No, nothing to do with the original Highway Patrol from Vortex, but a whole new breed of Highway Patrol. Can there be any job as physically and mentally demanding as a highway cop? Driving for hours at speed with only the law and a powerful handgun for protection, your only reward is large sums of money for every criminal you catch.
You are a rookie cop trying for promotion and eagerly awaiting all the perks that come with it. To gain it you have to stick to the rules and get the job done correctly. Blazing across open country and opening fire on any car that gets in your way is just one way of not doing the job correctly.
Of course, before you can stop the enemy car in true chase style by overtaking it and skidding to a halt to block the road, you have to find it, and that is no mean feat in itself.
The map of the landscape is huge, and full of lots of little interconnected roads, so constant monitoring of the supplied map is a necessity. Not only do you have to keep track of where you are, you also have to keep an eye out for where the opposing car is, and try and work out some feasible way of getting to it. All this while driving. It is tough.
The still graphics are very impressive, the lovely graduated horizon gives a wonderful feeling of distance, and the other cars are large and detailed. The only real problems set in when the things start moving. The update is appalling, and that is only on the roadway. The update of the other cars is even worse. There cannot be any more than six frames from horizon to near distance, and when the cars turn, I am sadly reminded of the ill-fated Crazy Cars.
The sound, on the other hand, is pretty good. The tune that intros the game is a bit weak, but the in-game FX are great. Hear those sirens whine, and the sound of your bullets striking opposing cars and cacti alike.
It does provide some fun, though I find the overcomplicated map system a little off putting at times. Worth a blast, but with smoother scrolling and perhaps an in-game map it would be worth buying.
