rec.autos.simulators

It's no sim for sure, but good fun.. The driving model has improved
substantially over Hot Pursuit, still very arcade,  but "feels" much
better. Another reason behind this is that there's now a "moving" 3D
***pit view, no longer a static bitmap***pit. Don't expect it to be
as detailed as in Viper Racing, but the different***pits for each car
are done well nonetheless. The selection of cars is like a "best of" the
NFS series, featuring the Porsche 911 that has been missed in NFS3 and
the "helluva beast" McClaren F1. You can drive all the tracks from NFS3
with High Stakes, that makes it easy to see the changes in the driving
model. The new tracks are much more impressive, however. They feature
nice track layouts,  lot's of nice little audiovisual gags and not to
forget  breathtaking graphics. For example in Dolphin Cove, you come out
of a tunnel, looking into a beatifully intense sunset. There are also
three so-called  "RaceTracks, with banked corners and chicanes.

What really adds to the game is the career play: you compete in a series
of racing events and earn money that you can use to repair and upgrade
your car or purchase a new one. It has been done before, but it hasn't
been done so well until NFS: HS.

For the first time in the NFS series there is a damage model. It isn't
exactly realistic, but the cumulative damage that can also be seen at
the 3D models deforming adds a nice touch to the game and strikes a very
good gameplay balance in career mode.

Hot Pursuit mode is back with a vengeance and more fun than ever.

The only problem with the game so far is the AI, it is driving far too
agressive and dumb for my taste - constantly weaving and blocking. Some
may call that fun, I think it's just wrecking my nerves.

The performance is roughly the same as NFS3, just as in NFS3 the main
performance hit comes from the smoke and dirt effects that (luckily can
be turned off. Graphics can be fully tweaked to whatever resolution your
D3D or GLIDE capable card supports. I tested it at 1024x768 with Voodoo2
SLI and things were running very smoothly on my system (specs below).
The Sounds are great (just as in NFS3) and fully support the SB Live's
EAX and and DS3D for other cards. The music is not for everyone's taste
(certainly not for mine ;)) but you can use your own audio CD's (btw who
needs music when racing? - I always turn it off)

This is the best in the NFS series so far, and with minor complaints
about AI behaviour a great game. It get's my recommendation - perhaps
not for the real racing purists, but for everyone who can enjoy a good
arcade racer and is looking for a game with a decent career mode and
more variety than Viper Racing. Viper is overall the better choice for
racing purists,  NFS: HS has other strengths, but you already knew that
;-)

For all those who see N.I.C.E 2 aka BreakNeck on the shelves in the US
soon - leave it there - it isn't worth it. It's a childish arcade racer
with a much too complicated user interface, uninteresting career play
and really (I mean it), really bad sound. The cars aren't licensed and
the driving model feels just slightly better than Pitstop for the C64.
The game has been hyped last year here in Germany but sadly was a very
big disappointment for me. It's only for those people who want weapons
in a driving game, but then again they should stick to Interstate 76.

best regards
Alex

System used:

Soundblaster Live; Thrustmaster Super Sport wheel.

What, better than NFS1? I doubt it after testing the demo.

Sadly, there are no  long continuous roads as in NFS1. But I think NFS: HS
is an advancement in every other department. What else was so great about
NFS1 (or so bad about 2 and 3) IYO?

The only let down is that I've rarely seen corners you have to brake for in
this game, most can be got around by releasing the throttle and sliding the
back end. In a real race car I *might* accept it but I'd love to see a BMW
Z3, standard showroom spec reach a hairpin at 100mph and just powerslide
around it without braking. If anyone tried it they'd be picking glass,
metal and bits of road out of themselves for weeks. While I'm on about it,
maybe the reason they've done this is because the brakes are apparently
much better than F1 brakes as these things stop on a sixpence.

However, I shouldn't moan. It is a fun game and the career mode makes it
more interesting than I thought it was going to be. If you want a good
arcade racer then get this (or Bleem and Gran Tourismo :) )

M

M

Joe McGinn
==========================================
Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
==========================================

Joe McGinn
==========================================
Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
==========================================

Joe McGinn
==========================================
Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
==========================================

The steering in NFS III is horrible.  It feels totally un-natural.

-Larry

Joe McGinn
==========================================
Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
==========================================

True that it's arcade pure, but for me also true that it is a hell of fun...

Maybe only children understand it ;>) ! I know, everybody is complaining
about that career interface, but once you have started a championship, you
just load it and go. All the options are accessible via frames at the sides
of the screen, which only appear when you move your mouse in that direction,
it's like bringing up the windows start menu, I can see nothing complicated
about it. This way you are nearly always only 1 click away from where you
want to go, when  in NFS you have to move through loads of screens...
But o.k.: I didn't bother about the disappearing options in SCGT too...
Anyhow, there is a new arcade mode out, which is supposed to be included in
the international version, there you are only 3 screens away from racing...

<, uninteresting career play>

uninteresting for whome? I agree, it could be better, but 'til now there
were not too many games with career play...

My ears hear it different, every "scenario" has it's distict environmental
sounds, which, like the car sounds and the whole game should not be taken
too serious!
AFAIC, I love the sounds of the classic cars and the vipers (don't claim
them to be realistic). BTW, there is some editing going on and where would
SCGT be without all those kind people, like rrevved, Big Ben, Gunslinger and
others, supplying us with better sounds and dashes etc.

The cars aren't licensed

For career mode there is a patch available, which adds original names and
only since Tuesday the carskins are editable, so you can paint your own
dream cars with your grafic tools.

I never played Pitstop for the C64, but then NFS3, where the cars corner
like boiled eggs, must be even worse then that (and I seem to be too dumb,
to feel the improvements in High Stakes, judging from the demo). In fact,
when I played NICE2 for a while and then returned to NFS3, I ran a few laps
and then deleted it from my harddrive!!!
Sure, the physics are very simplified, but IMO or better "in my feeling"
there is at least a connection between what I do with the wheel and what
happens with my car. I don't have that feeling in games like NFS3 or 4 or
Test Drive 5 (again only judging it from the Demo). BTW, my favorite racing
games are Viper Racing and SCGT, I only play NICE2 to relax from those very
demanding games (for my abilities) and I got no prob changing from one to
another, as I always had with NFS3.

In fact, the game was rather buggy first and needed some patches to get in
gear, but now there are only minor faults (like not having to pay for rented
cars.. who cares...). The game runs absolutely smooth (with the exception of
one, really only one short delay near the beginning of many races) even on
slower CPUs, I had 2 crashes in 5 months, both after playing the game for
more then 8 hours without restarting computer or game. As for the graphics,
I think they're stunning, even after all that time (With a RivaTNT, remember
to set "auto generating of mip map levels" to a very low degree). The style
is absolutely non-realistic, like from children's books with fairy tales
(childish!!! Oh Yeah!!!).
The courses: far outback, where the wolf howls and you expect the roadrunner
crossing your way and remember: It's not the turns which break your neck,
but the jumps...

That's the only thing, I don't like in this game: the shoot-out-stuff.
I never use this part of the game.

best regards

Zolli

--
My System: P2 300, 128 MB, Riva TNT

Gentlemen!  ;-] Start your engines!

any word about on coming traffic ?
is that an on-off option ?

not only in pursuit mode but all mode as well.
This was in the older NFS2 SE or something.

I would love to add more traffic as a challenge

|
| >What, better than NFS1? I doubt it after testing the
demo.
|
| No, I wouldn't go that far. The physics/driving model
still isn't
| nearly that good, and still no open-road tracks. But, it
IS much
| improved over NFS3 (a terribly over-rated game IMO).
|
| Joe McGinn
| ==========================================
| Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
| http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
| ==========================================
|

NFS2 had horrible tracks, I haven't tried NFS3. But basically, NFS1
had 'that feeling' of driving fast cars in the middle of traffic. The
sequels just feel like ordinary "race against four opponents on a
twisty circuit with walls on both sides". Also the handling was quite
well done, although it seems to be in NFS:HS as well.