Need for Speed: High Stakes
| Need for Speed: High Stakes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) |
EA Canada (PS) EA Seattle (PC) |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Producer(s) | Tony Parkes |
| Programmer(s) | Daniel Teh |
| Composer(s) |
Rom Di Prisco Saki Kaskas Crispin Hands |
| Series | Need for Speed |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows |
| Release |
PlayStation
|
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (PS) 84.38% (PC) 83.08% |
| Metacritic | (PS) 86/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| AllGame | (PC)    (PS)
|
| EGM | 8.63/10 |
| Famitsu | 30/40 |
| GameFan | 82% |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10 |
| GamePro | (PS) (PC)
|
| Game Revolution | A− |
| GameSpot | (PS) 8.7/10 (PC) 8.6/10 |
| IGN | (PS) 8.8/10 (PC) 7.5/10 |
| OPM (US) | |
| OPM (UK) | 8/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 82% |
| The Cincinnati Enquirer | |
Need for Speed: High Stakes, released as Need for Speed: Road Challenge in Europe and Brazil and Over Drivin' IV in Japan, is a 1999 racing video game released by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation. A version of the game was released for Microsoft Windows-based computers a few months later.
It is the fourth game in the Need for Speed series, once again featuring a host of exotic sport cars and tracks located in Western Europe and North America. High Stakes is particularly notable within the series for being the first installment to include a vehicle damage model and a genre-standard "career" system.
High Stakes builds upon the previous Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. The standard races and police pursuits are bolstered by a new type of race (High Stakes) and two new pursuit modes (Getaway and Time Trap). The now-standard career system was introduced, with its scenarios and budget balancing. Vehicle physics are also improved, chiefly with the introduction of a damage model that affects both the appearance and performance of a given vehicle.
The career system of this entry consists of two modes: "Tournament", straightforward series of races with certain cars; and "Special Event", similar to Tournament, but with various conditions such as with night driving or with a fully upgraded car. As you complete races, you acquire credits which are used to buy new cars for new events and to upgrade old cars to make events a little easier. Completing races also unlocks the tracks for single race purposes, and completing Tournament events unlocks the Special Event events. Beating all events of Tournament or Special Events will unlock one of two secret cars to purchase; the player also gets a free sample at the same time.
The PC version is somewhat different, starting with having everything under a clear "Career Mode". All events are split into "tiers", a selection of 1 to 5 individual competitions. Usually, one of those competitions is a "High Stakes" race, where the player bets their current car.
In High Stakes, two racers bet their cars on a duel; the winner of the race keeps their car and gains the loser's. The player or players must own more than one car to participate in a High Stakes race.
On the PlayStation version, it is a special multiplayer mode, which requires two memory cards inserted; the loser's car is deleted immediately after the race to prevent reloading the save file to potentially save the car. On the PC version, High Stakes races are only found in the Career Mode, and the cars anted are of similar performance to the player's vehicle.
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Wikipedia