ic-games Review - Need For Speed Underground 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Need For Speed Underground 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Need For Speed Underground 2

Information
Reviewer: Andy Lobley
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Reviewed: Xbox
Genre: Racing
UK Release: 19th Nov 2004
Article Date: 10th Dec 2004
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £39.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 89%

Discuss this review in the Forums

Pros

'carrot' of modding

Feeling of Speed

Varied game play

Cons

Driving to and from races can be tedious

This really is turning out to be the Christmas of sequels, and not just FIFA Football type sequels (same game, updated year in year out), good sequels, great sequels even. I’m talking Half-Life 2, Halo 2, GTA San Andreas and now Need For Speed Underground 2.

Electronic Arts first accelerated into the world of underground street racing over a year ago and produced one hell of a good game. I have always enjoyed racing games, but I always tend to get bored of them, and ultimately rarely play them to their conclusion due to the often uninspiring, repetitive, goalless game play. Need for Speed: Underground was one of the first driving game to really grab me and not let go until hours had passed and I had spent a few thousand more on after market modifications for my ride. The carrot of 'play more and I will give you some twenty inch alloys or another 50 bhp under the hood' really worked well with NFSU, and it works better still with the sequel.

For those of you who aren't in the know, the Need for Speed Underground series is basically the Fast and Furious computer game without the drawbacks of both the expensive licenses and the usual disappointment that seems to accompany movie spin offs. I don't think anyone at EA would deny that the games inspiration came from that movie, as the similarities are so obvious. The aim of the game is basically to start off with an average production car, a very average Peugeot 206 in my case, and modify it until it is a nitrous breathing monster of a vehicle, and then beat everyone in the city with it.

While this is the festive season of big game sequels, it also seems to be the winter of game developers going about sequels in the right way, i.e. if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I’m pleased to report that is exactly what EA have done, they have kept all the aspects that we loved before and added to them, more cars, more race modes, more parts to buy, you can own more cars than before, hell, there's even more scantily clad women starting the races than before! Oh, and once you have tweaked and primed your 4 wheeled beast you can take it online and race there too, hats off EA...

The career mode features numerous difference race modes, all of which have to be completed to progress through the game. There is a great deal of variety in the type of challenge each one poses to the budding street racer in his quest to earn both cash and the respect of his peers, for example in 'Drift' races it matters not who crosses the line first, they are won by power sliding the car around the tight twists and turns to achieve the highest score. Other race modes include 'Drag' which is simply straight drag race between 4 cars, where even the potentially mundane task of driving in a straight line is made truly thrilling by the management of gear shirts, slip streaming and avoiding traffic (and trains!). Only a sequence of perfect gear changes and careful timing of the obligatory nitrous oxide will result in success over the famed 1/4 mile. In addition there are pretty standard, yet very much enjoyable, circuit races, sprint and street races, which pretty much follow the usual race format, but each are characteristically slightly different from each other in terms of the type of course / circuit the race takes place on. A new addition is the Underground Racing League (URL) which is where the cream that float on the top of the cream race, the big boys; and where sponsors get involved, offering lucrative deals of free cars and money.

One of the things that really strikes me about the game is how well the feeling of speed is portrayed to the gamer. These cars can travel well over 180 mph towards the end of the game - a speed that most of us will never experience on the road - but you certainly feel like you are going fast. This is most noticeable when you decide to give your engine that kick up the ass in the form of nitrous oxide, causing the car launch forward and the screen to blur around the edges and everything to come at you extremely quickly. Reactions and luck seem to be equally important to your chances of avoiding on coming cars in this situation.

There really is a hell of a lot to NFSU2, and we haven't even got to the best bit of the game, customising and maxing out your car, which is essentially what’s gives the game its longevity, as it it this that encourages you to continue playing. Seemingly everything can be upgraded to lift your car away from its factory standard state in which you received it, from nitrous, engine and transmission to wing mirrors and painted break calipers - its a very extensive and impressive list. On the performance side, they really do make a difference to your car, in both its speed, and in its handling. At one point I beat an opponent in a 1 on 1 street race and as a prize was offered a choice of a transmission upgrade, an engine upgrade or a type upgrade. Strange as it sounds it was the tyres I went for as I had noticed in races that I had plenty under the hood in terms of prancing horses, but was really struggling keeping the thing off the walls in high speed corners - which new tyres helped to sort out. Such is the choice of both cars and the modifications available in the game I am pretty sure that you would never meet a car the same as yours during online play.

Bringing us nicely onto NFSU2's Xbox Live! aspect. Thankfully its there! Anyone who reads here regularly will know I’m very much in favour of online incorporation within games, especially as there is now excuse not to include it (assuming your not playing the Gamecube version). I was a little disappointed with NFSU2's online pedigree, but I am being very unfair on it. The multi player game essentially boils down to exactly the same game play as is found offline, but obviously against real life opponents. All the same race modes can be played, and they don’t play overly differently, other than losing more, but that’s probably just me! I realise that I’m being unfair, as the Live performance is very solid, no slowdown, and it all works very nicely, but there is nothing new from this mode. Having said that, I don’t know what new aspects could have been added, so I am definitely being unfair...

This is a very good game, with depth that has really impressed me. There are many different game modes to master, everyone loves modding a car and lovingly crafting it into exactly how you want it to look and drive. If arcade style driving games are up your street then this should definitely be parked in your garage.

Discuss the Need For Speed Underground 2 review in the Forums

IC-Games RSS Feed

IC-Games Reviews and Previews (c) 2002-2007

Designed by James Collins

To have your product featured contact The Editor
Found some news? contact The News Desk
PR Dept - Andrew St.Denis
Additional Coding by James Collins and Phil Douglas
Get credited, submit breaking news at The News Desk
Want to hire one of our journalists? Enquire here
Want to see your advert on site? Enquire here

Ic-games.co.uk banner Ciao.co.uk

Find the best console offers for the video game lover like Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and all types of PC games.

Xbox 360 Games

Internet bingo is played by large and a vast amount of gamers, so you’re sure to make a network and friends. Whatever age or gender.