24th May 2005, 5:45 PM
You were once the king of the streets. Your car and your skills made you unstoppable, until you beat the wrong guy, and you ended up in a hospital bed for months. When you finally got back to normal, you'd lost all your street cred, and you fly out to the city of Bayview to rebuild and reclaim your career. Fortunately, your sister has a good friend who's a well known racer in Bayview, by the name of Rachel Tellers (voiced by Brooke Burke). Rachel helps you get back on your feet by helping you buy your first car and instructing you on the workings of Bayview. Soon after she sees your skills, she becomes your manager, and will become your main source of information on sponsorship deals, photo ops, and general tips. From there, you're off to make a name for yourself and take back the streets.
<b>GRAPHICS</b>
There are many cars you will be able to drive and all are meticulously detailed, and you'll recognize them in real life on the streets. Of course, no racer will take you seriously in a car filled with stock parts, so it's time to juice up your ride to the teeth. Bumper, side skirts, spoilers, exhaust tips, mirrors, window tints...by the time you're done, you should barely be able to recognize the car you bought originally, but I guarantee you won't miss it. Sparks fly as you brush against walls, headlights shine realistically. If you can see it, you can customize it, and the options are nearly endless. You'll never have to worry about looking exactly like your competition.
<b>SOUND</b>
The game sports THX sound quality, so revving engines and screeching tires sound crisp and realistic. There are no complaints in the sound department. As for music, the game offers a wide array of songs in it's soundtrack ranging from rock to rap. Depending on your tastes, this could be a good or bad part of the game, but luckily, EA included a feature that lets you mix and match songs so you decide when they play, or even if they play at all. So in that way, even if you don't like most of the music, you don't have to suffer through it. Though it is only a matter of personal preference, I do find some of the rap tracks in the game detestable and nauseating, but am relieved that they can be removed.
<b>GAMEPLAY</b>
You're never without plenty of racing opportunities in Bayview, and the types of races are broken down into six different categories. Circuit, which places you on a set track that you must run laps around and, obviously, finish first. Sprint, which is a one-way race to to the end of a predetermined route. Drift, where you are given points for how well you slice around corners, drift, and slide along the track. You can win a drift race even if you finish dead last (or not at all) by having the most points. Street-X, which are basically enclosed, short, and very tight Curcuit races. Drag, which you must time your gearshifts perfectly to get maximum speed out of your ride to finish first. Finally, U.R.L. races (Short for Underground Racing League). These races are most commonly held on closed tracks or airport runways. U.R.L. races are very similar to Circuit races, only with more and better competition, no traffic, and worth much more prize money. The U.R.L. is invitation only, and you're only invited into the U.R.L races once you've landed a sponsor and shown your stuff on the streets. There is also one other optional type of race, called Outrun. While driving around the city, you may spot other street racers out riding. Get up close to them and they may challenge you to an Outrun race. The object of Outrun is self-explanatory: outrun your opponent. If you're trailing, stay on them and catch up as best you can. If you're ahead, do whatever you can to lose your pursuer. If a certain distance comes between you two, the winner gets a small amount of money, and some Outruns will reward you with unique parts and modifications.
Beyond upgrading the looks of your ride, you must also make sure it's just as pretty under the hood. Bayviews many performance shops can help you, as Rachel herself says, "Help turn your kitten into a tiger". Upgrade your engine, transmission, wheels, turbo, suspension, add nitrous, reduce your weight, and watch your top speed go through the roof.
Beyond that, there's only one thing left to do: Hit the gas and finish first. There are some small extras though. For instance, once you've installed nitrous oxide in your car, you can fill it even beyond it's capacity by exhibiting driving skills. Narrowly avoiding accidents, slicing through corners, taking the lead in a race, or finishing with a best lap time. An overfull nitrous tank might be just what you need to give you that boost to finish first. Realistic physics also allow skilled drivers to cause their opponents to spin out or force them into accidents. Don't forget though, that they can do it all to you too, so keep control of your car as best you can. Hey, this is the underground! The only rule is to win! Once you feel like you're good enough, you can take your car online and race against people all over the world.
One gripe I do have with the game is it's lack of damage. Sure, having to fix busted parts between races may be a bit of a hassle, but it kind of takes a bite out of the realism if you slam into a wall at 130 miles per hour, take no damage, and then just back up and drive away. Traffic accidents seem more like Hot Wheels cars smacking into each other on a track than full-blown collisions. You do get to see all accidents in slo-mo though, so even though they're unimpressive, they can still look cool.
<b>CONTROLS</b>
Controls are responsive and tight. While you can program whatever suits your taste, the original setup works just fine, and everything you need is easily at hand. Applying decals and parts to your car couldn't be easier and the interface is slick and easy to use.
<b>REPLAYABILITY</b>
Infinite replayability. Even after you've finished the story mode, you can quickly and easily set up any type of race you want, wherever you want, with whichever car you want. The game never gets stale.
Need For Speed Underground 2 will surely sate any hungry racers appetite and even appeals to those who wouldn't normally buy many racing games (I can attest to this). While it's by no means perfect, it's high replayability, amount of customization options, and decent visual polish certainly make this a ride worth taking. 8.5 out of 10.0
<b>GRAPHICS</b>
There are many cars you will be able to drive and all are meticulously detailed, and you'll recognize them in real life on the streets. Of course, no racer will take you seriously in a car filled with stock parts, so it's time to juice up your ride to the teeth. Bumper, side skirts, spoilers, exhaust tips, mirrors, window tints...by the time you're done, you should barely be able to recognize the car you bought originally, but I guarantee you won't miss it. Sparks fly as you brush against walls, headlights shine realistically. If you can see it, you can customize it, and the options are nearly endless. You'll never have to worry about looking exactly like your competition.
<b>SOUND</b>
The game sports THX sound quality, so revving engines and screeching tires sound crisp and realistic. There are no complaints in the sound department. As for music, the game offers a wide array of songs in it's soundtrack ranging from rock to rap. Depending on your tastes, this could be a good or bad part of the game, but luckily, EA included a feature that lets you mix and match songs so you decide when they play, or even if they play at all. So in that way, even if you don't like most of the music, you don't have to suffer through it. Though it is only a matter of personal preference, I do find some of the rap tracks in the game detestable and nauseating, but am relieved that they can be removed.
<b>GAMEPLAY</b>
You're never without plenty of racing opportunities in Bayview, and the types of races are broken down into six different categories. Circuit, which places you on a set track that you must run laps around and, obviously, finish first. Sprint, which is a one-way race to to the end of a predetermined route. Drift, where you are given points for how well you slice around corners, drift, and slide along the track. You can win a drift race even if you finish dead last (or not at all) by having the most points. Street-X, which are basically enclosed, short, and very tight Curcuit races. Drag, which you must time your gearshifts perfectly to get maximum speed out of your ride to finish first. Finally, U.R.L. races (Short for Underground Racing League). These races are most commonly held on closed tracks or airport runways. U.R.L. races are very similar to Circuit races, only with more and better competition, no traffic, and worth much more prize money. The U.R.L. is invitation only, and you're only invited into the U.R.L races once you've landed a sponsor and shown your stuff on the streets. There is also one other optional type of race, called Outrun. While driving around the city, you may spot other street racers out riding. Get up close to them and they may challenge you to an Outrun race. The object of Outrun is self-explanatory: outrun your opponent. If you're trailing, stay on them and catch up as best you can. If you're ahead, do whatever you can to lose your pursuer. If a certain distance comes between you two, the winner gets a small amount of money, and some Outruns will reward you with unique parts and modifications.
Beyond upgrading the looks of your ride, you must also make sure it's just as pretty under the hood. Bayviews many performance shops can help you, as Rachel herself says, "Help turn your kitten into a tiger". Upgrade your engine, transmission, wheels, turbo, suspension, add nitrous, reduce your weight, and watch your top speed go through the roof.
Beyond that, there's only one thing left to do: Hit the gas and finish first. There are some small extras though. For instance, once you've installed nitrous oxide in your car, you can fill it even beyond it's capacity by exhibiting driving skills. Narrowly avoiding accidents, slicing through corners, taking the lead in a race, or finishing with a best lap time. An overfull nitrous tank might be just what you need to give you that boost to finish first. Realistic physics also allow skilled drivers to cause their opponents to spin out or force them into accidents. Don't forget though, that they can do it all to you too, so keep control of your car as best you can. Hey, this is the underground! The only rule is to win! Once you feel like you're good enough, you can take your car online and race against people all over the world.
One gripe I do have with the game is it's lack of damage. Sure, having to fix busted parts between races may be a bit of a hassle, but it kind of takes a bite out of the realism if you slam into a wall at 130 miles per hour, take no damage, and then just back up and drive away. Traffic accidents seem more like Hot Wheels cars smacking into each other on a track than full-blown collisions. You do get to see all accidents in slo-mo though, so even though they're unimpressive, they can still look cool.
<b>CONTROLS</b>
Controls are responsive and tight. While you can program whatever suits your taste, the original setup works just fine, and everything you need is easily at hand. Applying decals and parts to your car couldn't be easier and the interface is slick and easy to use.
<b>REPLAYABILITY</b>
Infinite replayability. Even after you've finished the story mode, you can quickly and easily set up any type of race you want, wherever you want, with whichever car you want. The game never gets stale.
Need For Speed Underground 2 will surely sate any hungry racers appetite and even appeals to those who wouldn't normally buy many racing games (I can attest to this). While it's by no means perfect, it's high replayability, amount of customization options, and decent visual polish certainly make this a ride worth taking. 8.5 out of 10.0
