Need for Speed Underground 2

It all started with a movie called: The Fast and the Furious, and since that time, it seems like the “underground” racing scene has exploded. There have been many different movies, TV programs, and video games based off this sport, and there seems to be no stopping it. Last year EA redid their Need for Speed franchise and modeled it after this racing scene, and while it was good, there was a lot of areas that needed improvement. This year they have released Need For Speed Underground 2 and it improves on every single area of the first game! If you love racing games then you must own this game, it is that simple. Read on to find out why this is such a great game.

Players are in the town of Bayview, which thrives on underground racing. There are more than 125 miles of road to drive and race upon. During the course of the game you will be able to cruise the freeways for races, find secret hot spots, and garages to outfit your car with the latest body kits and modifications. Your goal is to make your car the coolest and fastest car on the road so that it strikes fear into all of your opponents. It is up to you to see if you have what it takes to become the next legend in the town of Bayview. Are you up to the challenge?

Look at the smoke coming out behind the tires.

Here are the different racing modes that you will get to take part in: Circuit, Sprint, Drag, Drift, Street X, Underground Racing League, and Free Run. Circuit mode is the traditional lap race, where players must beat their competitors in “X” laps around a track. Sprint is when you see how fast you can get from point A to point B. Drag race is where players must mash their pedal as far as it will go so they can win. Drift racing is where a player tries to break into a stylish drift and obtain lots of points. In Street X players must race around in a small lap track and fight for first place. Be warned - the other cars will get cheap in this mode. Underground Racing League has its own closed-off tracks that provide the best type of racing. In Free Run, players can do whatever they want, like just cruise around the city looking for secrets.

As players go through races and gain more prestige, sponsors will start coming in and giving nice things to help motivate you to continue doing what you know how to do best. The greatest thing about obtaining a new sponsor is that they will usually give you a free car, which is usually way better than anything that you currently have in your garage.

Nice doors!

The most disappointing thing about this game is that there is not any car-damage modeling. So you can be traveling more than 100 miles an hour and hit a car and they will just bounce off each other like nothing happened. Nitrous Oxide or NOS is handled differently in this game than the previous ones. The way to gain more “juice” is to avoid traffic and pull off some sleek power slides. If you crash into anything you will lose some, so it is a balancing effort to make sure that you are driving correctly and avoiding collisions.

One thing that is really impressive is the selection of cars that is available in this game. Last year’s game focused more on foreign cars, and this year has a little bit of everything. Now players can get their speed fix by driving such cars as the Skyline, Mustang, trucks, and even SUV’s! This game goes over the top with the car selection, but not only that, they all handle differently. For instance, a truck will handle a whole lot differently than a sleek Skyline or another racing car.

Gotta love the neon lights!

Besides winning races you will want to make your ride as cool as you possible can and you do this with the many different car modifications that are available to the players. This includes spoilers, neon lights, mufflers, rims, decals, and anything else that you could possibly imagine that you can put on a car is available in this game. Half of the fun is making your car as neat as you can! Also, this boosts up your reputation points which will help players out in other areas of this game.

Need For Speed Underground 2 is a great looking game! Since racing is held at night, lighting becomes a huge issue for games like this, and this game does not fail in any respect. The lighting for it is wonderful, from the neon signs, lamp posts, and headlights, it all looks realistic and great on the screen. Another thing new about this game is that even though it is held at night, many times it is held at different “times” of the night, when it is darker or even just a little brighter, which makes it feel more realistic like you really are racing a car.

Look at how detailed the game is!

One of the best things about this game is the unpredictability of the weather. One moment you will be driving in perfectly dry streets and the next a downpour of rain will come upon you. This is bad because now your car handling has changed so you will have to compensate for it. On the other hand it looks really good. Also, when you burn out or attempt to do a donut there will be a cloud of smoke that will be billowing out behind you, which looks really nice and realistic.

Need For Speed Underground 2 is rated E for Everyone for Mild Lyrics and Suggestive Themes.

Overall: 9.0
Need for Speed Underground 2 does everything that the first one did except bigger and better!  This is one of the best racing games that I have had the chance to play in a long time, and you will be able to tell how great this game is from the minute that you load it. It will offer you hours upon hours of racing challenges that will keep you coming back for more. This is one game that should not be missed.