| Need for Speed III by Bubba "Masterfung" Wolford |
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Reviewers Specs:
OK! You caught us. Yep, this is NOT a true simulation (or is it?). What can I say? I LOVE this game. A whole bunch in fact. When we attended E3 this past year, it was our own editor that chose this same game from Electronic Arts as Best of Show for the "Other" category. Well, here it is now, finally released, and looking great.
How many times have you come home from work or school, tired and worn out, just wanting to sit in your chair and play a game while relaxing, and not have to worry if a MiG or Sue was pulling on your rear, warming up his Archers? Even with Falcon 4 residing on my hard drive, I have times where I want to play something that's thrilling, not too taxing on the brain and loads of fun. Need for Speed III (NFS3) fits here perfectly. Graphics Well, in a word the graphics are outstanding. The game directly supports Glide and D3D (see limitations noted below) along with software rendering. Frame rates are great under Glide as expected, and 30+ FPS is attainable. The cars have reflections of the ground, sun, sky, shadows and other cars reflecting off them like they just drove of the showroom floor. When driving off the road (oops!) the cars spray leaves and kick-up dirt everywhere. Impressive! Weather is perhaps one of the most impressive parts of the game. Thunderstorms bring volumes of rain, which is nicely splattered on your windshield and can be seen spraying from behind your tires. Weather is implemented in a way I can only dream flight simulations could recreate. Resolutions range all the way up to 1024*768 in 16 bit graphics on a Voodoo2 card. The game pushes Glide mainly but also has support for D3D cards. However, when I tried to select my Diamond Viper V550 in the 3D-device setup utility I was not offered D3D for my TNT card! The NFS box says D3D but when I looked at the Reference card, it states D3D only for the following chipsets: Riva 128, Intel i740 or ATI Rage Pro. Even so, with Software Rendering, resolutions reached up to 1152*864. |
Although I would definitely run the game with my SLI 12 Meg Monster 3D II's, I would have liked to see how well it ran on my TNT. No such luck! I did try it in Software only mode, but I don't recommend it. It ran on my PII 400 at about 1-2 FPS with all the options on. Conversely, running under Glide I was easily running over 30 FPS and never saw the computer chop EVER. Night driving is challenging, and often frustrating. The headlights on the cars (you can switch between normal headlights and using "brights" just as in real life) don't seem to travel far enough to really give you a look at the road ahead. So often I found myself having to follow my way while referring to the display map. However, this is something that EA could easily tweak in a patch (PLEASE). EA has included a utility that allows gamers to switch between video cards outside the game. Unfortunately, there is no way to switch between Glide and D3D while in the game. Glide is obviously the preferred mode of transportation! Tracks and Game Modes There are several tracks to choose from in the game and all of them supporting multiple conditions with weather factored in. Each of them has a unique and independent look. Some are built for absolute speed and some are meant for more careful handling. There are a total of 8 tracks in all and a few "bonus" tracks. All the tracks can be raced backward or in a special "mirror mode" which changes turns for left to right and so forth.
All of the tracks have wonderful effects and uniqueness. However a couple are similar while offering different cutoffs and separate stretches of road. In addition to the different tracks, there are different modes of play. This is one of the areas that NFS3 REALLY accels. You can play alone, or race with other cars to see who can finish first. The player sets the number of laps between 2, 4, or 8, can choose which cars his opponents drive whether the track should be run in weather, at night (BOTH) or which way the players should race on the track or you can go for the ultimate thrill. NFS3 offers a mode where you can race with one other car against police cars patrolling the streets or BE the police cars on the streets. The "Hot Pursuit" option has introduced a new level of excitement for all players. The game in Hot Pursuit works based on the number of laps you drive. You will race one other competitor in single play Hot Pursuit versus the cops. Each track poses different police cars for you to drive against. Some of the pursuit cars you can expect to see are; Ford Crown Victoria's, Lamborghini Diablo's, Chevrolet Corvette's, Range Rover trucks, and many other types. Go to Part II
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Last Updated November 1st, 1998 |
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