Need for Speed: High Stakes

Just like its predecessors, Need for Speed: High Stakes is an action racing game with a large selection of exotic sports cars and many different types of tracks. The trademark Hot Pursuit mode from the first game in the series is still present, where players compete against their opponents on tracks with regular traffic and police cars chasing the racers. The classic chase mode is expanded with two additional modes: Getaway and Time Trap. In Getaway, the player must shake off the police in a given time or, in the role of the police, catch a speeder before time runs out. In Time Trap, an entire race must be completed before time runs out, or as the police, all speeders must be arrested. There are minor differences between the two platforms for this game mode, such as in the spike strips, roadblocks, and backtracking. For example, the latter is only available in the PlayStation version. The chase mode is also available in multiplayer and players can take different sides or race together. It is the first game in the series to introduce a career mode with a series of challenges. Passing these challenges is rewarded with trophies that you can unlock and money that you can spend on new cars, repairs and upgrades. In the PlayStation version, the career mode is divided into two different groups of challenges: Tournament (mandatory races) and Special Event (optional races). The high stakes in the title refer to races in which players use their cars. In the PC version, these are a part of the career mode if the player has more than two cars. In the PlayStation version, two players can insert their memory cards and race against each other. The winner immediately gets the opponent's car and it is immediately deleted from the loser's memory card. In addition to the new game modes, it is also the first game in the series to feature a detailed physics model. For the first time, damage affects both the appearance and performance of the car.