Need For Speed II: High Stakes
(Electronic Arts for Windows 95/98)
by Brian Johnson
From now on, there will only be two ratings for video games and they shall be modeled after Homer Simpson: Good and Groin-grabbingly Good. Need For Speed II is brought to us by Electronic Arts, the wonderful, wonderful, folks who gave us Sega NHL Hockey and other games which you pissed away your family’s tuition money in front of. Right off the bat, props to Electronic Arts for all the great memories and thanks to the University of Vermont for allowing me to pick up my Sega after I was thrown out of school. That aside, I say only this, for all the men in the house, your jewels are safe. NFS is good, but just that short of groin-grabbingly.
That’s not to say that NFS lacks the proper punch in the pouch kinda action, there’re some testosterone-inducing ideas being brought to the screen here. I don’t know about the rest of you, but it seems like forever ago since I sped through the German countryside in a car that would make James Bond call me Euro-trash. Switch race modes to Hot Pursuit and you can have more police on your tail then the Wild Bunch had federalies. On the other hand, if your more Roscoe P. Coltrane than Bo Duke (note to the folks at TNN, more Tom Wopat, dammit), then you may find yourself behind the wheel as Johnny Law. Now I love a good car chase as much as the next slack-jawed fan of Fox’s Most Dangerous Police Chases, so it was of particular interest to me to finally get a chance behind the wheel of various cars I wouldn’t be allowed to valet park, much less speed away from the police in.
Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the program… There are several options for playing – regular arcade style, which would be standard racing, the aforementioned, and personal favorite, Hot Pursuit. Finally, the racing circuits, in which you earn money enabling the player to purchase better, faster, and flashier cars. In any case, the action is fast and furious, but the controls on the PC are a bit lacking in overall driving simulation. Using the cursor keys creates sort of a ten-drink-drunk style of automobile operation. My first few times down the track, I swerved more then Robert Downey Jr. on weekend furlough. Slowly, if not surely, the controls become slightly easier to master, although they’re never quite steady. This, I’m sure, is quite different if you have a joystick or controller, as in the case of the PlayStation version also offered by EA.
Once again, I must congratulate the software programmers who in there infinite wisdom get you so excited by the opening movie that you almost don’t care that the game is just Pole Position on steroids. I don’t think I’m being obtuse wondering why, when they can run an awesome demo crystal-clear on my computer, my game looks like such crap? Then again, if the utility companies can remotely shut off your power, how come a technician has to come to your house to turn it back on? Like all the other inequities in this world, NFS may require you to purchase a more advanced 3D game card then most computers have standard. NFS requires DirectX certified drivers, which according to the users guide, are available on all Windows 95/98 systems. If you’re thinking of buying this for your PC, make sure your system carries an advanced enough video card, because they don’t come cheap. In closing, if you’re looking to imagine yourself behind the wheel of some of the world’s finest and most expensive pieces of road machinery, or if your license has been suspended and you’re looking to relive the thrill of blinding speed and flashing blue lights, or if you’re like me and just want to pretend you’re a whole lot richer and more daring then you really are – check out Need For Speed 2. I guarantee you haven’t had this much fun in a car since the Cape Cod police found you naked in the back of a Honda – you know what I’m talking about.
