Need For Speed: Underground 2

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Explore a free-roaming city divided into five distinct neighborhoods, from suburban hills to an intense downtown grid -- all connected by freeways you can race
• Drive over 30 of the hottest Tuner cars on the market, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, and Toyota to Ford and Volkswagen
• Tune every aspect of your car's performance with hundreds of licensed upgrades, for the ultimate ride
• Customize your machine to a whole new level - Add scissor doors, spoilers, headlights, side skirts, roof scoops, hoods, rims, wide body kits, neon and more -- for a truly unique ride
• Realistic racing challenges - Deal with Real-time weather effects, environmental hazards, multiple track types and more

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0002IQCSY
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 15, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,654 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #3 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Racing
  • #55 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

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 skills Put your reputation on the line, by going online -- challenge the world's best racers and bet your car against theirs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Racing Fun, but Almost Too Much of a Good Thing, January 21, 2005

By 

D. R. Jeanclerc "Reader, Listener & Obsessive... (Brunswick, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Need for Speed Underground 2 (Video Game)

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.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT GAME! *Note: I actually own the game, November 18, 2004

By 

Chris Bizzelle - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Need for Speed Underground 2 (Video Game)

Yes, thats right, im a reviewer who OWNS this game, unlike the reviewers under me who are just talking about what it will be like when it comes out. To acknowledge some of the other reviews talking about sponsors of the game...thats how street racing is, you get sponsors. Also, the people complaining about fine tuning of cars, once again, thats how street racing is. They made this game more realistic than the previous one. The free roam option (career) has changed in a better way, I'm more of the guy who would rather get my missions/races done so i can get better cars or upgrades to race them online. The online option is also another great great feature. The graphics on this game are beautiful as always. The control seems to have changed just a little, maybe to make it easier, but its hard for me to notice a change. The sound has changed for the better, sounds are more realistic and clear. The music of the game is good, but not my preference. Its got a demo of Burnout 3, which is also a good game. This is just an all around good game, very addictive since you can get better cars as you progress and then race online. Also, if you dont have online features, I highly recomend it, I just got it when Mortal Kombat Deception came out. It adds a VERY high replay value to the game, you can beat a game over and over again but theres always new people to fight/play/race online. For only $39.99 its a great deal as opposed to xbox's high priced Xbox Live subscription required service.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Game. Better Than The First., December 12, 2004

By 

M. Boone "DaClint" (Manhattan, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Need for Speed Underground 2 (Video Game)

This game is a great game. You can customize your car in many different ways (custom gauges, engine and trunk neon, hydralics, doors, split hoods, spinning rims, new bumpers and lights, you can change your car's light color, new cars, new vinyl, SUVs [Escalades, Navigators, and Hummers H2], etc.). It's a free roaming city and you discover hidden shops to get secret parts. Also there are new modes. In Street X, you go on a drift track but you race on it so corners are real tight. In URL, you go in a race track with no traffic and the reward is high (depending on your sponsor/contract). In outrun, you find a race car roaming around and challenge him to an outrun. You must get 1000 feet away from your opponent (it's really not that far. it's like 2-4 blocks). Also, you choose what races you want to race (unless you are required to in your sponsorship contract and you must do so many races in your contract.) And there are many chances to get on a magazine or DVD cover. Also, you take your own picture for the cover (most of the time). This game has improved greatly from the first and there is new music from: Snoop Dogg, The Doors, Chingy, Terror Squad, Spider Bait, Queens of the Stone Age, Ministry, and a lot more. I would definately get this game. It's worth the $50 and it will keep you busy for a long time with all the new features. If your not sure about getting the game, rent it first (I did at gamefly.com and it was worth it. I thought it would be like the first game but it was REALLY different).

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