Need for Speed: Underground Review

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(More customer reviews)Driving fans rejoice!Jumping on the popularity of import street racing, and borrowing heavily from the driving scenes of The Fast and the Furious, NFS Underground is a combination of both beauty and brains that's a must-have for any racing fan; provided you have the hardware to handle it.Best of all, you don't have to endure Paul Walker's lame acting.
Slicked up and glowing with neon, EA's latest release is the most visually stunning NFS game produced to date.You can actually see the reflection of your car and the surroundings off the rain-soaked streets. Even more impressive are how the screen explodes in light and your surroundings shake into a chaotic mess as you approach speeds much higher than your car was originally designed to handle.It's the most visceral feeling of speed in a game yet as you really feel like your computer is doing 150mph.Unfortunately, all this eye candy comes at a price as you'll need some serious hardware to experience it in all its glory.Plan on having at least a Geforce 3 or a Radeon 9000 just for low detail settings.For full detail you'll need at least a Radeon 9600 or a Geforce 5600, not to mention a quick CPU and plenty of RAM.
Many liked EA's previous NFS release, Hot Pursuit, but I was disappointed as the attention to the driving physics seemed to go out the window.I had the same complaint about Midnight Club II; a game that, in a word, sucked.Fortunately, I can say this is not the case in NFS Underground.Each car has a distinctive feel, with individual strengths and weaknesses.It's an arcade racer at heart, but there are enough differences in the cars to make you want to experiment with different cars and find the one that suits your style of driving best.
Sound effects are top-notch.THX enabled, the engines roar to life and cars, buildings, and slow moving objects whoosh past your ears in true surround sound.Those with 4+ speaker setups are in for a real treat with this game.Also included are about 25 tracks ranging from rap to rock to techno, featuring artists like BT, Nate Dogg, Overseer, Fuel, and Static-X.While it's a decent selection, it's still only about 2 hours of music.Perhaps it's just me, but music with vocals gets repetitive and annoying over time as opposed to background music.I never liked that "Get Low" song much to begin with.I've heard it so much now I'm at the point of self-mutilation.Fortunately, EA provides you with the ability to customize the soundtrack so you can eliminate the songs you don't like.
The game isn't perfect.Even with 21st century technology, EA programmers are still unable to create any car damage modeling whatsoever.The cartoonish sight of your car doing triple flips in midair and on the street, only to land without a scratch seriously detracts from the otherwise realistic looking environment you're racing in.And, like all NFS games before it, you're still racing in a tunnel whether it looks like it or not.Just once I'd like to do an out of control jump and actually land in a swimming pool or someone's house instead of simply pinballing off the edge of the screen and back on to the road.The lack of a replay option is also unfortunate.
Customizing your car is a cool (and addicting) feature of NFS Underground, yet EA's method of implementation leaves something to be desired.I can understand that performance options, such as turbo, NOS, and weight reduction kits, are not unlocked until you win key races so the game remains balanced.What I don't understand are why visual upgrades such as paint, vinyl, and even decals are locked up?It's almost laughable to win a race just so you unlock a sticker.
Even with these minor gripes, I would have given it five stars.The "last straw," so to speak, is the A.I.The game gets insanely difficult as you start to climb the ranks.Races are won and lost in mere tenths of a second.What will set you off the deep end is the phenomenon of what I can only describe as the computer "throwing cars at you."As you round a blind corner or jump, you will frequently find yourself directly in the path of the only car on the road.I've been in situations where I have opponents directly to the left and right of me.Guess which lane the slow moving car is in?To some extent, you can use this to your advantage by closely following (drafting) an opponent so they slam into the traffic meant for you.Unfortunately, you still have to compensate for the fact that all of your opponents are psychic.I can't tell you the number of times an opponent managed to slam on the brakes to avoid traffic they couldn't possibly have seen in advance.As much as I love this game, this unfair advantage is too aggravating for me to be able to give it five stars.In the difficult settings, winning becomes less about driving ability and more about dumb luck that you don't slam into something that'll cost you the entire race.
That said, I still recommend this game for racing fans.It's a high-tech thrill that really does fulfill your Need for Speed and it's certainly one of the finest games EA has produced.
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Product Description:
Highly Tuned for Intense SpeedProduct InformationHit the streets in the world's most elite tuner cars and take down the ultimateracers in your own customized machine. To own the streets you'll have to riskit all in a variety of high-styling high-speed events -- including Drift Dragand Circuit. Tune your car to perfection by winning hundreds of upgrade partsthen go underground for the most intense addictive driving experience of yourlife. When it comes to speed no other game comes close to delivering this kindof action. And while the need for speed is what keeps you coming back for morecustom looks are your ticket to scoring big with the crowds. You are what youdrive in Need for Speed Underground.Product FeaturesFeel speed like never before. Graphics that obliterate the envelope andturbocharged physics make this the fastest gameplay experience ever.Choose from 20 elite licensed tuner cars from Mitsubishi Toyota Subaruand more.Fully customize your car with hundreds of aftermarket parts from top-namemanufacturers. Change your car's appearance to fit your personality changeits performance to fit your driving style.Huge highly detailed environments push your gaming hardware to theabsolute limit as you battle to own the streets in your urban streetmachine.Race hard and win upgrades including weight reduction kits turbosuspension kits tires wheels and nitrous.Set the asphalt ablaze in a variety of game modes including Drift Dragand Circuit.Go underground and become the ultimate street racer in the epic Storymode.Build your ideal car take it online and take on the world's fastestcompetition.Windows RequirementsWindows 98 Me 2000 or XP700MHz or faster128MB of RAM for Windows 98 and Me256MB of RAM for Windows 2000 and XPX CD-ROM Drive or faster2.0GB or more free hard drive spaceDirectX 9.0 compatible video card DirectX 9.0 compatible sound cardVideo Card

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