This is in the top 2 PSX racing games. (I havent played Driver yet but if it is what I think it will be, it will top NFS III. Few times have I ever had more fun playing a video game than while playing NFS in Hot Pursuit mode. What could be more fun than driving an expensive sports car while eluding the cops? A great game. It will not let you down.
5 Reviews
Drive. Drive Faster. Drive like you stole it.
The_Light_Triton8 October 2005
At a time when gaming was probably at it's best, EA had a lot of projects on their agenda. This was by far their most memorable project. in a time where there's a new NFS instalment every year (and now they seem to be getting worse and worse) It's time we looked back at NFS III: Hot Pursuit and evaluate it Piece by Piece.
First, The single Race. This was supposed to be the main portion of the game, but most of my memories wern't here. You could pick any course, any car (that was available) and just race against 7 other racers.
Second, There was hot pursuit. Now here's where the game gets awesome, cause most people's memories were from here. There was only one other cop chase game around at the time people talked about - Test Drive 5. and that game's Pursuit engine was primitive (All the cop had to do on the road was pass you and the chase was over) here, things got really complicated for the time (the police would radio headquarters, deploy extra units, Roadblocks and spike strips.) and it usually meant you were hauled away in a cop car. this was the best part of the game, by far.
Third, there was the knockout race. This became a staple for NFS games to come. You race against your opponents, and as long as you wern't the last person to cross the line, you were okay. They might take a long time, but they're challenging and fun.
Those were the 3 most memorable parts of the game. Not having internet or any other cool things at the time I didn't do much multiplayer on the game.
Now, the Visuals...For 1998, they were pretty good. Nowadays, it looks really crappy on a Windows XP or a Vista (if you can run it on one) but Empire City still looks intimidating.
The sounds are where the game truly succeeds. I mentioned Before the Techno in the game sucks...I was being a loser. the techno brings the game an element of awesome. but the rock is by far better. Songs like "Little Sweaty Sow" and "Snorkeling Cactus Weasels" will make you headbang and drive over the limit in nanoseconds of hearing them.
The Gameplay? It's great. You've got wild courses to drive over and top speeds to hit. Just be careful to not be such a lead foot, cause a dramatic crash will be unforgiving.
The cars that are available? You've got cars like the Aston martin Db7, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ferrari Spider and Maranello, The Lamborghini Countach and the Diablo, and the Alfa Romeo Schigera, a Prototype that didn't see the light of day, and finally, El Nino, a car that EA made up.
Unfortunately, Ferrari does not Approve of their cars being involved in high speed Police pursuits, so you cannot drive a Ferrari in a Police chase.
Overall, I give this game a 9/10, and i strongly suggest that if you haven't played this before, get a copy somewhere.
First, The single Race. This was supposed to be the main portion of the game, but most of my memories wern't here. You could pick any course, any car (that was available) and just race against 7 other racers.
Second, There was hot pursuit. Now here's where the game gets awesome, cause most people's memories were from here. There was only one other cop chase game around at the time people talked about - Test Drive 5. and that game's Pursuit engine was primitive (All the cop had to do on the road was pass you and the chase was over) here, things got really complicated for the time (the police would radio headquarters, deploy extra units, Roadblocks and spike strips.) and it usually meant you were hauled away in a cop car. this was the best part of the game, by far.
Third, there was the knockout race. This became a staple for NFS games to come. You race against your opponents, and as long as you wern't the last person to cross the line, you were okay. They might take a long time, but they're challenging and fun.
Those were the 3 most memorable parts of the game. Not having internet or any other cool things at the time I didn't do much multiplayer on the game.
Now, the Visuals...For 1998, they were pretty good. Nowadays, it looks really crappy on a Windows XP or a Vista (if you can run it on one) but Empire City still looks intimidating.
The sounds are where the game truly succeeds. I mentioned Before the Techno in the game sucks...I was being a loser. the techno brings the game an element of awesome. but the rock is by far better. Songs like "Little Sweaty Sow" and "Snorkeling Cactus Weasels" will make you headbang and drive over the limit in nanoseconds of hearing them.
The Gameplay? It's great. You've got wild courses to drive over and top speeds to hit. Just be careful to not be such a lead foot, cause a dramatic crash will be unforgiving.
The cars that are available? You've got cars like the Aston martin Db7, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ferrari Spider and Maranello, The Lamborghini Countach and the Diablo, and the Alfa Romeo Schigera, a Prototype that didn't see the light of day, and finally, El Nino, a car that EA made up.
Unfortunately, Ferrari does not Approve of their cars being involved in high speed Police pursuits, so you cannot drive a Ferrari in a Police chase.
Overall, I give this game a 9/10, and i strongly suggest that if you haven't played this before, get a copy somewhere.
Awesome Game!
Willy-4411 March 1999
This is probably one of the better driving games for Sony. Once you get the passwords, you get better cars and a lot more tracks. This is also a very good two player game that allows users to race head-to-head in some pretty wicked racing. The game also has a hot pursuit mode where you out run the law in your $200,000 sports car. Try it out.
Quite Possibly the Best Racing Game Ever
dabuddha21 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I've played a lot of them, including NFS's many sequels (most of which sucked major ass, including the two that immediately followed this one). I even owned Hot Pursuit 2 for the Gamecube for a while, until I got tired of it not being NFS III. Which sounds picky, I know, but it's the truth. It almost lived up to its' predecessor, but failed. I remember when I first bought NFS III. I did so without even playing it first, and was not disappointed at all. I remember when my best friend and I first saw (possible spoiler here?) the El Nino. It was the second ugliest car in the game, behind that...thing with the all-glass roof on it. So, we chose not to use it. But when one of us finally decided to, we realized that we had been wasting our time with the other cars! I mean, 222MPH? That's insane! And that's what made the game so great, the pure unrealism of it. The real sense of speed, the crazy tricks (try jumping over a special ridge in one of the winter levels and you can fly through the bottom of the level, I can't remember exactly which one right now). And the cops were near-relentless. At least they gave you three chances before hauling you off to the clink, something which must have been forgotten in Hot Pursuit 2, much to everyone's chagrin, I'm sure. But to the point, this game is a must-own for racing fans. Great graphics, fantastic races, hot cars, and some not-so-great music, sure, but just go ahead and turn the music off, the engine sounds way up, and play your own music and play it loud, and have one hell of a ride! Viva la El Nino! P.S. Sorry if this went on too long or rambled too much.
The greatest racing game ever made.
sebastianali12323 April 2022
Simply incredible in almost all its aspects. Need For Speed 3 Hot Pursuit not only makes what made the previous two entries miles better, but also is what i think to be nothing short of the greatest racing game ever made. If racing games had almost always a problem is that you never feel like you are actually in control, with a bit of abuse on oversteering or cars stiff as hell (or extremely drifty in newer NFS), this is not the case in NFS3 however where the cars are very lightweight and feel actually in control. You have 100% control over your car in this game, combined with a superb track design, incredible graphics for the time, interactive soundtrack, intense pursuits and what racing games doesnt do that i really miss, being able to customize your own races, save replays and being able to watch some real info of the cars.
Unfortunately there are a few things that needed to be polished. As perfect as the handling of the game is, it is not as perfect as that of CTR. The walls and rival cars seem to have glue on them, and when you hit one of them it can take a while to get unstuck.
In short, a masterpiece. More games of the genre should aspire to be like this.
I really dont recommend the PS1 version of this game though since it has a lot of minor annoyances...... Just play on PC with modern patch and you will be fine.
Unfortunately there are a few things that needed to be polished. As perfect as the handling of the game is, it is not as perfect as that of CTR. The walls and rival cars seem to have glue on them, and when you hit one of them it can take a while to get unstuck.
In short, a masterpiece. More games of the genre should aspire to be like this.
I really dont recommend the PS1 version of this game though since it has a lot of minor annoyances...... Just play on PC with modern patch and you will be fine.
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