“Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered”: Nur Update – Spieletests

“Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered” is not only a new version of a “Need for Speed” game for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, but also a return to the beginnings of the series. Back then, speeders in luxury cars faced police officers in PS monsters, which led to hot and sometimes insane car chases. While “Hot Pursuit” wasn’t exactly the community’s favorite big remaster, at least at the time, the game was tough. And today?

“Hot Pursuit Remastered” makes it clear from the start that this is arcade. Nature travel and police car accidents cause massive dents and scratches on the paint of luxury cars – even some parts loosen and flutter in the airflow – it makes no difference to driving speed and handling. This might appeal to fans of pure adrenaline rush, but developer Criterion Games leaves points behind in one respect: on both wet asphalt and dry tracks, cars always accelerate and steer the same way.

Not for simulation friends

The so-called “takedowns” are spectacular. If two or more vehicles crash into each other violently, some of them are shut down – the game celebrates this with slow-motion visualizations that include flying shards and sparks. Control of the car is generally straightforward, as is typical of the title: the brake is almost negligible, the handbrake helps in most corners, and the turbo fires a dozen times on the straights, which is refueled through tight evasive maneuvers and driving in the wake.

The new “Need for Speed” might be a bit boring especially for simulation enthusiasts: you can neither set the engine and tires on the car, nor do you have to approach corners at a more suitable speed than top speed. Beginners are all the more happy, because even with departures from the track of a few seconds you immediately return to the pilots field for a rather abused elastic effect. There is no adjustable difficulty level to make it more exciting.

Varied campaign

In the campaign, the player follows a rather superficial story, which nevertheless pleases the sight of both sides of the scene in acceleration. Sometimes you sit behind the wheel of police cars and you can even use tactical weapons like EMPs to stop speeders, sometimes you are hunted like a “roadrunner” and try to leave the officers behind you. Well over 100 stations ensure that the game is massive enough with over 50 hours. The mix makes you happy, because there are time trials, duels, car chases, but also normal races.

The developers have also included all of the game’s DLC tracks in the remastered version. In terms of landscape, coasts, mountains and forests are in the foreground, although the graphics have been well curated, but almost nothing has changed in terms of content. Aside from the missions, the paths feel very empty and dry – you’re not necessarily tempted to spend hours in the game’s photo mode. Just like a shame: new challenges, like driving several minutes at top speed, feel like an artificial extension of the otherwise missing content.

Graphic improvement not everywhere

The changing weather or the day-night rhythms were whistled completely. On the other hand, the graphical improvements to the cars and roads are commendable. The surroundings and the competition are now reflected in the vehicles, the smoke waves from under the rolling tires and the cracks and holes are clearly visible in the asphalt. The further you get away from the track, the more these loving details disappear. After all: “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered” runs absolutely smoothly and smoothly at 60 frames per second.

There are also lights and shadows in multiplayer. Ingenious: Races are driven across platforms against other players, which is why there are always enough speeders available for a quick round online. Not so ingenious: Many of the online features, such as notifications on race times completed, absolutely require friendly players and not just unknown players from around the world. The game is played online in standard races or bounty hunts. With the salary received new cars can be activated, but they can only be painted in different colors.

Enjoyment of running and failure at the same time

“Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered” offers all the additional content and content from the original, features ever-greater graphical improvements to the game world and vehicles, and offers a new multiplayer experience. This and the races, which are still extremely fun even after ten years, as well as an ever-evolving gameplay experience, make the remastered version a racing pleasure that will appeal to arcade fans who were new to “Hot Pursuit”.

But “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered” is also a failure. The new edition of “Hot Pursuit” didn’t offer enough innovations to clearly stand out from the original game, nor were they prepared to work on small gameplay details. The developers should have fooled us at least something into the cars for the 30 euros due for the game. But there’s no reason for owners of the original to buy “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered” as well.