Need for Speed: High Stakes is a racing game where players race exotic cars on various tracks set in North America and Europe.[1] The game allows one or two players to race against computer-controlled opponents or compete against each other via split-screen.[2] Cars are grouped into categories and range from the more affordable performance models such as the BMW Z3 and the Chevrolet Camaro to the more exotic sport cars such as the Ferrari F50 and the McLaren F1.[3] Cars can take damage when colliding with objects, affecting their appearance and performance.[1] Each track has multiple variants, including the direction, which can be forward or backward, and a mirror mode, which reverses curves left-to-right and right-to-left. Races can take place at night or during the day and may include weather conditions.[4]
High Stakes features several game modes, which include Single Race, Hot Pursuit, Tournament, Knockout, and High Stakes.[1][4] Single Race is a customizable mode where players can participate in a single race. Options include the car and track selection, and the number and skill level of computer-controlled opponents.[2] Hot Pursuit is a single race mode that includes police pursuits attempting to stop racers who abuse speed limits.[5] Police pursuits have the ability to request back-up, roadblocks, and spike strips if necessary.[6] Players can choose to control either the racers or the pursuits.[3] If there are two players, both can team up as pursuits attempting to stop computer-controlled racers or play as racers evading computer-controlled pursuits.[5] It is also possible for one player to control a racer while another tries to stop them as a pursuit.[6]
Tournament and Knockout modes are pre-set events that consist of a series of races on different tracks. In a Tournament, players are awarded points for their finishing position in each race. The racer with the most points at the end of a Tournament is the winner. In Knockout races, the last opponent at the end of each race is eliminated. The winner is the final racer left after all of the opponents have been knocked out.[7] Event races award players with a cash prize, which can then be spent on repairing, purchasing, or upgrading cars for subsequent races.[1] Completing pre-set events is essential to progress through the game, as they unlock more cars and tracks and, in some cases, additional events.[5] Some events have vehicle restrictions or require players to pay an entry fee.[4] High Stakes is a race mode that consists of only two opponents, where the winner is given the loser's car instead of a cash prize.[1] In the PlayStation version of the game, this mode is optional and can only be played by two players in a single race, best-of-three, or best-of-five series.[5] The winning player gets the losing player's car transferred to their memory card.[1]
Unlike the PlayStation version of the game, the Microsoft Windows version features a Career mode that organizes all of the game's pre-set events into tiers.[8] Each tier consists of a number of Tournament or Knockout events and may include a High Stakes race, where the player must bet their car against a computer-controlled opponent.[9] If the player wins a High Stakes race, they can then sell or use the loser's car to progress through the Career mode.[10] When a tier is completed, more challenging ones are gradually unlocked. Completing the most challenging tiers generally requires players to purchase and upgrade expensive cars.[8] The Microsoft Windows version also includes an online multiplayer mode, allowing players from two different computers to play together via modem or serial link, or up to eight players to race against each other over a local area network or the internet.[11]
