It was a lengthy, arduous duel but, when that last squeeze of nitrous cannoned my Porsche 911 GT3 RS police cruiser into the back of the fugitive Nissan 370Z Coupe, I got my reward. The hapless Nissan flipped skyward, smashing into a nearside guardrail in a cinematic slow-motion spasm of broken glass and crumpled metal.

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit delivers moments of vehicular conflict and channeled road-rage for engrossing cops-vs-speeders combative driving (for the first time since 2005’s NFS: Most Wanted), but hits some potholes along the way.

The single-player features full career modes for both cops and scofflaw street racers, and allows you to alternate between them at will as you compete to generate bounty points to increase your Wanted Level (or Police Rank) and unlock new cars, events and weapons.

But between the spike strips, EMPs, and roadblocks it’s a challenge to keep your high-speed ride moving forward. These momentum-killers can be a pain at times—especially unanticipated spike strip deployments—but they do reinforce the chaotic nature of illegal street racing. It’s all part of a structured and surprisingly addictive adversarial system where you push your chosen ride to its limits in a flat-out effort to win races or stop speeders from endangering public safety (ironically by smashing into them at high speed).

With full licensing from such manufacturers as Audi, Aston Martin and Koenigsegg, developers Criterion (of Burnout fame) have assembled an impressive real-world stable—it’s the prime draw of the game. Sadly, none of these machines feature a proper cockpit view (an unconscionable downgrade from last year’s NFS: Shift) and the simplistic, tail-happy physics modeling only delivers a token challenge. Hot Pursuit is a poor partner for that pricey force-feedback steering wheel—your on-screen Alfa or Mercedes will respond just as well to a basic Xbox 360 Windows gamepad.

Despite the lack in hardcore driving depth, Hot Pursuit’s fictional Seacrest County scenery offers a postcard-pretty if exclusively rural backdrop, and the dynamic lighting and wet-weather effects inject welcome atmosphere. You may not believe you’re driving a real McLaren F1 or Maserati GranCabrio, but you’ll have a nice time faking it.

Hot Pursuit’s revamped interface puts a lot of its energy into helping you brag to your friends. The Autolog GUI immerses you in a Facebook-style suite of connected features where you can navigate to your single-player career map; post photos and comments on your “Wall” or connect directly through to your friends’ games to compare stats, exchange pictures and perform other social networking activities. You can also connect with up to eight players (friends and/or strangers) for a hiccup-free online multiplayer contest—including Race, Hot Pursuit or 1v1 Interceptor modes. EA might be using these features as a way of keeping second-hand sales down, but they’re smart additions that keep the multiplayer interesting.

As a long-time NfS player I’m not wild about some of Criterion’s shortcuts—specifically reduced handling fidelity and MIA features like cockpit artwork and replays—but there is still considerable substance beneath Hot Pursuit’s pearlescent paint job. Once you chase down your first errant speeder with a 200-mph Lamborghini Gallardo police interceptor (or lose that cop with a well-timed shortcut), you’ll likely feel the love too.

The dominant scent in the Lotus garage at the moment isn’t warm Bridgestones or posh deodorant – it’s defeat. Nine races into the 2010 season and the team have yet to score a point. By rights, their new driver, a Finn called Timo Stone, should be ready to throw in the towel. The fact that he isn’t says a lot about Codemasters refreshingly risqué take on F1.

A lazier licence-holder would simply have bolted some next-gen visuals onto a stock genre template, then swanned off to the bank. Codies, to their credit, have tried something far bolder. F1 2010’s career mode provides a fascinating glimpse of what it must be like to be a Lucas di Grassi or a Bruno Senna, a driver at the bottom of the pecking order, cursed with a car that is woefully uncompetitive.

For your first season (careers can span up to seven 19-race seasons) podium finishes are a preposterous pipedream. You are just battling to out-perform your teammate and to meet very modest team objectives. A twelfth place finish or qualifying on the seventh row can be enough to see your stock rise. Keep turning in solid performances and dealing with press questions, and eventually the offers from bigger teams should roll in.

Well, that’s the theory. Right now even meeting the demands of a minnow outfit is tricky. Whether this is down to difficulty levels, or inherent (realistic) car weaknesses, it’s hard to say, but demanding physics can’t be implicated.

The handling models are an entertaining yet faintly patronising mix of the rigorous and the reined-in. Turn off all the driver aids and the steeds still feel a tad sedated. If you’re used to wrestling spirited SimBin and ISI open-wheelers, you may find yourself surprised at how surefooted the cars feel in corners, and how tolerant they are of violent wheel and throttle inputs. The top sims – rFactor, GTR Evo, iRacing – all provide more visual and aural motion cues, meaning driving on the ragged edge is a more intuitive and satisfying business than it is here.

F1’s rides are at their most mischievous when the heavens open mid-race and you’re caught improperly attyred. Dynamic weather can turn a grippy ribbon of tarmac into a perilous puddle-strewn skidpan in a matter of minutes. The camera and spray effects that accompany these downpours are superb. Hurtling through Monte Carlo’s winding streets or Spa’s forested vales with visor bejewelled, and world refracted and reflected, is an unforgettable experience.

AI drivers hold up their end of the illusion well too. They’ll jealously guard racing lines, dart through gaps and clash and run wide on occasions. Whether you’ve opted for the truncated versions of Grand Prix (usually around 10 laps) or the full marathons, you’ll invariably cross the line exhilarated, exhausted, and haunted by what-ifs. What if I’d chosen a faster but less stable setup? What if I’d pitted earlier? What if I hadn’t rear-ended Barrichello at La Rascasse and earned that brutal ten second stop-go penalty? Even with flag realism reduced, the marshals are a merciless lot.

Much work has obviously gone into capturing the sport’s technical and regulatory side. Recent rule changes all loom large in the race strategies that you either devise yourself or leave up to your team.

F1 2010 almost spins out on the final corner thanks to some low framerates on denser tracks, and excruciatingly poor savegame and replay facilities, but its core of solid racing thrills sees it through. If you like your speed duels redolent, gorgeous and glazed with glamour/ rain, this is a risk-free purchase.