I've loved the past Need for Speed games (Well maybe not NFS2) So I had to give Need for Speed High Stakes a try. And I have to say it's the best of the series. You have the chance to play cars like: BMW Z3 Roadster & M5, Mercedes SLK 230 & CLK-GTR, Camaro Z28, Aston Martin DB7, Jaguar XKR, Corvette, Ferrari 550 & F50, Porsche 911, Lamborgini Diablo SV & Mclaren F1 GTR. (not counting the secret cars and cop cars) And there's about 10 tracks. A lot of new features are a lot like Gran Turismo. Like an account, and you have to buy the cars. A new feature is the damage, Your car gets dents, broken headlights, Windshields and more. And you'll have to pay to repair the damage. Another great new feature is you get the play as the cops in hot pursuit. You have to stop 10 cars and arrest them before a timer runs out. You even get to talk to dispatch and call for backup, roadblocks and spike strips. The Cars in this game look better then any I've ever seen. They are so detailed you can see into to the car and see the driver and dashboard. You can even customize you license plate. And it will say it on the car. They also added a Customize feature. It's no Gran Turismo, but its good enough. There's only three custom jobs to do. The Graphics, The tracks, The handling all done vary well. Even to sound. When you play in Hot Pursuit the cops talks to each other and know every detail. From the cars their chasing to their location on the track. Overall I still think Gran Turismo is the best racing game ever. But this game is a great second. If you loved NFS3 this game is a must have.
PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS
GRAPHICS: 10 MUSIC/SOUND: 9.5 CONTROL: 9
ORIGINALITY: 9 SECRETS: 10 FUN/REPLAY: 10
OVERALL: 9.5
(thanks to ign for the screen shots)