Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit (Jewel Case)

Discount Price: $2.18

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

NEED FOR SPEED 3- Third favorite but far from last on list [Posted on 2003-02-20]
I have to rank HOT PURSUIT third only because the first two favorites of mine are INCREDIBLY GOOD! Rally Trophy and Driver are my 2 favorites but I bought this one some time ago and it was one of the very first PC games I purchased. I didn't have my joystick back then so the game was very difficult for me,so I didn't play it for a couple of months. I rediscovered it, though, after I learned how to use my Wingman Attack 2. Most of you racing enthusiasts out there know that joysticks are a lot more effective and fun to use than trying to navigate the roads in this game and most other racing sims. I highly recommend Need FOR SPEED 3 to both veteran and novice alike as it is a great escape mechanism in this time of serious dangers in our terror-torn world of today. Remember-It is ONLY A GAME. When you knock over all those obstacles on the tracks NOBODY REALLY GETS HURT! So-Have fun trying to evade the squad cars or win your race. It's got a lot of variations. Play NEED FOR SPEED 3-SOON!

Driving/Racing Eye Candy [Posted on 2003-04-18]
Wow!

When I first popped this CD into my PC, I could hardly believe my eyes. This game "begins" with one of the best "cinematic" sequences I've ever seen, starting with thunder and lightening, fast music kicking in, and a great little "film" full of fast cuts, great editing, amazing graphics, and SPEED! Though one can bypass this opening at any time to get to the play, I still often love watching this opening movie prior to every time I'm up for enjoying the actual game. What's truly amazing however is that, once you get into the game and get better at it, you can record, save, and replay any/all of your OWN races. These are just fun to watch also.

The real fun however, is in the play. I have tried many, many driving/racing games, on consoles both old and new, and this is undoubtedly the best out there. Even those on the so-called next generation systems like PS2, XBox and Gamecube have NOTHING which compares to this, in my humble opinion. For the low price this is going for nowadays, if you want the BEST driving/racing game ever made, look no further. I would easily pay three times what they're asking for this, it's just that damn good.

The Need For Speed series has been around for awhile, and I also own and enjoy the Playstation versions, however, even those cannot match the graphics of this PC one. With a gamepad and/or joystick and some headphones, you're in for the ride of your life, again and again. It's even possible to play a mean game of NFS3 with the keyboard alone, but it's much better with a controller of some type, and they're pretty cheap these days too.

There are several beautiful tracks here, and many great cars to choose from. You can choose various types of races, go into HOT PURSUIT mode where you try to outrun the cops, or if you like, just drive around and enjoy the scenery and explore in cruise mode. With various "cheat codes" easily found on the internet, you can also make your cars go faster, choose special "locked" cars at will (El Nino!), and open up special hidden tracks like the beautiful "Empire City."

For anyone new to fast driving/racing games, this may seem quite impossible or at least extremely difficult at first, but with practice and timing and the right combination of passwords, you will soon be winning races and much more. I say this because, regardless of whether you're racing another single opponent or a flock of them, the AI (artificial intelligence) of your comrades in SPEED is pretty tough. Sometimes, if you don't run a perfect race, you will see the rest easily pass you by and drift off into the distance, vanishing as you struggle to keep up. The challenge however never ends, because even when you do get pretty good, there will always be other cars who will always give you a good run for the money. The cops chasing you and setting up roadblocks and spikestrips and such, are also pretty good and fast and relentless, and it's really a kick to try to outwit and outrace them before you're finally "arrested." This will come after they pull you over a couple times first with some "warnings." In this mode, you get to hear the cops and female switchboard operator talking on a CB in the background as they chase you.

The graphics are not only consistently beautiful and the frame rate high, but the sound effects (engines, screeches, wind, howling wolves, birds, cows, you name it), and music are also top notch. Everything is highly configurable though not on any Gran Turismo level, but the options for setting up exactly what you want, from track locale to car to car color to night driving to weather effects like rain and snow, are almost endless. And each replay you save with differences like this, also make for unique little "movies" like the opening sequence which are a joy to save and watch in themselves.

I can't recommend this game enough. The system requirements are low, the price is low, the graphics are like eye candy, you can turn down the music selections (which are all great techno and rock styles) and play your own MP3's if you like instead, and all I have to say is, if you don't have a driving/racing game yet for your PC, BUY THIS ONE FIRST!!! You may not even have to buy another one, it's just THAT GOOD. A true gem in every way.

One of the best PC racing games of all time... [Posted on 2003-09-04]
I've spent many hours playing this game. You don't realize its full potential until you start playing it at LAN parties and downloading new cars. There are plenty of cars and tools available and you can't beat the price. Buy it now and add it to your game collection. It's a classic.

NFS3 sssssuuuucccccckkkkkkkeeeeddddd! [Posted on 2004-03-24]
When this game first came out in 1998 (yes it WAS that long ago) everyone loved this game. I got this game about a year ago and on my computer (which was just upgraded) the cars didn't even look like cars, they looked like little colored blobs with black circles with a blob of silver on them for wheels. The graphics were horrible but gameplay is good, Hot Pursuit mode is fun for about two races. Handling is VERY unrealistic, all cars handle like they're on a rail (which could be a good thing for less experienced players which I'm NOT). What I thouht of this game: crappy. What you other computer geeks think: sweet (screw you(:

Very good game [Posted on 2004-05-22]
It's my first race game in a PC. The cars look awesome, with reflections on them like you just had a detaling job. You get a really good feel of the speed and the cop car looks beautiful (a corvette that is). The scenery looks awesome and I really like the acuatica and pacifica tracks. You go through a tunnel that looks like an acuarium with neon plants inside. I wish they had some japanese cars though. The smoke is kind of like NES level, not very good, and the dust too. The rain and the snow effects are amazing though. Your windshield gets snow, mud and rain on in the experieced level and I think that's the real kick. In the beginning mode it's a little monotonous. But start the experience d one and then you get an exciting challenge.
The replay option is good, but the cars look like old carton boxes running around, maybe is my 64 mb video card. But the gameplay is good. (:)

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