Choose Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Choose Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit if you want the Online PvP and PvP side of the pairing. 5,277 Steam reviews back the pick.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit vs Screamer
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Screamer both land in Racing on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both are Racing games on Steam. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) is 7 years older than Screamer (2017). Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit scores higher on Steam reviews (77.3% positive) than Screamer (72.7% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Screamer
Choose Screamer if it's the newer release (2017) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Screamer launched in 2017.
Both Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Screamer sit in Racing on Steam and both list Multi-player, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit |  Screamer | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Genres | Racing | Racing |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Unrated |
| Price | Price unknown | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 77.3% positive (5,277 reviews) | 72.7% positive (22 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player |
| Developers | Criterion Games | Graffiti |
Side by side
- Both are Racing games on Steam.
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) is 7 years older than Screamer (2017).
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit scores higher on Steam reviews (77.3% positive) than Screamer (72.7% positive).
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is Deck Playable on Steam Deck; Screamer has no Deck rating yet.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit vs Screamer — FAQ
- Should I play Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit or Screamer first?
- If you want chronology, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) came out before Screamer (2017). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Screamer similar?
- They overlap on Racing on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Does Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is rated Deck Playable by Valve. Screamer doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.