Need For Speed: Underground 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Need for Speed Underground 2 (NfSU2) is the latest installment in a long-running series of EA racing games.The "Underground" element wraps the game up in a world of nighttime drag races and super-tuned and modified import coupes ala "The Fast and the Furious" movies.

The most engaging part of the gameplay is the career mode, which allows you to build your reputation and your bankroll by entering events found throughout a sprawling urban landscape.All of the now-familiar features are here:a variety of race types, a huge selection of cars and options to be unlocked, purchased and installed, etc.There's a lot of straight-up racing fun to be found on these streets.

The graphics are really good;not Gran Turismo good, but close.The cars are especially fine, and you've got ample opportunity to examine your customized baby.You'll occasionally get a mini-mission to have your car photographed for a magazine cover where you control the background, "pose" and camera angle.Sure it's kind of a silly way to build your bank, but not a total waste after you've spent an hour selecting the perfect color scheme and combination of paint and artwork for your car.

One minor gripe about the graphics is the lack of options for camera angles.Given how big the city is, the always-nighttime gameplay and the fact that some shortcuts and objectives are tucked away between buildings, it can be tough to spot things.I feel the other reviews when they complain about long times searching for this or that between races.Another minor problem is the perpetual nighttime during gameplay.Coupled with the brightly lit and highly detailed environment, it's sometimes too much to look at and the car can actually get lost in the overall scene.

The controls are intuitive and well-designed.One of my favorite features is the ability to use the right analog stick as the accelerator and brake.Couple it with a manual transmission (shifting uses the L2/R2 buttons) and you've got a great amount of subtle control over your car.It's not as good as playing with a wheel and pedals, but it really beats the usual x-and-square two-button setup (which is also available at all times if you prefer).

Does it play a lot like GTA-lite?Of course it does;it's meant to do so.There's a plotline running through the career mode focused on getting revenge on the rival who did you wrong before you landed in Bayview.It's not as deep or sequential as the GTA missions, so you're free to do pretty much whatever you want in whatever order you want.This can be good or it can lead to a lot of aimless driving around.

The game also struggles a little bit with identity - what game does NfSU2 want to be?It's not an exact sim like Gran Turismo, although you can certainly tune and tweak your car's performance options all day long if that's your thing.The race action has a big-time arcade feel, but it's not simply an arcade racer because of the GTA-esque missions in career mode.During some lulls in the action, you may find yourself wanting to pop this out in favor of one of those other games instead.

Nonetheless, the good easily outweighs the bad in this good-looking and ultimately exciting racer.It does a very nice job of satisfying fans of all flavors of driving games:arcade, sim and mission.

PROS
*Beautifully-rendered cars (and SUVs) that can be exhaustively customized in terms of looks and performs
*Exciting racing action with very little learning curve
*Well-designed controls make the most of the PS2 controller

CONS
*Too much time getting around the huge environment
*Notable lapses in realism, i.e. gigantic crashes with no consequences;no cops at all (I guess then it would simply be a GTA clone)
*Lots of product placement gets a bit heavy after a while - meet me at Burger King, the garage is next to Best Buy, I'll call you on my Cingular wireless, etc.

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Product Description:
Need For Speed: Underground 2 takes you into the underground world of serious street racers. Embrace the illegal racing underground, and prove you can dominate it. Explore a huge city and try to avoid getting schooled by rival racers. Three new gameplay mode for the hardcore Driver looking to perfect their skillsPut your reputation on the line, by going online -- challenge the world's best racers and bet your car against theirs

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