Interview: Criterion's Matt Webster Talks All Things Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Written Thursday, September 30, 2010 By Dan Webb

For a lot of people, the best news to come out of E3 was not only that Criterion were back, but more the fact that Criterion were back, and they were set to put Need For Speed back on the map.

Whilst down at EA's Guildford offices last week, we caught up with Criterion's Senior Producer, Matt Webster, to ask him all the burning questions, like: which Need For Speed did they take inspiration from for Hot Pursuit? Does the leak of NFS: Shift 2 detract away from their refocusing of the franchise? What did they do to get a franchise that had lost its way, back on track?

All those burning questions and more crop up. If you've not checked out our recent hands-on with the game either, don't forget to check that out.

User Comments

Forum Posts: 665	Comment #2 by mentaljason Thursday, September 30, 2010 @ 09:51:03 PM	(0)
	@1 Your life is complete now

Forum Posts: 56	Comment #3 by fuelstaind Thursday, September 30, 2010 @ 10:10:43 PM	(0)
	Most Wanted was awesome with Carbon a good second. Prostreet sucked. I had hopes for Undercover after they realized their track game sucked. It wasn't much better. I haven't even bothered with Shift. But Criterion and Hot Pursuit are going to be an unbeatable combonation.

Forum Posts: 0	Comment #4 by asilent boom Thursday, September 30, 2010 @ 11:31:39 PM	(0)
	The more gameplay I see of this the more I want it. I'll probably end up picking this up on release.

Forum Posts: 126	Comment #5 by Earth Djinn Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 03:25:29 AM	(0)
	I am so pumped for this game. Its one of my 2 or 3 most anticipated titles for the rest of the year.

Forum Posts: 92	Comment #6 by Murn Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 04:46:07 AM	(0)
	"All those burning questions..." Was that an attempt at a pun, as Criterion made Burnout, or am I just being really nit-picky? This game is looking better the more I hear about it.

Forum Posts: 69	Comment #7 by adbailey18 Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 04:46:52 AM	(0)
	@3, for the price you can pick Shift up for now, I would recommend you give it a try. I didn't have any hopes for it but gave it a shot and thought it was enjoyable. Hot Pursuit is looking rather good though and will definately be picking it up! Hope there's a demo though.

Forum Posts: 4596	Comment #8 by hydrosugar Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 04:57:13 AM	(0)
	cant be bothered watching the interview but cant wait for the game i hope nothing is taken away from it while they waste there time making shift 2. hotpursuit will be better gonna pick it up on release day 1 of 3 games i want by years end(off the top off my head at least)

Forum Posts: 39	Comment #9 by AnInsaneClown124 Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 08:09:05 AM	(0)
	i can not wait for this game

Forum Posts: 69	Comment #10 by Shockwave Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:12:48 PM	(0)
	I just pre ordered it at gamestop, hopes it doesn't disappoint.

Forum Posts: 13	Comment #11 by Zarbon001 Tuesday, October 12, 2010 @ 08:56:13 PM	(0)
	Great to see that they are finally going back to what made them a great franchise.

Forum Posts: 714	Comment #12 by Inyaface13 Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 02:12:28 PM	(0)
	I don't really have the attention span for British accents but what have they said about car customization? I mean the Burnout series SUCKED IMO and if this game don't have the robust car customization that made Need for Speed famous is like taking Guns out of Modern Warfare 2.

Forum Posts: 0	Comment #13 by xGreen Tigerx Monday, November 01, 2010 @ 08:59:25 PM	(0)
	Hope this game is better than shift

Forum Posts: 2	Comment #14 by LanceLOT2107 Monday, November 08, 2010 @ 10:47:28 AM	(0)
	All i can say is this is a perfect match between franchise and developer. I remember saving my allowance for nfs: hp2 in 7th grade. I'm fine without car customization. Need for speed's customization really only started w/ underground. Before that you basically just picked a color. I have been a burnout fan since i bought 1&2 on my gamecube and 3 on xbox. My first 360 game was burnout revenge. Demo was awesome and I can't wait for 11/16

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Game Info

Developer:
Criterion Games

Publisher:
Electronic Arts

Genre
Racing

Release:
US: November 16, 2010
Europe: November 19, 2010

Collection:	1593
Wishlist:	234

Screenshots

Videos

My360Achievements

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