As with other Need for Speed games, the basic gameplay of Hot Pursuit is to, usually, cross the finish line in the shortest amount of time.
There are a variety of game modes - some are multiplayer only, and others are single player only. For single player, see the Walkthrough page.
There are ten event types in the game.
Hot Pursuit[edit]
Hot Pursuit is the standard game mode, consisting of a team of racers and a team of police officers. Supporting up to four players on each team (for a total of eight), the Hot Pursuit mode has the racers attempt to reach the end point while being pursued by the police cruisers. The police team will only win if they manage to defeat the entire racing team and prevent them from finishing.
The police team can deplete a racing car's health by ramming, using equipment, or by immobilizing the racer next to the police player for a short amount of time (such as by pinning them against a building).
The racing team, by contrast, is entirely individualistic. Racers must do anything within their ability (including ramming or using equipment on other racers) to reach the finish line first.
A player whose car's health is fully depleted is "wrecked" and is eliminated from the event, with no respawning.
This mode appears in both the Career and the multiplayer aspects of the game.
Interceptor[edit]
Interceptor is a one-on-one game mode, with a single racer against a single police cruiser. Unlike Hot Pursuit, there is no finish line. The racing player must elude the cop player by exiting their area of influence, and then remaining hidden for 30 seconds, or fully deplete the police player's health bar using ramming or equipment.
The police player may win by either pinning the racing player against an obstacle using their own vehicle, or by fully depleting the racing vehicle's health via equipment or ramming.
As there is no finish line in Interceptor mode, both the racer and the cop may free-roam the entire map at once.
This mode appears in both the Career and multiplayer aspects of the game.
Race[edit]
A simple, straightforward race between racer players as they attempt to cross the finish line first. Each vehicle has a large health pool that precludes elimination by ramming, and there is no available equipment to the racers. In this event, only driving skill matters.
This mode appears in both the Career and multiplayer aspects of the game.
Most Wanted[edit]
The Most Wanted game mode is a multiplayer-only VIP mode, added in the Armed and Dangerous DLC (or, for Remastered players, as part of the base game). There are three kinds of players, each with their own objective:
The racing team consists of four players, but one of them is marked in green as the Most Wanted. The rest of the racing team must protect, at all costs, the Most Wanted. The racing team can win either by eliminating all the pursuing police cruisers, or by ensuring the Most Wanted escapes using the rules defined under the Interceptor mode. The police team wins if they deplete the Most Wanted vehicle's health bar by ramming or equipment, or by pinning the Most Wanted.
The police team may continue to eliminate racers by pinning or eliminating their health bar, further exposing the Most Wanted for assault - however, victory will only come to the cop players if they bust the Most Wanted.
Eliminated players do not respawn.
Arms Race[edit]
The Arms Race is a multiplayer-only game mode, added in the Armed and Dangerous DLC (or, for Remastered players, as part of the base game).
Arms Race is nearly identical to a standard race in that it consists only of racers, and the goal is to reach the finish line first. Unlike the normal Race mode, however, players are fully armed with equipment, and will have to contend with randomly placed police roadblocks and helicopters.
The winner is either the player who finished first, or the player who was the closest to finishing if all other players are eliminated.