Feel the Need for Speed

Need for Speed: High Stakes

*****

EA Sports

PC

$99.95 G

Review: Peter Eley

When Need for Speed 3 came out earlier this year, it was just about the best racing game to that point.

Its excellent graphics, clever gameplay and depth of tracks, cars and options added up to a truly immersive racing experience.

A few months down the track we have High Stakes, the fourth in the Need for Speed series. And people who have recently forked out $100 for its predecessor will have to ask themselves: is there anything new here?

Graphically, the games are identical. The cars are highly detailed and tracks and landscapes are realistically rendered.

But High Stakes does correct one failing of Need for Speed 3 - and one that's common to so many racing games - the lack of damage after crashes.

If you hit another car or a wall in High Stakes, you incur a bit of damage which builds up until the car dies.

It's very much like taking hits in Quake, except that there aren't any health packs lying around.

You can repair your car only after races and at a cost, so reckless driving doesn't pay.

Too much panelbeating and you won't be able to afford the upgrades and new cars that are essential to progress in the career mode.

If you can't be bothered with a drawn-out campaign, High Stakes offers single race mode and a hot-pursuit option in which you have to outrun police or chase crooks.

The action takes place on 18 tracks in countries ranging from Russia to Australia, and you must follow each country's driving rules.

The cars themselves are simply beautiful - the stuff of petrol dreams. There are 21, including Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and McLaren F1s.

And just in case you happen to be a die-hard fan of Aussie cars, EA have thrown in the MHRT Commodore and Ford Falcon XR8.

FX Racing Wheel

*****

InterACT

PC

$99


To get the most out of racing games, you really need a wheel set-up.

Trying to race a Ferrari around a grand-prix track using a mouse is like buttering bread with a fork - possible but not quite right, somehow.

The drawback to racing wheels is their cost, up to $500, out of the reach of many young people.

We were lucky enough to get InterAct's force feedback FX wheel at the same time as Need For Speed: High Stakes arrived and were able to give it a workout.

The FX is slightly misnamed. It's not a wheel in the true sense of the word, but more of a turntable knob attacked to the right of a pistol grip.

You accelerate with your left hand on the trigger trip while controlling the "wheel" and six programmable buttons with your right.

It's easy to use, and gives you heaps more control than a mouse or joystick. And the force feedback, which judders at every bump in the road, made Need For Speed a realistic experience.

At $99, the FX Racing Wheel is pretty hot competition.

* Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz