Rivals features gameplay somewhat similar to the earlier Hot Pursuit, with exotic cars and high-speed police chases. Players take on the role of a Racer or a Cop, with each side of the law offering its own set of challenges, risks and rewards. Rivals features eleven upgradeable gadgets such as EMPs, shockwaves and the ability to call in roadblocks. The game takes place in a fictional location known as Redview County. It's an open world and features over 100 miles (160 km) of open road, larger than that of 2012's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, but on the same size as Criterion's Hot Pursuit. The open world features a similar set-up to Most Wanted, with several jumps, speed traps and unlockable cars, as well as shortcuts that are not shown on the map.
Rivals features a full career progression for both Cop and Racer. When playing as a Cop, there are three types of career that can be followed - patrol, enforcer, and undercover. Progression is by means of Speedlists for Racer and Assignments for Cop, which are sets of objectives which involve dangerous driving, maneuvers, and race standings. When the player completes a set of objectives, the player levels up and unlocks items, and is presented with another set of objectives to choose from. The Autolog system, a competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Hot Pursuit and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series, factors into the progression system, comparing how quickly the player complete an Assignment or Speedlist to other players' times and posts them to a Speed Wall for local and global leaderboards.
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