Need for Speed 4 High Stakes: It plays very much like Need for Speed 4, but with some extra play modes and one big added feature.
I
reviewed Need for Speed 4 more than a few months ago and loved the game. It had
a few shortcomings, but they were minor and insignificant compared with the
outstanding gameplay and graphics. When I first played Need for Speed 4, I
thought it was vastly superior to Need for Speed II. Now that I've played the
next Need for Speed game, High Stakes, I have to ask myself: Does it surpass
the third installment as easily as the third surpassed the second? Not exactly.
That doesn't mean the game is bad or even worse than Need for Speed 4. It just
isn't a huge leap in terms of graphics and gameplay.
Those
who buy this game should realize that it plays very much like Need for Speed 4,
but with some extra play modes and one big added feature.
The
biggest feature added to the game is car damage, which we've all been crying
for since the inception of this fine arcade racing series. I'm happy to say
that on this count, the game benefits greatly from damage modeling. All cars
have ratings for body, engine, suspension, and handling. Too many bumps,
scrapes, and crashes will bring those ratings down. At first, the damage is
subtle, but once you start racking up the collisions, you'll see the car's body
start to warp, the windshield and windows break, and the engine start to smoke.
Tires will be off kilter, and you'll notice the performance of your car
suffering commensurately. There is no way to fix your car during a race, so you
are in a bind should the damage be extensive. There is a status window on the
top right corner of your screen, though, so you can monitor your damage and
respond accordingly. You might want to be less reckless if you see the red
damage-indicator bar overtaking the blue status bar. For Need for Speed purists
who don't want to play with damage, this option can be toggled off.
Although
damage cannot be repaired within a race, it can be repaired between races if
you are playing in the new career mode. Unlike the tournaments in Need for
Speed 4, this career mode has higher stakes attached to it, if you'll pardon
the pun. You start you off with a wad of cash and asked to purchase a lowly BMW
Z3 or a Mercedes SLK 230. Then you enter a series of circuits organized into
tiers. As you advance through the tiers, you earn more money, which you can use
to repair your car between races, upgrade your existing cars, or buy new
vehicles. There are three different types of circuits in the career play mode.
There are regular races, where you try to amass the most points over three or
more tracks. There is a knockout mode, where the last-place finisher in each
race is eliminated from the circuit. And there is a high stakes mode, where
it's you against one other driver with your cars on the line. Each circuit has
an entry fee and offers the finishers varying amounts of cash depending on how
they placed. In the high stakes mode, your entry fee is your car, and the prize
is the loser's vehicle. It's a quick way to earn a car but also a very quick
way to lose one.
With
ten tiers to race, and multiple circuits within each tier, there is a lot of
gameplay in the career mode. The career mode also cleverly forces you into
making hard choices on how to manage your car and money. Do you pay the $8000
to upgrade your car's suspension and engine, or do you save the money and hope
you can win enough in the next race to buy an all-new ride? The additional car
damage and repair costs also force you to race a little smarter. In addition,
persistence is rewarded, as successive victories unveil more expensive levels
of cars, bonus cars, and bonus tracks.
It
would be too much to ask of a gamer to play through the entire career mode in
one sitting, so the game does save your progress, although you don't have the
option of saving between races in a circuit.
Aside
from the career mode, there are other modes of play that make their return, as
well as some new ones we haven't seen before. There is the normal arcade mode,
where you only commit to one race at a time, as well as Need for Speed 4-style
tournament play. Then there is the police-chase hot pursuit mode, which is more
robust in this version. There is the previous mode of hot pursuit but also two
new versions, both of which add a twist to the gameplay and even more value to
the overall package. Once again, though, not all cars are available in hot
pursuit.
Of
course, then there are all the options that the Need for Speed series is known
for. You can tweak all your cars, adjust graphic details, and toggle off
various gameplay elements like weather, night driving, and the existence of
traffic. There is a spectacular car showcase that has a slide show, inside
view, and detailed specs on all the cars. And lastly, there is the full suite
of multiplayer options, although EA's Internet racing network still isn't final
at this stage.
There
is really very little to criticize about this game. Some of the graphics aren't
great, such as the dust-cloud sprites. And some of the tracks are boring, with
little ambient detail. I thought the soundtrack was a weak imitation of
Wipeout's, with some annoying animal noises thrown in for bad measure. There is
also the matter of the feel of the gameplay being similar to Need for Speed 4.
High Stakes doesn't feel like a sequel, even though it is a very good game on
its own.
In
essence, Need for Speed: High Stakes is Need for Speed 4 with car damage, a new
career mode, new cars, and new tracks. It plays like its predecessor but just
has so many more extras. If you already own Need for Speed 4, you have to
decide whether those new features are worth the asking price. But if you don't
have Need for Speed 4, then this will be a rare treat among PC racing games.
You'll enjoy the graphics, the fast gameplay, and the plethora of cars and
tracks at your disposal.
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