After years of street racing and closed circuits, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit returns to the series' roots - scenic tracks, cops versus racers face-off, and, of course, exotic and super cars.

The game is set in the Seacrest County, the land of sunny beaches, snowy mountains, hot deserts and high forests. Its roads are extremely popular within racers community and, hereupon, are filled with cars from all over the world. Because of that, the local police department has to be at one level with law violators in order to keep citizens safe.

You begin the career as a racer and a cop simultaneously. Each one has 20 ranks to achieve, gaining in reward new cars. The racing events are divided into four groups, based on participating car types: sports, performance, super, exotic and hyper, unlocked only when the previous one is finished. Unlike the similar Burnout Paradise, they are accessible only from the map. As a racer, you will experience sprints, time trials and races, with or without police presence. The Law Enforcer's job is a reverse side of the coin - fight the racers and bust them by different means.

Like in old Need for Speed games, the accent is made on the most powerful cars of the world, with Subaru WRX STi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X at the very bottom and Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport with Koenigsegg CCXR Edition at the top, total of 64.