It’s game on at Toronto City Hall.

In the latest instalment of the long-running Need for Speed franchise, U.K.-based developer Criterion Games has brought the heat to downtown Toronto, using scenes from Nathan Phillips Square and city hall as backdrops for adrenaline-fueled police chases and tire-squealing burnouts.

Released in late October, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 — the 19th game in the series — takes place in the fictional city of Fairhaven, a speed junkie’s paradise with its sprawling, wide-open streets.

Based on a “police versus street racer” theme, the game challenges players to become the “most wanted” racer in Fairhaven. Through the city’s twisting streets, players can smash expensive sports cars through billboards and race through industrial parks, all the while avoiding spike strips and roadblocks, to escape cops on the chase.

And at some point, the high-octane game will take drivers through a fairytale version of Nathan Phillips Square, a pristine concourse with a mountainous backdrop where the Freedom Arches double as car ramps.

If you’ve even dreamed of careening across the square in a Lamborghini or Aston Martin at 300 km/h, here’s your chance.

“It’s something fun happening at city hall for a change,” said Councillor Peter Milczyn, who had yet to play the game but thought the city hall scenes were “really cool.”

It’s unclear how city hall made it onto the Need for Speed map; phone calls to the U.K. company were not returned by deadline. However it came to be, the scenery came as a welcome surprise to not just Milczyn, but also to members of Toronto’s gaming community.

“It’s always exciting to see Toronto in a game,” said Jeff Alyanak, 23, a “very frequent customer” at A & C Video Games on Spadina St. “It’s cool to be able to interact with the environment in a way you normally couldn’t.”