I put an early copy of Need for Speed III, Hot Pursuit, through its paces at
http://www.digitalsports.com/pc3/need4speed3/preview.html
Randy Magruder
Digital Sportspage
>I put an early copy of Need for Speed III, Hot Pursuit, through its paces at
>http://www.digitalsports.com/pc3/need4speed3/preview.html
Thanks for the preview, Randy. While I still prefer the open-road
courses of NFS1, the more realistic course in the demo is a BIG
improvement over the "fantasy tracks" of NFS2. It sounds like the rest
of the tracks are similar top the demo one, going for a more realistic
feel? Is that right?
Also, how many tracks are there in all?
Joe
>Also, how many tracks are there in all?
The Playstation version has nine tracks, as well as five bonus "easter egg"
tracks. The track design is EXCELLENT!! Lap times range under two minutes
in Hometown to close to four minutes in The Summit.
Track one (Hometown) is a scenic countryside set in the fall, when all the
leaves have changed colors.
This track has wide turns, with the best chance to achieve top speed.
Track two (Redrock Ridge) is my favorite. This one winds through a canyon,
and has many obstacles to avoid in one part of the track. There's also a
very big jump.
Track three (Atlantica) is set in a futuristic city. This one is alot of
fun. It features many alternate routes, and you must real "thread the
needle" in certain narrow spots.
Track four (Rocky Pass) is the one in the demo. I don't think you could ask
for a better deigned mountain course. It really is insane driving through
parts of this track at 190+ m.p.h.!!!
Track five (Country Woods) is the companion to Hometown. This one is set in
winter, though. There are many 90-degree turns which can be successfully
navigated with power slides.
Track six (Lost Canyons) is another canyon track, but here you actually go
underground through a temple, and then there are numerous paths on different
levels that can be taken, which is great for avoiding cops.
Track seven (Aquatica) is another futuristic city course, which also
features seaside driving. at one point you actually drive through an
underwater tube! (You can even see the Titanic from a certain spot on the
track)
Track eight (The Summit) is another mountain course, but this one is set in
winter. It is also much tougher than Rocky Pass. Lap times here will be in
the 3:30-4:00 range.
Track nine (Empire City) is set in a city going through urban decay. I've
made it to the 8th and last race of the knockout a dozen times, but always
lose when I get to this track. Very challenging. Also, this track does not
have a companion in the PSX version, since EA Canada ran out of time to
design one, so they could get NFSIII out before Gran Turismo. There most
likely will be a 10th track, probably at the expense of the bonus tracks.
You may be wondering what I mean by "companion tracks". Simply put, there
are companions to the first four tracks. Approximately 10-20% of the track
is shared, after which you will take an alternate route onto the other
track. Of course, two of the tracks have different climates, so it looks
different covered in snow.
Bonus track one is "The Room". This one is similar to Micro Machines V3,
where you are in a child's room, and he or she has set up a race track;
pretty cool.
Bonus track two is "Caverns". This one takes place completely underground
in a cave, and is full of columns of rock that must be avoided. It is very
dark, and hard to maneuver through this track without hitting anything!
Bonus track three is "AutoCross". This track is similar to Rally Cross on
the PSX, in that you will doing alot of jumps. The weird thing though, is
that it takes place in a trench is someone's back yard, so you must be in a
Matchbox car! Not much top speed on this one, or on any of the bonus track
for that matter.
Bonus track four is "SpaceRace". This one takes place on a space station,
and is pretty cool except for one area where you must make numerous
90-degree turns to avoid obstacles in a large room.
Bonus track five is "Scorpio-7", and is the coolest. This one is in an
underwater colony, similar to the underwater tube in Aquatica. Very good
graphics, as well.
Note that single or two player racing is allowed on the bonus tracks, but
that's pretty much it. Also, there is no music or announcer on these
tracks. This is really the only area where you may see some "polygon
seaming".
EA Canada really thought of everything when they designed this game, from
being able to choose the default driving views to the added simulation
settings. This game is top notch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMING SOON:
Everything you wanted to know about
the classic 80's movie, "Valley Girl"
http://www.valley-girl.com/
Remove "spam-jammer" to reply
Peace, love and Monkeemobiles,
Galley
