Analyzing the replay value of: Need for Speed 3 on Sony Playstation

Welcome, for this post, we will be analyzing the replay value of racing games and misc genres based on how much sandbox-like freedom you can do in the game, you could have the chance to create game sessions against CPU opponents based on what vehicles you want, cosmetics, options, one-make races, handpicking options, and more(no narrative, no campaign interference, just racing your favorite cars, cosmetics, characters, and levels). Enjoy the ride.



Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit was released in 1998 by Electronic Arts, the third installment of the classic sports car racing franchise, Need for Speed. The game was released for two platforms, PlayStation and PC, however the two ports have very different gameplay, the PlayStation version is developed by EA Canada, while the PC version is by EA Seattle, The focus will be on the PlayStation version, which is based upon NFS 2 and has upgraded gameplay and physics based off of it to provide incredibly smooth arcade or simcade styled racing like always with some of your favorite sports cars in the late 90s, this game has introduced many firsts in the series along with an influential focus on intense police chases, with the cops using maneuvers, Road Blocks, and Spike Strips to hamper your progress. It also introduced new features for track visual customization, such as track direction, time of day, weather, and playing a flipped version of the level called mirrored mode while keeping the same direction of the track you chosen.



How much modes does the game have?

This fully equipped racing game has several modes for when you're playing by yourself, as well as split screen, solo, single race, hot pursuit, solo hot pursuit, knockout, tournament, and practice, which allows you to practice the tracks by yourself with assistance with navigation, braking, and steering, along with a feature that turns need for speed 3 into a rally game with its track direction calls(Easy left, medium right, jump), it offers more than the bare minimum to have good replay value and a fresh experience when you play.



How much content does the game have?

The game features 8 cars, plus 1 hidden car, several color combinations for the vehicles as well as colors exclusive to some vehicles, 9 tracks with multiple visual combinations to race the tracks, and several opponent options, for what you can play by yourself, against a one-on-one opponent, and a full grid of cars of your choice.




How much freedom does the casual player have?

Despite having not that much cars compared to other games of its kind, it still has a decent amount of freedom for you to set up races how and where you like.


How much variety in the competition?

There is some variety despite the limited number of vehicles, unfortunately the Hot Pursuit mode doesn't let you choose Ferraris as playable vehicles, so if you're looking to get chased by cops using a Ferrari all without GameShark, then you are out of luck. When it comes to cosmetics, it appears everybody uses the same color on full grid like Karkas only having red, or Tad only having green, your AI opponents do not go through the entire color library, and the only way to fix this problem is through game shark cheat codes, that allows you to manipulate and change the AI opponents vehicle colors at will, there are plenty to choose from, even colors that are exclusive to certain vehicles.


One-make races?

Yes, just select a single vehicle on one or a full grid in the menu options provided.


Handpick individual vehicles and cosmetics for all?

Not really, either one opponent or a full grid, then the grid will randomly generate. With GameShark codes, you can expand upon this by hand picking vehicles and colors for each individual opponent making the races and car grids even more fresher.


What are some restrictions to the races?

- The El Nino cannot be chosen as an AI opponent, can be fixed using GameShark.
- Each individual AI driver only has one color they always choose, can be fixed using GameShark.
- The Ferrari vehicles cannot be chosen in Hot Pursuit, A restriction trend that continued until the release of Hot Pursuit 2, can also be fixed using GameShark.

These restrictions suck, but they are pretty minor, but it would be great to have access to these using GameShark, as long as you have access to GameShark and the codes that will be provided in this article, you'll be able to get the most out of your Need for Speed 3 experience on PlayStation by experimenting with different cars and colors and having you get as much as possible out of the game. The most important thing to any racing game is replay value, if you are just loading races and it's the same opponents and vehicles over and over, it's not going to do the replay value any justice, and when there's a variety of different grids and stuff to do, the replay value will be benefitted in terms of cosmetic variety in cars and paint jobs for not only the player but the ai opponent cars.


Improvements to the games replay value?

There are some with GameShark.

NFS 3 Custom Grid and more!: The new Gameshark codes that I created and set up allow you to change vehicles for you and the opponent cars, there is a total of eight racers on the grid and they can be modified the way you want, and even allow you access to the Ferrari vehicles in Hot Pursuit or even traffic vehicles and cop cars. The more variety of races that you can create, the better.



Extra colors: Need for Speed 3 on PlayStation has a bunch of extra colors inside the games data that are unearthed by me. All that you need to do with the addresses of those vehicle colors, is to enter the two digit numbers provided from the video into your game to load those specific colors for any vehicle of your choice. If you want to get colorful in Need for Speed 3, these are the codes for you!



Final score:

NFS 3 PSX without codes and mods: SOMEWHAT REPLAYABLE 

NFS 3 PSX with codes and mods: MASSIVELY REPLAYABLE

Due to the regular limitations of this game, using gameshark codes to manipulate the AI opponent cars in terms of machine and colors is your best bet to enjoy one of the best racers on PlayStation like you never did before.

Popular posts from this blog

Replay Value scores with an Offline Sandbox mindset in mind

A new series I'll be starting on my blog is analyzing the offline replay value of racing games based on how much you can do and how enjoyable the gameplay is, I'll be touching other genres as well. If a game is struggling on replay value, mods will be highlighted to improve the replay value of any game. Questions will be answered based on how much you can do with the roster of playable cars and levels provided, useful for the content creators out there, and how fun the gameplay is. Scores will be adjusted based on how much freedom you have to create what you want and play how you want using the games car and track list, all without pesky restrictions and internet requirements! Keep in mind scores will be given if it's between two score titles, for example a score of being between Not Very Replayable and somewhat Replayable, and so on. Here is the score chart, from worst to best: Dead and Forgettable - The worst possible score to have, an absolutely anti-casual and barebones...
Read more

Why offline custom event/custom grids/free play creation features are important in racing games!

Image
There are more to racing games than just pvp online play, and strict, single player campaign modes. This is the statement that I will be starting out with, and why we need this particular game feature to be the standard and on the forefront of modern racing games once again. Without further ado, let's hit the road. I am a casual gamer with a love for action-packed scenarios, automobiles, and of course, car racing games, both arcade and simulation(leaning more towards arcade and simcade), it don't really matter, however I don't have that much time on my hands for long and hardcore play sessions due to real life responsibilities and scenarios, but my love for racing games has never faded away, so I'm always on the hunt for new experiences that are just like the old days of racing games when they have plenty of variety to go around, both old and new, on my downtime. The sad thing about racing games these days, is that they move their focus way more towards online racing, o...
Read more