Police heat explained
The stars in the top corner of the screen are your heat, Cyber Surfer's wanted level. It goes from zero to five, and every star changes the road. Here's exactly what raises it, what each level brings, and how to bring it back down.
What raises your heat
- Speed cameras: +1 star. Cameras hang over the road from the very first stretch: the first one at 260 meters, then one every 260 meters or so, coming closer together the further you drive and the more stars you have. A camera only flashes you if you drive under it on the ground. Hop, ride a truck roof or hover underneath and it can't.
- Smashing traffic: +½ star. Every car you plow through with boost, Nitro or the Force field raises your heat a little. So does a car you stomp from above, or one you hit in the moment of invincibility after a skill or a boost. It's fun, and the police notice.
- Near misses: +½ star for every third. Three near misses in a row, each within two and a half seconds of the last, add half a star.
Smashing cones doesn't raise your heat, and neither do tricks.
How heat cools down
Drive three seconds without earning any new heat and it starts to fall, at a rate of one star every twelve seconds. A five-star chase takes a full minute of clean driving to cool off completely, so in practice you'll want a skill to help (see below).
What each star brings
One star: a warning
Nothing chases you yet, but you're one camera away from the helicopter.
Two stars: the helicopter
A helicopter arrives and sweeps its searchlight across the road. If the light stays on you for 0.7 seconds, it locks on ("Spotted!") and calls in a police cruiser. Cruisers only come after a lock, so the helicopter is the one to beat. Tunnels, Smoke and an EMP all break its lock, and an EMP shoots it down for 15 seconds.
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Three stars: the box-in
Up to two cruisers can chase you now. A chaser rides alongside you, blinks its lights for 0.7 seconds, then swerves into your lane, so when you see the blink, move or jump. From three stars a cop may also get ahead of you in your lane and slow down, closing the gap from 26 meters to 9 to box you in. It gives up after 11 seconds.
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Four stars: roadblocks begin
Each helicopter lock now calls in two cruisers instead of one. And while the helicopter has you, a roadblock is called in every 12 seconds: barriers and parked cruisers across two lanes, with one gap to squeeze through.
Five stars: everything
Up to three cruisers (only one while the Interceptor is chasing you). Spike strips across one or two lanes (the first after four seconds, then every 13 to 24 seconds); they're low, so hop them. Roadblocks on their own schedule (the first after ten seconds, then every 24 to 40). And the armored Interceptor, the boss of the chase.
Can the police catch you?
No. There's no "busted" in Cyber Surfer. The police can only end your run the same way traffic can: by being something you crash into. A cruiser swerving into your lane, a roadblock barrier or a spike strip is as solid as any car. Treat the chase as moving obstacles that aim for you, and it gets a lot less scary.
Takedowns: making the cops pay
A cop goes down when it crashes into traffic or a barrier, gets hit by an EMP, gets stomped from above, or gets rammed by you while you're boosting or using Nitro or the Force field. A takedown is worth 500 points for every star you have, so 2,500 at five stars. Smashing through a roadblock counts too. That's the trade at the heart of the game: more heat is more danger, and more points.
The Lane Laser and Shockwave also take cops out, but score their own smaller bonuses ("Vaporized" and "Repelled") instead of takedown points.
How to lose the police
Smoke
Use it while you're spotted and your heat drops straight to zero, for 250 points. The best escape in the game, except during an Interceptor chase, when it doesn't wipe your heat.
Decoy
For five seconds the cruisers and the helicopter chase a hologram in another lane. Use it to get out of a box-in.
EMP
Takes down every cop within 40 meters and knocks the helicopter out of the sky for 15 seconds. No helicopter means no lock, and no lock means no new cruisers.
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Drive clean
Hop under cameras, avoid smashing or stomping traffic and space out your near misses. After three quiet seconds the stars start to fade.
Good news: the more heat you have, the more often skill boxes appear, and the more likely they hold fighting skills like the Lane Laser, Shockwave, EMP, Smoke and Decoy. See the skills guide for the odds.