that the police seem to pick on you more than your fellow racers. You can be 3rd in line passing a cop, but they will more than likely single you out and try to stop you. So not only are you racing the fast cars around you, you must deal with the police as well. With patience though you will find that you can beat the cops and beat the other racers. It just takes a little skill and a little luck.

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 is a Platinum Hit for Xbox, and you should be able to find this game for $20 or less. While not ground-breaking, driving through the detailed environments at 140 mph, crashing opponents into guardrails, and spinning cop cars out of the chase are more than enough to put a smile on your face while playing this game.