I reviewed
Need for Speed III more than a few months ago and loved the game. It had a few
shortcomings, but they were minor and insignificant compared with the
outstanding gameplay and graphics. When I first played Need for Speed III, I
thought it was vastly superior to Need for Speed II. Now that I've played the
next Need for Speed game, High Stakes, I have to ask myself: Does it surpass the
third installment as easily as the third surpassed the second? Not exactly. That
doesn't mean the game is bad or even worse than Need for Speed III. It just
isn't a huge leap in terms of graphics and gameplay.
Those who buy this game should realize that it plays very much like Need for
Speed III, but with some extra play modes and one big added feature.
The biggest feature added to the game is car damage, which we've all been crying
for since the inception of this fine arcade racing series. I'm happy to say that
on this count, the game benefits greatly from damage modeling. All cars have
ratings for body, engine, suspension, and handling. Too many bumps, scrapes, and
crashes will bring those ratings down. At first, the damage is subtle, but once
you start racking up the collisions, you'll see the car's body start to warp,
the windshield and windows break, and the engine start to smoke. Tires will be
off kilter, and you'll notice the performance of your car suffering
commensurately. There is no way to fix your car during a race, so you are in a
bind should the damage be extensive. There is a status window on the top right
corner of your screen, though, so you can monitor your damage and respond
accordingly. You might want to be less reckless if you see the red
damage-indicator bar overtaking the blue status bar. For Need for Speed purists
who don't want to play with damage, this option can be toggled off.
Although damage cannot be repaired within a race,
it can be repaired between races if you are playing in the new career mode.
Unlike the tournaments in Need for Speed III, this career mode has higher stakes
attached to it, if you'll pardon the pun. You start you off with a wad of cash
and asked to purchase a lowly BMW Z3 or a Mercedes SLK 230. Then you enter a
series of circuits organized into tiers. As you advance through the tiers, you
earn more money, which you can use to repair your car between races, upgrade
your existing cars, or buy new vehicles. There are three different types of
circuits in the career play mode. There are regular races, where you try to
amass the most points over three or more tracks. There is a knockout mode, where
the last-place finisher in each race is eliminated from the circuit. And there
is a high stakes mode, where it's you against one other driver with your cars on
the line. Each circuit has an entry fee and offers the finishers varying amounts
of cash depending on how they placed. In the high stakes mode, your entry fee is
your car, and the prize is the loser's vehicle. It's a quick way to earn a car
but also a very quick way to lose one.
With ten tiers to race, and multiple circuits
within each tier, there is a lot of gameplay in the career mode. The career mode
also cleverly forces you into making hard choices on how to manage your car and
money. Do you pay the $8000 to upgrade your car's suspension and engine, or do
you save the money and hope you can win enough in the next race to buy an
all-new ride? The additional car damage and repair costs also force you to race
a little smarter. In addition, persistence is rewarded, as successive victories
unveil more expensive levels of cars, bonus cars, and bonus tracks.
It would be too much to ask of a gamer to play through the entire career mode in
one sitting, so the game does save your progress, although you don't have the
option of saving between races in a circuit.
Aside from the career mode, there are other modes of play that make their
return, as well as some new ones we haven't seen before. There is the normal
arcade mode, where you only commit to one race at a time, as well as Need for
Speed III-style tournament play. Then there is the police-chase hot pursuit
mode, which is more robust in this version. There is the previous mode of hot
pursuit but also two new versions, both of which add a twist to the gameplay and
even more value to the overall package. Once again, though, not all cars are
available in hot pursuit.
Of course, then there are all the options that
the Need for Speed series is known for. You can tweak all your cars, adjust
graphic details, and toggle off various gameplay elements like weather, night
driving, and the existence of traffic. There is a spectacular car showcase that
has a slide show, inside view, and detailed specs on all the cars. And lastly,
there is the full suite of multiplayer options, although EA's Internet racing
network still isn't final at this stage.
There is really very little to criticize about this game. Some of the graphics
aren't great, such as the dust-cloud sprites. And some of the tracks are boring,
with little ambient detail. I thought the soundtrack was a weak imitation of
Wipeout's, with some annoying animal noises thrown in for bad measure. There is
also the matter of the feel of the gameplay being similar to Need for Speed III.
High Stakes doesn't feel like a sequel, even though it is a very good game on
its own.
In essence, Need for Speed: High Stakes is Need
for Speed III with car damage, a new career mode, new cars, and new tracks. It
plays like its predecessor but just has so many more extras. If you already own
Need for Speed III, you have to decide whether those new features are worth the
asking price. But if you don't have Need for Speed III, then this will be a rare
treat among PC racing games. You'll enjoy the graphics, the fast gameplay, and
the plethora of cars and tracks at your disposal.
System Requirements:
Pentium 200Mhz or equivalent, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, SVGA
Video Card, DirectX 6.1
Recommended:
Pentium 266, 64MB RAM, 2MB SVGA Video Card, 3d Graphics Accelerator
Summary:
It plays very much like Need for Speed III, but with some extra play modes and
one big added feature.
Score:
8.6/10
Courtesy: GameSpot
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