rec.autos.simulators

Looks as good as GT3. Seriously. Incredible sense of speed, control,
and good old fashioned racing fun.

If you have a PS2, give this one a try for sure.

Very very nice job by Black Box (r.i.p.) in Vacouver!

Joe62

I drove both the Xbox and PS2 versions for a "road test" for a magazine
article (Top Ten console driving games) and found little difference between
them.  I rated the game second to Gran Turismo, but waaaay behind - it's not
in the same class as GT3 (gfx, physics, immersion, gameplay, etc.), but it
*is* plenty fun!  If only it was based on Brock Yates' Cannonball Baker
Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash!

--Steve Smith, Founder & President, Anti-Destination League

Two questions:  Does it have a***pit view (I assume this is yes) and from the
***pit do you get the 6DOF POV that we all know and love from our favorite
racing titles?

- Dave

Interesting...   ign.com bagged the Xbox version but gave the PS2 version
9/10.  They were different reviewers though and I guess most PS2 gamers are
easily pleased...

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

"The Pits"    http://www.theuspits.com/

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels"
--Groucho Marx--

I'm surprised you didn't find differences since there are many reviews
around the net that say they are VERY different (PS2 dev by BB and XBOX/GC
dev by EA Seattle).  The most significant difference is said to be in the
handling.  The PS2 has "extreme" mode (=more realistic?) which absent from
the others.  I also thought the game play modes, track choices and graphics
were vastly different and surprisingly better on the PS2.

--
Joe M.

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

"The Pits"    http://www.theuspits.com/

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels"
--Groucho Marx--

Ugh.  No***pit view!?  I just rented it from Blockbuster.  Geez...

- Dave

The Xbox and GameCube versions were scored 7.2 and the PS2 8.5 on
Gamespot. The other versions are missing about a dozen cars - plus
tracks. Here are a few quotes that I took from the Xbox article about
the differences.

Full article:
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/0,11114,561156,00.html

"You'd expect that the console versions of this game to be identical,
but strangely enough, they're not. While the Xbox and GameCube
iterations of Hot Pursuit II are in fact exact ports of one another,
they're markedly different from their PlayStation 2 cousin, and in
this case, "different" doesn't mean "better." In short, the Xbox and
GameCube versions of Hot Pursuit II have slightly detuned graphics,
mushier controls, and inexplicably, a variety of minute but tangible
ommissions from the PlayStation 2 game."

"It's perhaps a little strange that you're not rewarded for driving
wild in the Xbox version of Hot Pursuit II, like you are in the PS2
game. In fact, the points system in this version of Hot Pursuit II is
completely different from the PlayStation 2 version."

"There are a little over 30 cars that you can unlock in the
game--about a dozen less than the PS2 game--including 10 cop cars, all
of which can be driven at will in the game's challenge mode."

"It should be noted that Hot Pursuit II lacks the extreme handling
setting found in the PS2 version of the game. This exaggerates the
handling characteristics of the cars even further, and makes for a
very visceral racing experience. Nor does this game have the precise
controls of its PlayStation 2 cousin."

"Hot Pursuit II gives you four different perspectives to play
from--three from the third-person and one from the first--and all of
these relay a fair sense of speed, though nowhere near as fast as the
PS2 version. The car models, too, aren't as detailed as Hot Pursuit II
for the PlayStation 2--they lack the overall polygon count and their
lighting isn't as well done, nor do they take any visible signs of
damage. What's more, the tracks themselves look a little bit fuzzy,
and the textures are somewhat washed out when compared to the PS2
game."

This 1mm varying mushroom PS2 controller is difficult to control.

Ruud van Gaal
Free car sim: http://www.racer.nl/
Pencil art  : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- http://ymenard.cjb.net/
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Corporation - helping America into the New World...