In an attempt to return to the roots of the Need For Speed series, Criterion have taken an open world map, added lots of the finest sports cars and super cars in the world, mixed in some police cars, and lots and lots of speed. Set in a fictional location known Seacrest County, you can play as both a cop or a racer, progress through the ranks and become the ultimate Law Enforcer Seacrest County has, or become the most infamous racer in the area. As you progress through the ranks you will unlock the hottest cars such as Lamborghini’s, Pagani Zonda’s or Aston Martin’s.

An all new feature is the ‘weapons’ that cop cars in the game can be equipped with. Cars can be equipped with technology such as deployable spike-strips, EMP’s, or even the ability to call in a Police Roadblock. Turn police chases in your favor by tactically deploying equipment to take down other racers.

The online side of NFS: Hot Pursuit uses the all-new ‘Autolog’ system to track progress and compare times with your friends. If playing online, Autolog will log your event times and upload them, if a friend has a better time on that event, you will be immediately notified so that you can re-try the event, beat their time and get the ultimate bragging rights. Prefer to play with friends or rivals directly? Engage in thrilling races police chases online. In races you must finish first to take the spoils, in police chases you will take it in turns to be the racer and police officer. Either way, the online features of Hot Pursuit create intense rivalry with your friends, and is one of the most innovative systems seen so far.

Gran Turismo 5 adds a whole host of new features to the franchise. For the first time ever, car damage simulation has been added, so your car will no longer look pristine after an intense meeting with a wall. New racing licenses in the form of NASCAR and The World Rally Championship have been obtained, meaning that you can race in more types of car than ever before. Blast along dirt tracks in a Ford Focus WRC car or drive in the extreme speed circuit racing that is NASCAR. Also included is the ‘Top Gear Test Track,’ a circuit featured on the British car show ‘Top Gear,’ a circuit that tests your cornering and breaking skills to the limit. On top of this, for the first time in a full release of Gran Turismo 5, cars by the world-renowned car manufacturer Ferrari have been added those that can be purchases, a major selling point for many fans.

Of course, as this is a Gran Turismo release, every car and every track is meticulously detailed, and runs at resolutions of up to 1080p. Gran Turismo 5 is the closest to racing perfection consoles will see for a long time to come. Available now, Gran Turismo 5 is a must-have game for any PS3 game collection.

Race through 210 square miles of iconic San Francisco in over 130 fully licensed muscle cars and supercars. Including famous car marques from around the world including Aston Martin, Pagani, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. Complete challenges, beat missions and take dares from other drivers to progress in-game and get closer to taking down Charles Jericho, hopefully once and for all.

For the first time in any of the Driver games, you can now SHIFT between cars. SHIFT is a new concept which allows John Tanner to instantly switch between cars to help complete missions. However, the ability is limited, and must be charged by landing jumps, drifting and driving in oncoming traffic. Upgrade the feature to SHIFT to cars further away, and use it to a tactical advantage to travel as quickly as possible. Driver: San Francisco looks set to be one of the best games in the Driver series to date, and is promising to be one of the best games of 2011.

Along with the wide range of cars and tracks, Gymkhana and Rally legend Ken Block returns to teach players all of the tricks of Gymkhana in the DC Gymkhana School, one of the many race series in the career mode of DiRT 3.

DiRT 3 takes a new view to the career mode from the previous game in the franchise, with a structured four season career rather than being able to enter any races world-wide. Each season contains a variety of different race series, and offers enough of a challenge to keep you racing for a long time.

Looking for multiplayer racing? DiRT 3 offers split-screen racing in all of the race types, including intense two-player Gymkhana battles. Online has even more potential, with high-speed eight car rallycross races controlled by real people, adding to the mayhem. All of the game modes are available online too, so even when you complete the career there is an endless amount of off-road racing fun to be had