Developed by Criterion, the same team behind Burnout Paradise, you can definitely feel a lot of Burnout DNA in this Need for Speed entry. Sadly, since it's published by EA, do not expect to get the full game, you'll have to plonk down a further £45 on the PSN for that privilege. And since the game is now almost 8 years old you can expect online play to be dead. Trust me, this is one Platinum trophy that you won't be winning.
As either Cop or Criminal Racer you take to the roads in the fictional Seacrest County and all of its varied wilderness on various missions including simple time trials, races, duels, takedown missions, utterly infuriating rapid responses, interceptors and, obviously, hot pursuits in which you must obliterate all other rivals. The game can frequently be very exciting and is very addictive but it is bogged down by lengthy crash cut-scenes, long load times, an overload of visual information bombardment between missions, and cars that handle simply terribly. The aforementioned rapid response missions are a nightmare as for every strike on any object the counter will add 2 seconds to your already tight time limit. Once you slam into the guard rail you'll never get control of your car back and you'll just be slamming from side to side across the road. You'll never beat the mission.
Also, unlike Burnout Paradise, the XBM option is not available, meaning you cannot play your own tunes during the game and must stick to the licenced soundtrack. It's decent, but it's nowhere near as innovating and visionary as the soundtrack to Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed. Though, overall, it's a much better game than Need for Speed: The Run.
I managed to unlock just 37% of the trophies. Any higher would require online play and purchase of the DLC. It gave me a few days of fun, but I'll never go back to this.
