Need For Speed Underground 2 Review

I never expected the first Need For Speed Underground to sell that much. Frankly, I thought it was going to have respectable numbers by EA standards but not more. But when I heard it was the best selling game last year worldwide, or at least that it was in the top 5, I was shocked! Underground racing and car tuning has now reached a very high level of popularity everywhere around the globe and more and more people are interested in it everyday.

I don’t own a car yet, and I don’t know when I will as it isn’t much of a priority to me, but racing games have always been some of my favorites. I am mostly an arcade racer fanatic and I like games that give you a good sense of speed, something which the Need For Speed games have always been known for. The underground racing part is just icing on the cake but it is what adds so much depth to this game. I always thought that people who kept tuning their cars and all were kind of stupid as I thought it was pointless, but I have to admit I’ve spent hours on this game just doing that. There is something about it that makes you come back and just tune it more or change the look of the car; it kind of makes you feel proud about your ride. I know it’s just a virtual car made up of a few thousand polygons and textures, but it’s still nice to show it to your friends just to see who has the most beautiful car.

If you’ve played last year’s version though, you might be wondering what’s new in this version that would make you pick it up. Well, even though EA only had about a year or so to develop the game, it made huge improvements to the gameplay mecanics as well as the whole game in general, like the way you get to races and the story of it. This time around you get to drive in a huge city called Bayview which is separated in different areas that you need to unlock by completing levels, and each level is made up of various races. The more you advance in the game, the more cars and car parts you unlock and the more difficult it gets.

Car shops are hidden in the city and by finding them you unlock new stuff to upgrade you car. Most of them are easy to find as you are given hints on your cellphone to help you find them. Yeah, you heard me right! And not only do you have a cellphone, but you also have a full GPS system to help you find races as well as a city map. You can just select a race on the map and an arrow will appear at the top of the screen to show you the way which is kind of nice when you are lost.

So the goal of the game is mostly the same as it was in the first one, except that you have to go around the city and find the races yourself. Most are on the map but some are hidden. There are a few new things added to the game though as only adding a huge city around it wasn’t enough. You get 2 new kinds of races in races in this game and they are a welcome addition. First is outrun. If you’ve played Tokyo Extreme Racer than you already know what this one is all about. While driving around the city you meet other racers and you can flash your lights to race against them. The goal is to get a certain distance in front of them to win so it,s kind of like a chase and you have to get as far away from that racer as possible. The other new mode is Street X. It’s a race on a little circuit with lots of corners where you’ll really need to master every turn in order to win as it doesn’t last long. It’s kind of cool and the other racers really play it rough.

Drift races have also been upgraded and you are drifting against other opponent at the same time and as soon as one finishes the race you’ll have a certain amount of time to finish it too. Darg races also have a lot more obstacles and are more difficult, but it seems like there is a lot less traffic so it makes everything a lot less frustrating than it was last year. Sprint and Circuits are still here and there is also Underground League which is a mix of different races. You can also completely depleat your nitro and then perform dangerous things like avoiding traffic or drift in corners to refill your turbo meter, adding a little more startegy to races.