Need For Speed: High Stakes

Text by: wikipedia.org

Need for Speed: High Stakes is a 1999 racing video game developed by EA Canada and EA Seattle and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth game in the Need For Speed series and a follow-up to Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. The game received positive reviews from critics.

Need for Speed: High Stakes is a racing game where players must drive exotic cars on various tracks set in North America and Europe. The game allows one or two players to race against computer-controlled opponents or compete against each other via split-screen. Cars are grouped into categories and range from affordable models such as the BMW Z3 and the Chevrolet Camaro to sport cars such as the Ferrari F50 and the McLaren F1. Cars can take damage when colliding with objects, affecting their appearance and performance. Each track has multiple variants, including the direction, which can be forward or backward, and a mirror mode, which reverses curves left-to-right and right-to-left. Races can take place at night or during the day and may include weather conditions.

High Stakes features several game modes, which include Single Race, Hot Pursuit, Tournament, Knockout, and High Stakes. Single Race is a customizable mode where players can participate in a single race. Options include the car and track selection, and the number and skill level of computer-controlled opponents. Hot Pursuit is a single race mode that includes police pursuits attempting to stop racers who abuse speed limits. Pursuits have the ability to request back-up, roadblocks, and spike strips if necessary. Players can choose to control either the racers or the pursuits. If there are two players, both can team up as pursuits attempting to stop computer-controlled racers or play as racers evading computer-controlled pursuits. It is also possible for one player to race against computer-controlled opponents while another tries to stop them as a pursuit.

Tournament and Knockout modes are pre-set events that consist of a series of races on different tracks. In a Tournament, players are awarded points for their finishing position in each race. The racer with the most points at the end of a Tournament is the winner. In Knockout races, the last opponent at the end of each race is eliminated. The winner is the final racer left after all of the opponents have been knocked out. Event races races award players with a cash prize, which can then be spent on repairing, purchasing, or upgrading cars for subsequent races. Completing pre-set events is essential to progress through the game, as they unlock more cars and tracks and, in some cases, additional events. Some events might have vehicle restrictions or require players to pay an entry fee. High Stakes is a race mode that consists of only two opponents, where the winner is given the loser's car instead of a cash prize. In the PlayStation version of the game, this mode is optional and can only be played by two players in a single race, best-of-three, or best-of-five series. The winning player gets the losing player's car transferred to their memory card.

Unlike the PlayStation version of the game, the Microsoft Windows version features a Career mode that organizes all of the game's pre-set events into Tiers. Each Tier consists of a number of Tournament or Knockout events and may include a High Stakes race, where the player must bet their car against a computer-controlled opponent. If the player wins a High Stakes race, they can then sell or use the loser's car to progress through the Career mode. When a Tier is completed, more challenging ones are gradually unlocked. Completing the most challenging Tiers generally requires players to purchase and upgrade expensive cars. The Microsoft Windows version also includes a online multiplayer mode, allowing players from two different computers to play together via modem or serial link, or up to eight players to race against each other over a local area network or the internet.

High Stakes was developed by EA Canada as a follow-up to Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. When Hot Pursuit was completed, the development team took some days off and brainstormed ideas for their next project based on feedback from gamers and online sites. These included the game's car damage system and being able to play as a police pursuit. The title "High Stakes" was chosen to convey the game's sense of risk and consequence, an element that senior producer Hanno Lemke felt was missing from many racing games. This was represented in the game's High Stakes mode, where a player can lose a saved car in a race, along with all the money they had spent on upgrading it. The fact that cars can take damage, requiring players to spend money and repair them, was considered another contributor to that sense of risk and consequence, as it can potentially lead players into debts. Before implementing the car damage system, the game's publisher, Electronic Arts, had to spend a considerable amount of time convincing car manufacturers to let their licensed cars take in-game damage. The game marked the return of the Porsche license, which had been absent from racing games since Porsche Challenge in 1997.

Creating a sense of realism was equally important. Feaures such as customizable license plates, functional turn signals, hazard lights, and reverse lights were implemented to make cars more believable, while extra details such as car interiors and drivers were made visible during gameplay. One of the biggest challenges the development team faced was the fact that the studio had to move offices during the Christmas 1998 season. It ocurred in the middle of a crunch period the development team was facing. This resulted in a loss of three weeks of work time, requiring developers to work late night hours over subsequent weeks to meet the release deadline. The game was confirmed to be in development in December 1998, after information on the game had been leaked by some sources. It was originally released for the PlayStation on March 24, 1999. The Microsoft Windows version, which was developed by EA Seattle, was announced on April 23, 1999, and went gold on June 10, 1999. It was released on June 18, 1999.

High Stakes received "favourable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. An unnamed reviewer of Next Generation's June 1999 issue said that the same PlayStation version "has taken the impressive gains of Hot Pursuit and added more than enough new features and modes to attract series fans and newcomers alike. If you like fast cars – or just running from the cops – you'll love this game." Three issues later, Buck DeFore of the same magazine (now labeled as NextGen) said of the PC version, "Greater than the sum of its parts, High Stakes has fun where it counts – in spades." In Japan, where the PlayStation version was ported and published by Electronic Arts Square on June 17, 1999, Famitsu gave it a score of 30 out of 40. In the UK, Steve Merrett of Official UK PlayStation Magazine gave the same version eight out of ten. However, Merrett also said that (like its previous installment) it could not compete with other racing titles such as Gran Turismo and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4.

Neil Mouneimne of Computer Games Strategy Plus gave the PC version four stars out of five, saying, "Combine the variety of gameplay modes, slick presentation, and challenging AI and what you have is the most polished example of showroom racing yet." Glenn Wigmore of AllGame gave the same PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a great follow up to the earlier games in the Need for Speed series, as it has many new cars and features for you to try out. Also with the 3D card and internet support, this game is a winner." However, The Jaded Critic gave the PlayStation version three out of five, calling it "a playable and entertaining racer with problems. It seems almost threadbare in places due to the lack of attention in the physics, design, and multi-player aspects. Casual racing fans will probably get a kick out of it, but the hardcore gamers will be left wanting more."

In the German market, the PlayStation version received a "Gold" award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) by the end of July 1999, indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The PC version was named the best racing game of 1999 by CNET Gamecenter, and by Computer Gaming World. It was a runner-up for Computer Games Strategy Plus' prize in this category, which ultimately went to Dirt Track Racing. The staff wrote, "Graphically, it has few peers. And the High Stakes mode really made it more than just another pretty face." The game was also a nominee for GameSpot's "Driving Game of the Year" Award, which went to NASCAR Racing 3; and for PC PowerPlay's "Best Driving/Racing" award, which went to Grand Theft Auto 2.