Customer Reviews

Need for Speed Underground

5 star:		(110)
4 star:		(99)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Any fan of the Need For Speed series will be able to tell one thing from Need for Speed Underground, and that is that this new game is pretty much unlike any of the other previous titles in the series. This time through, Electronic Arts is breaking new ground for the series, and is going to the streets for racing flava this time through. Underground is all about street racing, which is seeming to be the next big thing in racing titles as the Midnight Club series has proven. But I am hopeful for something in this new game, and that is I hope that it's able to bring a new style to the street racing genre. I am a fan of Midnight Club, but let's face the truth. Midnight Club lacks many key components that prevent it from being the ultimate in street racing titles. Street Racing Syndicate and a game based on The Fast and the Furious are two other street titles currently in development, but from videos and playing demos of these two games at E3, they are shaping up to be quite lackluster. So far, Underground has terrific graphics, sound, and most important of all, gameplay and speed physics. The San-Francisco based city that the game takes place in looks sharp as well as nearly everything else that I have seen so far. EA has even brought in an Academy-Award winning special effects designer to help them in the game's building process. As far as Midnight Club goes, it lacks in sound, graphics, and above all, the game lacks in gameplay and style. Midnight Club and Midnight Club II both bored me just a week or so after playing them. Another poor feature of the MC series is average multiplayer racing. Underground is working very hard to be a great multiplayer experience on the PS2, and the multiplayer looks awesome so far. Another thing that I am excited about is customization. No other NFS titles have included customization to a heavy degree, but Underground does. You will start out driving, let's say, a normal Ford Focus, but depending on how you handle things, it could become the most awesome car on the streets. Yes, the series does look like that maybe it slowed down its gameplay a little bit, and another reason for this is because at least in the earlier stages of development for this game, it was possible to completely destroy your car, and it took a load of cash to repair. The slower pace may dissapoint some gamers, but I really don't have a problem with it. EA has never let me down, and let's all hope that they put enough time into Need For Speed Underground to make it a street racing masterpiece!

Okay, so everyone is nuts about this game. and when i finally played it, i understood why. the cutomization options are such a fun gimmick- i had a lot of fun turning an ugly yellow VW GTI into a drag racing monster with beautifully tinted windows, custom decals, and rims of my choosing. It's what everyone wants when they play a racing game- the ability to craft a car that suits their taste, right down to the type of exhaust. And i have no problem with the fact that this feature was implemented. i think it was a good idea. The problem I have is with the way that it was implemented.
Why am i still unlocking decals and vinyl at level 100? who cares that i finally unlocked the nitrous express decal; dont i deserve more than that at level 100? and why dont i get the wide body kit until the 3rd to last race? great! i can throw this wide body kit on my car, which does absolutely nothing for performance, so that i look good for the final competition.

Money is never a problem in this game. You always have more than enough to unlock anything you want, because you get money after every race. So, a better way to do this would have been to make everything availible from the start of the game, with higher prices on the performance parts and consistent lower prices on the things you dont need (like decals and vinyl). That way, the player can see what they could potentially be unlocking and work for it, instead of just having it blindly handed to them when they can most definately afford it. But because of the way the customization system was implemented, theres really no point in having money in this game.

My other complaint is with the AI. its not like you're actually racing to gain distance on other cars, ever. its more like you're racing against other cars that will always either be ahead of you, or slightly behind you, and catching up fast. This is especially true in later races, where even if you set the difficulty to easy, cars will catch up quickly, and most likely, pass you. I did an experiment to see how the AI worked, and what i found was kind of dissapointing. In later races, when i would perform almost flawlessly (because i'd had to do the same race about 50 times over and over), another car would always be right behind me, or in front of me. But when i slowed down to the pace of the rest of the group, the AI was more lenient, and waited for me. An advantage to this is that the gameplay always provides tension. But the disadvantage is far greater: having to do a six or seven lap race over and over, possibly doing a single circuit a hundred times, just because you crashed once.

Of course, these are technical flaws, and the game appeals to people at an aesthetically pleasing and fun level, rather than a technical one. its an arcade racer, and it doesn't dissapoint at it's arcadiness. You customize your car because it makes it look better. You race against difficult AI becase nothing beats the thrill of seeing the screen blur all those downtown lights into a complete euphoric mass when you use your nitrous to barely pass up another car, just before the finish line. The graphics are amazing, and are a complete evolution from previous nfs games.

This game has conquered it's niche, with cutscenes and music straight outta the fast & the furious (the drawbridge jumps are a complete rip-off of the second movie's drawbridge scene). And the cars are awesome in that they're actually licensed, and you treat em' like your babies as they go from crap to demi-god machines. And i guess thats what matters most with this game- fun. And you'll have quite a great deal of that, as long as you're willing to put up with a slightly less amount of frustration.

Okay, here's the bottom line: NFS Underground is the all-around best game I have ever played. The feature that lets you customize the cars is insane. You can earn style points and unlock new parts for your car. The coolest thing I think is the vinyls. You can add up to 4 layers of this stuff, giving your car the ultimate look.
There is also something that makes turning a whole lot easier. It's called Drift. I personally always drove into walls in the other versions of the game. It makes your car turn sideways and slide, making it easier not to hit walls.
Here's one negative: you race in the dark. It's tough at first, but you get used to it. The cars are really cool, but if you don't customize them, they're really not.
The soundtrack is sweet, with Lil' John & Eastside Boyz:"Get Low", Petey Pablo, Mystikal, Rancid, Nate Dogg, Overseer, and many more. I hadn't heard half the songs, but they're really good.
The city enviornment is amazing, making it feel like you're in a different world. The graphics are amazing, and the people in the game are very lifelike.
The Underground mode is magical. You start out with a pretty crappy car selection, but I recommend getting a cheap car and getting upgrades for it. You choose races from a map and it brings you right to the race.
What I like about this game is the style cars and what they look like. I mean, who would race with a Mclaren F1 like they had in NFS 2? I would keep one of those babies locked up in a garage and polish it every day.
I hope this review has helped, and it is a must-have for fans of The Fast and the Furious series.

First off, before anyone condemns me, I have played this game through twice, all 112 races each time. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss some really cool feature the first time through. I didn't. The graphics for this game are pretty good, but not up to the par of GT3 or the highly anticipated GT4. The driving physics is terrible. The coolest thing about this game is getting into the late stages and hitting nitrous at the top of 6th gear. Nice trippy blurring effect. I'm sure everyone who does 200mph in a Honda Civic through China town feels that way. Thats the worst aspect of this game. Cheap Japanese econoboxes masquerading as "tuner" performance cars! There are a few legit sports cars in the game (Skyline, Supra, 350Z, RX-7, etc), but too many Golf's, Civic's, Focus's and Neon's.... Plus, even though each race is minutely different, they all take place in the same basic area of this city you are in. It gets very old quickly. Drift mode is kinda fun, but again, with the physics. It's just not reality to be able to hold a nice long drift line with a front wheel drive Civic. As for the "customization"! This game is way to heavily skewed to the look, rather than the performance of the cars. I don't understand how i can buy level 3 weight reduction and my performance improves, but then I put on 400lbs worth of wide body kits, spoilers roof scoops and 20" rims, but they don't decrease. And there are some races where I was forced to "mack out" my favorite all black stock rimmed all Level 3 performance Impreza. Looked like stock but ran like stink. But because my Reputation meter wasn't high enough, ie not enough Fiberglass crap all over my car, I couldn't enter. Anyway, if you want a wekend diversion, go rent this game. If you are of the opinion that with the right "mods" and some phat rims, you're Civic will be just as fast as the ones in this game, then this is for you. Myself, I'll put it away and wait for GT4.

Not the most realistic game out there but if you died every time you crashed what fun would racing games be? If you like the idea of modifying cars you'll love this game. You can totally customize your vehicle with a unique bodykit, engine tuneups and nitrus plus unusual decals. This game is all about having fun going fast and trying not to run into the ever annoying traffic. With crazy shortcuts on each track which often involve amazing jumps this is a game that will put a smile on your face.

I have played all the games in the Need for Speed series. Every one of them has proved to be dissapointing, until now.
Need for Speed Underground borders on perfection. A major change I have noticed is the cars. Underground features affordable cars that you can customize with hundreds of options, while the previous NFS titles focused on exotic cars like the Ferrari 355F1 Spider and Lamborghini Diablo SV.
NFS:U players will start out with nothing special, an affordable car like the Ford Focus or the Mitsubishi Eclipse and unlock hundred of customizable parts, decals, paints etc. The graphics on Need for Speed Underground are simply amazing, graphics I didn't know the PS2 was capable of. Even the levels look just as good as the cars. The controls are perfect. The sound is excellent, I could never get sick of hearing my cars engine as I gun it at 150mph. Another nice addition to this NFS title was the Nitrous Oixide.
Many aspects of this game are excellent, but like all games, it has flaws. I was kind of dissapointed by the fact that you can only have one car in your garage. Underground is also missing a replay mode, which would have been another great addition to the game.

Overall this is a great game, worth your $50.00. And if your not a racing fan, at least try this game, you may just become one.

This game is so sweet expecially when you can upgrade your car with nitrous oxide booster to get a top speed of about 200 mph. (only level three NOS.) It is also awesome to customize your car to make it look sweet. For example: you can put a sweet looking spoiler on your car or you can put neon on the bottom of your car. (Visual displays on your car increase your reputation and how ever many reputation stars you have; for example level five reputation multiplies your style points five times.) Style points are earned by doing power slides or taking shortcuts; style points are earned to get sweet looking vinyls and decals on your car. I recommend this game to anyone who wants to pick up a racing game and just have fun with it!
Enjoy!!

I can't express how much fun this game is. It's so addictive and you will not want to stop playing. I burned out a controller playing this game and it was well worth it. The selection of manufacturers and cars is excellent. Graphics are phenomenal.

If you're thinking about buying this game as a gift or for yourself...STOP THINKING ABOUT IT AND BUY IT NOW. I would pay $100 for this game.

The only bad part is that it can be beaten very fast if you know what you're doing. But it's still a fantastic game.

PROS
- Graphics are amazing
- There are so many different parts and decals you can customize on your cars
- Great Soundtrack (mostly rap in the menus and rock and techno during racing)
- Great game to play with a group of friends. Me and my friends love the drag aspect. Each of my friends has suped up the car of their choice with all the trimmings and we race each other.
- Online four players (you can check out other people's rides)
- I have Gran Turismo 3 and it really frustrated me because of how difficult some of the races were, especially that worn tire crap. This one player mode (underground mode) is really fun, and when there's a particular race i'm having trouble with, i really don't mind playing it over and over till i win. The races aren't that hard, you just have to get to know the track.
- The actual gameplay is a little on the arcade side, but still realistic. You feel the adrenaline as you race side by side with the computer and you can really mess them up by driving them into posts and walls. Whenever you hit a jump, it shows you a view of your car in slow motion (along with any other cars around it). When you crash at high speeds, it does the same thing (and there are some really cool crashes seeing as your car can actually flip over).
- After every race you win, you basically unlock something new. You don't get board because your never doing the same kinds of races in a row. They range from Circuit (around and around a track), Sprint (point a to point b), drag, and drift (try and please the crowd by sliding around corners at high speeds).
- Sound effects are really cool and realistic. They especially pump me up while i'm racing. When i got turbo in my car, i could hear the difference whenever i changed gears.
- The ai cars are realistic in that they make mistakes just like you (like hitting oncoming traffic), plus they play rough with you when your side by side, just like any other human would.

CONS
- No instant replay
- No cops
- No Damage

Although unimportant considering how great the game is without them. (I could imagine the damage aspect to be frustrating on second thought)

While i'm close to being a kid my self, upon reading the other reviews posted for this game i have to stop and ask my self....whats wrong with kids today. This game is so much fun, you'll put down halo. you'll put down GTA. you'll put down Gran Turisimo 4. These other reviews....with the exception of one...don't tell you about the game, just thier favorite cars and nos and "TRD". yea, ok guys, that has something to do with this game. The graphics are second to none. the gameplay is exciting and always gives you something to do. there are plenty of cars to choose from so you never get bored, and with all the body kit options, paint job options, and and decal options your car will not look even CLOSE to the same as someone elses. The A.I keeps you on your toes. So parents if your buying this for your kids, your picking well. no harsh violence, no bloody car wrecks. and kids your gonna love it