Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Box Art (PC)

Need for Speed, the award-winning arcade racing game, is back and better than ever in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2!

Staying true to its heritage, Hot Pursuit 2 houses a stable of exclusive, exotic cars from the world's most coveted licensors including Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and McLaren.

Race through an array of open road environments that come to life with river crossings, waterfalls, beaches, dusty paths, and brush fires. Rush through traffic, conquer multiple racing events, and outrun cops in hot pursuit to become the Champion Road Racer!

It is the last title in the Classic Era of NFS and won the Console Racing Game of the Year award in 2003 and was also notable for its more HD graphics at the time compared to previous installments, as well as helping popularize NFS before Underground.

Contents

Release Details

  • Developer: Black Box Games (PS2), EA Seattle (PC, Xbox, Gamecube)
  • Platforms: PC, Xbox, Gamecube, PS2
  • Release Date: October 2002
  • Rating: ESRB Everyone

Versions

Two different versions of the NFS:HP2 were produced. The Xbox, GameCube and PC version were developed by EA Seattle, a subsidiary of EA Canada, while the PS2 version was developed by the newly acquired Black Box Games in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. While there are many similarities in overall design and theme, the two versions have a wide range of differences. A large list of these can be found on the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 Versions Comparison page.

The PS2 version is widely held to be the superior game, with that version drawing 9/10 from most reviews, while the PC/GC/XBox version generally pulls 7 or 8 from 10.

Game Modes

The game features two main modes of play; Hot Pursuit where you compete with fellow racers and contend with cops along the way, and World Racing, in which you race against other racers without any interference from the police. Within these two main modes, gameplay is split further:

Hot Pursuit

  • Quick Race - "Go straight into the action!" - Here you can jump straight into a pursuit in a random car on a random track.
  • You're The Cop - "Fill your ticket quota for big points!" - In this mode you drive the cop car and need to apprehend speeding drivers.
  • Challenge - "One-player and two-player challenges." - Set up a custom pursuit with the car, track, opposition and options of your choice.
  • Ultimate Racer - "Beat the heat in 30 events." - The Hot Pursuit Career mode consisting of a tree of over 30 pursuit events.

World Racing

  • Quick Race - "Go straight to the action!" - Jump straight into a race in a random car and track.
  • Challenge - "One-player and two-player challenges." - Customise and race with the car, track, opponents and options as you want them.
  • Championship - "Real cars, real fast in 30 events." - The World Racing career mode consisting of a tree of over 30 racing events.

Car list

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 offers the following cars. Racing and pursuits are always against cars from the same class. Depending on the platform, most cars are available in both a standard and an enhanced 'NFS' version. Some cars are also available in a pursuit version and are used by the cops and by the player in 'Be The Cop' mode. Aside from one car, the Ferrari 360 Modena, which only appears in the PS2 version, all cars are available in some form in both versions of the game. However, each game version classes different groups of cars together, therefore a separate list is presented for each version.

PC/GC/XBox

The PC version offers a good deal more Cop cars than the PS2 version. Car models are also more accurate. The class numbers listed here are taken from the Multiplayer game mode.

Class Car Normal NFS Pursuit
1 McLaren F1 X X
McLaren F1 LM X X
Mercedes CLK-GTR X X
Ferrari F50 X X
2 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish X X
Ferrari 550 Barchetta X X
Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT X X X
Lamborghini Murciélago X X X
Porsche Carrera GT X X
3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 X X X
Dodge Viper GTS X X X
Ferrari 360 Spider X X
Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R X X X
HSV Coupé GTS X X X
Porsche 911 Turbo X X
4 BMW M5 X X
BMW Z8 X
Ford TS50 X X X
Jaguar XKR X X
Mercedes CL55 AMG X X
5 Ford Crown Victoria X
Lotus Elise X X
Opel Speedster X X
Vauxhall VX220 X X

PS2

The PS2 version doesn't specifically identify car classes, however the distinctions are clear in game, since no two cars of different classes are ever seen together on a track. Classes are designated a letter code here to help the distinction between PS2 car classes and PC car classes.

Class Car Normal NFS Pursuit
A McLaren F1 X X
McLaren F1 LM X X
Mercedes CLK-GTR X X
B Chevrolet Corvette Z06 X X X
Dodge Viper GTS X X X
Ferrari F50 X X
Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT X X X
Lamborghini Murciélago X X X
Porsche 911 Turbo X X X
Porsche Carrera GT X X
C Aston Martin V12 Vanquish X X
BMW Z8 X
Ferrari 360 Spider X X
Ferrari 360 Modena X
Ferrari 550 Barchetta X X
Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R X X X
D BMW M5 X X
HSV Coupé GTS X X X
Jaguar XKR X X
E Ford Crown Victoria X
Ford TS50 X X X
Lotus Elise X X
Mercedes CL55 AMG X X
Opel Speedster X X
Vauxhall VX220 X X

Soundtrack