Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed's long-standing popularity in the driving game market could have taken some knocks in recent years. So, Electronic Arts decided to give it a twist and bring in Burnout Paradise developer Criterion Games to add some pep.

Along with the pep, the UK-based developer has also added multiple weapons and an environment called Seacrest County that is several times bigger than the Paradise City environment featured in Burnout.

In Need for Speed, gamers play as Cops or Robbers in high-speed, challenging chases.

While the game majors on driving the kind of physics and collision detection and display that Criterion is rightfully famous for, at the core of is something called Need for Speed Autolog.

This is a system that connects the gamer's online friends within the game itself. This enables players to share and compare race data including pictures and challenges. Essentially the system creates challenges based on the data it receives from the network of players.

This is combined with the Career mode - a first for the Need for Speed franchise - Hot Pursuit, wherein points and achievements are linked back via Autolog.

As a Cop or a Robber, the player has access to a wide variety of weapons and tactics - in limited supply - to deploy in order to either evade capture or stop the "crims".

Cars included in the game (with others being unlockable) include the Lamborghini Reventon and the Pagani Zonda Cinque.