Sounds good, looks good, plays even better.
Although at first it seem that a cop mode might be imbalanced, it is the complete opposite: cops have EMPs, helicopters and road blocks, but racers have jammers, turbo and spike strips. The battles are really intense, and it feels perfect.
The career mode is long enough to get used with the game, but once you start playing multiplayer, you'll see that playing with real people is way better. At first it seems kind of different, because players use different tactics than bots, but once you get the hang of it, you'll see the fun.
Interceptor mode is really simple: one cop chasing one racer. It's really competitive, because the only way to escape is to go far from the cop and stay far for 30 seconds. It may sound easy to do, but the cop can call in helicopters and road blocks that also detect the racer and makes it harder for him to run.
Hot Pursuit mode is four racers vs. four cops and it requires precision. Due to the amount of people playing, your life is reduced and you got to be very careful not to crash and lose health for a mistake you could have avoided.
Race mode is self-explaining. 8 people race to see who's gonna cross the finish line first.
In the career mode, there are also time-trials and gauntlet events. Gauntlet events are you with a racer car against several cops while time-trials are self-explaining, but the cop version gives you time penalties for touching cars and barriers.
The 100+ cars from the game are divided in 5 categories so you don't have to worry about outrunning a cop with a Bugatti Veyron while you are driving a Nissan 370Z. The tiers are well divided and none of the cars feel imbalanced. Some cars may be faster than others, but the slower car might have more acceleration or health.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit combines innovation with old-school style racing, and the combination is incredible.