Open world racers are fun. You've got a whole world (well, maybe a small city at the very most) to drive around in to do all sorts of fun things with your driving skills. Now, add the thrill of being chased by the police while performing certain less-than-legal activities, and you've got a winner of a game series with the Lose the Heat games.

The games may not look quite as pretty as some of the others in the same genre, but it's gameplay that makes a game, not the graphics. And this game has got gameplay in spades. In each of the games, you're given control of a snazzy car that's been tricked out to ridiculous levels of speed, endurance, and durability. You'll need them all, because in each of these games you're also trying to, as the name would obviously suggest, lose the heat. And if you're not familiar with the slang, "heat" is the police.

In this mad and rantic game of cops and robbers you're usually given some sort of package to deliver or some task to complete. To do so, you'll need to drive through the typically open city while avoiding the cops (who are practically suicidal in their dedication, what with jumping onto your car and trying to punch through your windshield) to get to your target in time. You also have to manage to avoid taking too much of a beating, as the cops will try to smash you to pieces if they can, utterly disregarding any semblance of traffic safety.

To aid and abet you, you've got all sorts of fun little areas where you can drive through to cause all sorts of improbable and Michael Bay-esque destruction such as gasoline trucks exploding, lined up police cars exploding, even piled up lumber exploding. Somehow though, your little car manages to survive the rest of the world gone mad. Just about everything in the game seems to be just the slightest nudge away from being turned into a pile of smoking rubble and. it. is. glorious!

The sounds are just as great, with every explosion, every crunch of steel, every bit of burning rubber having its own sound effect. Granted, the sound of police sirens can get a wee bit annoying after some time, but for the most part the music and sound effects overcome that with sheer coolness. You'll be dodging cop cars (who will use every means necessary and unnecessary to take you down) , military helicopters (which have somehow been granted the go-ahead to use missiles on a crowded freeway), police motorcycle (carrying aforementioned suicidally dedicated officers), and much more. Sure, it's absolutely ridiculous, and there's no real plot to be had, but hey, it's the most fun with cops and robbers one can probably have since shooting people to death with locked and loaded fingers as a little child.

So if you're looking for some good, solid action-movie fun, then look no further than these three games, they've got everything you want and more! less