Here is my review on it:
I have all the PS NFS games and though they were really fun. I had long waited for a PS2 NFS to come out and it did. The game is awesome, especially if you need a break from GT3. IMO the graphics look better, with an actual interior. The tracks are also very detailed and look lifelike with shortcuts, longcuts, and alternate routes. The tracks range in length and there are Circuits as well as Point-to-Point races. There isnt any money in the game, you have credits (you dont spend). When you get certain amounts of credits you can unlock certain cars. Sometimes you need to race clean reaces to unlock cars too. There are two championships, a Challenge mode (single race and you can race a freind, both in World Racing Mode and Hot Pursuit) and others. One thing I noticed as well is the game is a little harder too. Your oppenents actually have senses as well and can tell when your there. You can swerve into them and they honk their horn and flash their lights and try to avoid you. The music is also very good; Bush, Uncle Kracker, Rush, Course of Nature, and Hot Action Cop. Another thing I liked are the Jump Cams and Zone Cams. When you go over a jump the camera goes into a replay camera and watches your car in slow mothion so you can enjoy the whole jump. Depending on the length of your jump, you get credits. The Zone Cams are great too. By hitting L1 the game stops and the camera zooms out and goes around your car 360 degrees once, great for seeing the action around your car. The drivers are neat too. When you use the reverse chase cam to see who is behind you your driver turns his or her head. They also shift the gears when the gear changes. The cars are awesome as well. Great choce of cars and great detail too. Here is a small rundown of each part of the game:
Events: There are two "Event Trees" in the game. One for "World Racing" which is racing with no cops and one for "Hot Pursuit" which has cops. Each even tree has 30 events and some bonus events. In order to unlock more events you need to win the events. You win cars and tracks by winning the events.
Hot Pursuit: I found this to be the most exciting part of the game. You can be the cop, run from the cops, and challenge your friends too. The police cars are: Ford Crown Victoria, BMW M5, Mustang SVT Cobra R, Chevy Corvette, and one of my favorites, the Pursuit Mucialago
. You even get a turbo boost when your the cop to help catch the speeders. Really cool effect too since when you do it small flames come out of the tail pipes
. The Police sound like real people too (unlike in past titles where they sounded computer like). They know actual police tactics too. Police helicopters shoot missles, drop explosive barrels and spikestrips too. When you run into those things or hit a parked cop they activate your E-Brake which makes you want to avoid them more.
I found this game, although not a sim, very fun and enjoyable. Yeah the car dont handle like in GT3 but who cares its fun
. I'd give it a 9/10.