Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit images look shiny, fast

After the critical success of Burnout Paradise, gamers should only have to hear two words to grab their attention: “Criterion Games.”

The developer is back this fall with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, it’s arcade-style take on the popular franchise, bringing wild police car chases back to the series for another go. But it’s not just the fast-paced action that you should be interesting, Criterion also has a key social component called “Autolog” where players can issue challenges and keep up with friend’s game progress. Publisher Electronic Arts says we’ll see even more about that at gamescom next week.

In the meantime, take a look at these new screens that have nothing to do with “Autolog.” They’re just really pretty. I had a dream that a playable demo of this game was released (and soon), but we’ll just have to wait to see if that one comes true, won’t we?