Underground seems to be a popular word in the video game market.  What does it mean when a publisher attaches the Underground name to their game?  Well with Need for Speed (NFS) Underground, it’s a way for the gamers to compete in street racing.  I’m sure some of you (or most of you) have seen cars zipping down the street in your neighborhood with unusual graphics, strange tires/rims and other enhancements to their cars.  In essence street racing and the scene involved with street racing is becoming the modern-day hotrod.  Groups of young adults gather together to race against each other and see who has the fastest car.  NFS Underground lets you get behind the wheel and try out street racing to see if you can become king of the underground racing scene.

There are several different game modes in NFS Underground.  The Underground mode is the story mode of the game.  Imagine that it’s a way for you to relive your own version of the Fast and the Furious.  I know you’ve probably heard this comparison before about NFS Underground, but it’s true.  The Underground mode has you competing in over 100 different challenges/events to prove yourself a worthy racer.  You start out in the Underground mode with a small amount of money in the bank.  You then have to purchase a car that you’ll race with during the initial part of the game.  All of the cars available are licensed cars from manufactures such as Ford, Dodge, Volkswagen, Mazda and others.

Once you’ve chosen a car, you’re then entered into one of the races.  There are several different types of races that will need to compete in: Circuit, Sprint, Drag, Lap Knockout and Drift.  The Circuit race is similar to a regular racetrack, except the track is placed inside of a city.  During the race you’ll have to compete against not only the other drivers, but also oncoming traffic and city structures such as trees, guardrails, stop signs, etc.  The Sprint race is where you have to get from Point A to Point B before your competition.  The Drag race (which is my favorite) has you competing against other drivers in a drag race on the city streets.  The big difference between Sprint and Drag is a drag race is done on a straightaway.  The Lap Knockout mode is a competition where the driver who is in last place is knocked out of the race.  This continues until there is only one driver left.  The Drift race is where you perform power slides in your car.  The whole point to a drift race is to impress everyone with the slide.

The true essence of NFS Underground is your car.  Your car represents everything that you represent.  It’s up to you to have the hottest, sickest and most impressive car in the game.  You might not be able to customize your car right away in the Underground mode, but you can earn money and unlock customization features.  There are several different customize features you can add to the car.  There are different types of hoods, bumpers, spoilers, rims and other parts that you can use to change the look of your car.  By changing the look of the car you also increase your reputation in the game.  There is a reputation scale, which tells you how strong your reputation level is in the game.  A higher reputation level, the more points you can earn during a race.  During each race you earn style points that are used to unlock special features in the game.  For example if your reputation level is still at a one, you might have to purchase some additional upgrades for your car so you can compete in a race.  With a higher reputation level, the more points you can earn during the race, which then allows you to unlock additional cars, additional parts and other items in the game.  Earning the style points is essential in completing the Underground mode.  You won’t be able to unlock all of the items in the game until you start earning style points.

The other modes in NFS Underground are the Quick Race mode, and Online mode.  The quick race mode allows you to race in any of the above-mentioned races, Circuit, Sprint Drag, etc.  The online mode allows you to race against other players over the internet.  Even if you only want to compete in a Quick Race you can still customize your car.  There is a separate customization mode that you can use for cars not used in the Underground Mode.  The amount of customization is limited, but the amount of customization available was large.  This was surprising since some racing games require you to compete in other events or races before you can use customization features.  But the developers of NFS Underground knew the biggest draw to the game was customizing your car.  By competing in the Underground Mode you will unlock additional customization features that you can use in the Quick Race mode. 

NFS Underground is a frantic, fast paced racing game that will appeal to all street-racing fans.  Hardcore racing fans or purist might be a little turned off by the amount of customization that can be done with the cars.  But this is really where the fun is at in the game, building “your” car and continuing to modify it by earning style points and money.  NFS Underground is an excellent racing game that should please any gamer.

Gameplay: 8.3
A racing game is only as good as the controls.  For the most part, NFS Underground controls very well.  The cars are responsive to the controls and you never feel as if you don’t have control of your car.  The different upgrades available for the cars can have a big impact on how the cars control.  A minor upgrade could bring about a huge change in your driving style.  For example during the early races you might not use your brakes that often.  But when you purchase upgrades that increase the speed of the car, you will probably have to use the brakes more often.  The computer-controlled cars all react independent of each other.  One driver might bump you, while another driver goes around you to take the lead.  The different city environments can play a big impact on the race and the gameplay itself.  If you run into certain road obstacles, such as a tree or median, you’ll come to a complete stop.  You never bounced off of the obstacles you just stopped.  A big issue I had with the game was the controls using a USB controller.  If you have a dual analog stick controller you can control the gas and brakes with the second analog stick.  I didn’t prefer this setup and changed the settings in the option screen.  But I ran into a problem where the game would reset the controls after each race.  This would lead to my car automatically starting each race in reverse.  I couldn’t find any notes on EA’s website regarding this problem.  I had to quit using the controller and stick with the keyboard.

Graphics: 8.0

The graphics are spot on and accurate for the different car models.  The customization feature adds a new level of graphic presentation for the cars.  You can change the look of each car by using different hoods, different stickers, paint jobs, wheels & rims and much more.  There are a ton of options available for changing the look of the cars and the graphics are stunning after each change.  The city graphics are also very impressive as well.  All of the races are presented at nighttime and the graphics represent a perfect environment for the races.  The different obstacles and city locals are also very detailed.  The game maintains a solid framerate during the races, with an occasional drop in the framerate.  Crashes and jumps are often presented with a slow motion effect that adds a sense of dramatization to the race.  The slow motion effects are a nice feature but can become repetitious after a few races.  The biggest issues with the graphics are the tracks themselves.  Since you race inside of the city, most of the races are presented on the same tracks.  There will be an occasional change in locations; such as driving in back alleys, but the graphics for the races will become repetitive.  You’ll see the same billboards and locations over and over again.

Sound: 8.3

This is the first game I’ve played that is THX certified.  THX is a sound standard (or certification) that movies have been using for years.  With the THX certification on this game, you should expect the sound effects and music to come across loud and clear.  The only thing that disappoints in the sound department in this game are the EA Trax.  This has become a standard feature with EA games, where you hear music from your favorite recording. Well as most gamers are probably aware, the songs become repetitive quickly.  You might hear the same song twice while on a circuit race.  But after playing the game for a few hours you would have heard probably every song in the game.  My biggest issue with the EA Trax setting is this: you never hear the entire song.  I know for a fact that the songs included are not one minute and 42 seconds long!  So why does EA continue to include music in the game when you never hear the entire song?  All of the sound effects for the cars, such as crashes, engine noise, and tire squeals are well done.

Difficulty: Medium

You will never have the sense that you’ll never catch up in this game (at least in the offline mode).  The tried and true rubberband effect is in place with this game.  It seems no matter how far back you are during a race that you have a chance to catch up.  The same holds true for the computer as well.  It always felt that no matter how far ahead I was that the computer would catch up with me near the end of the race.  This wasn’t a big problem during the game, and it doesn’t have a huge impact on the game.  But it felt silly, especially when you could perform terrible and still have a chance of winning the race.   The game does offer three different difficulty settings in the Underground mode.  Before each race you have the choice of selecting easy, normal or hard difficulty.  This was a nice feature to include before each race.

Concept: 8.3

Well the game does what it should do and puts you, the player, into the underground world of street racing.  Now some will say the entire concept of NFS Underground is based off of The Fast and The Furious movie.  There are cinema displays in the Underground mode that tells the story of you becoming the new star of street racing.  The cinemas will show your adversaries and other character in the game that you’ll race against.  So the concept isn’t the most unique, but it is a different approach to a racing video game.  The ability to customize your cars also isn’t new, but the different ways cosmetically you can change the cars is interesting.  Usually the upgrades you perform on a car only affect the performance.  In this game it’s equally important to upgrade the looks as well as the performance.  You need to have a ride that is impressive in performance as well as impressive to view.  Being able to customize the look of your car right away in the quick race mode is a great aspect to the game.  It makes you want to play the Underground mode so you can earn style points and cash to unlock additional features.  Sure the game might be based on a movie, but the way the designers have put the game together is a treat.

Multiplayer: 7.7

The online mode is they only multiplayer option available in the game.  The online mode allows you to race against players over the internet in the different race types available: Circuit, Drag, Drift and Sprint.  You can either challenge a specific player to a race or enter a race with multiple players.  In addition to the different race types you can also play in either a Ranked or Unranked game.  A Ranked game counts towards your overall standing in the online game.  There is a ranking board to see where you are ranked and who the top 100 drivers.  If you’re not concerned about ranking then you can compete in an Unranked game.  Now I do have a few concerns about the online game.  You can select from a customized car that you built or one of the pre-built demo cars.  The demo cars are top of the line versions of the car models available in the game.  If you choose a demo car then you have to compete in an Unranked game.  If you select one of the cars you customize then you better make sure you’ve customized the engine.  I selected one of my customized cars to try out online and everyone I raced against blew me away.  It seems everyone I raced against online had done a complete overhaul of his or her car.  Even before you start the race the computer will list all of the competitors and how you compare against them.  Most of the rankings stated “Impossible.”  Well where’s the fun in that?  It would have been nice to filter out cars that were above your rating so you had a fair chance of winning.  Now you can view the rating of the other person’s car, but you have to click on their name and then view their car.  The gameplay online was consistent with the offline version.  There would be a few instances of lag where cars would jump ahead of you, but it wasn’t that bad.  I did run into another problem though with the online game.  It took me four or five times to create a user ID to login.  I tried using a few different ID’s that work with every other online game I tried, but the server would say the name is already in use.  I even had EA email me an old ID that I had used with a previous EA game, but I couldn’t login with that ID.  I know EA wants players to use one user ID for their online games, but so far I’ve had to create a new ID for each game.  One last issue with the online game is a warning to players behind routers.  If you have a router make sure you setup port forwarding for the ports mentioned online.  Even though I was able to connect to the server, I wasn’t able to compete in a race until I setup port forwarding.  This was the only time I’ve had to do this with my router. 

Overall: 8.1

Need for Speed Underground is an great game for anyone looking for a fast-paced, exciting, feature-packed racing game.  The great graphics, excellent gameplay, sound effects and customization features all add up to an impressive game.  You’ll be immersed in the different ways you can customize the look and perform of your car.  You will be looking for ways to unlock all of the additional features in the game, such as new cars, new tracks and new upgrades.  However the repetitive city graphics, confusing online play, and repetitive music selection are a few issues with the game.  The rubberband effect is also another issue that, even though it’s present in several other racing games, everyone should be aware of.  But even with the flaws, NFS Underground is a fantastic racing game that should satisfy almost everyone.