Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)

It does not have the simulation driving style like nfs5:porche unleashed but only the hardcore fans will notice the difference.

This game includes some amazing exotic cars from Ferraris to Porche's to more common cars such as the Vauxhall VX220 and Lotus Elise. You even have cars from different countries such as the Australian Ford TS50 muscle car and American Mustang which are awesome beasts. But you don't get all the cars at once you have to build up points to release them.

The courses are fantastic- filled with windy roads going over lava rivers to underground tunnels and shortcuts galore. Unfortunately the cops know the roads better than you which keeps you on your toes.

One downside is that the PC version was developed by a different company to the main version for the Playstation 2. So it is missing a few features that you will see on the Playstation 2 version. This is also the case with the Xbox and gamecube version because they are the same as the PC version.

Having said that this game is still great and coupled with a steering wheel it feels like you are sitting in an arcade pumping money into an arcade machine. It's that good!

warning: I have heard that the game is compatible with ALL modern video cards except the Radeon 9700 card so it pays to find out if this game supports your card before buying it. Some people have managed to get the game to work by using up to date drivers but on the box the game does not support this card. By the time you read this, it may have been fixed see the forum boards.ea.com for help on this and other probs. Have fun.

In particular the game's handling of controllers (wheels, joysticks) is awful. It can't identify them properly, the force feedback is full of bugs and the calibration of analogue devices is poor at best.

The cars' handling is unrealistic, and the replay facility - one of the great things about previous versions - shows only the angle from the drivers seat.

There is little or no car damage any more and the engine sound effects sound like they've been artificially cobbled together in about 5 minutes.

There is no 'inside the car' view any more , so you can't get the feeling of sitting behind the dashboard.

Overall, a bitter disappointment and is saddening to see that EA seem to have betrayed their heritage. The general view from the users is that EA have put all their effort into the console versions - and it shows.