Need for Speed Underground 2 (PS2)

...Background **

Need for Speed Underground 2 is the follow up game to “Need for Speed Underground” which was a huge success on the Playstation2 a couple of years ago. Both games have been released aimed at building on the interest in street racing that has been generated by films like “The Fast and the Furious” and “2 Fast 2 Furious”. I should probably also say that I didn’t own the first game in the series although I have played it ...
...I have a need, a need for speed.

Once you have selected your car you are free to start cruising around the city looking for races to enter, garages to enter and money to collect. Initially only the City Core area of the map is available to you but there is plenty to this area of the city to keep you occupied.

** World Map **

The world map is exactly what it sounds like: a map of the world you are driving ... more

I must admit to being a little slow in embracing the Playstation2 craze that has swept the world over the last few years. But when I decided that I finally wanted one (incidentally at the same time it became impossible to get hold of one – typical!) I started asking around some friends on what games I should get. With most of my mates being into their cars there seemed to be a common theme of racing games being touted around. I am not really into doing cars up (as can be seen from the state of my car) but after trying this game decided that I would have to give it a try. I have liked previous racing games (on other consoles) and after a couple of games on this I knew it was going to be something I would like.

** Background **

Need for Speed Underground 2 is the follow up game to “Need for Speed Underground” which was a huge success on the Playstation2 a couple of years ago. Both games have been released aimed at building on the interest in street racing that has been generated by films like “The Fast and the Furious” and “2 Fast 2 Furious”. I should probably also say that I didn’t own the first game in the series although I have played it a couple of times.

** Overview and Objective **

The basic object of the game is to win all the races available, get as much money as you can and continuously improve your car’s appearance and performance (to help you win races and get sponsorship).

You are a street racer who has just flown into the city. After setting yourself up with a car (see below) you are able to drive around the city entering races. There are several different types of races taking place in the city, each requiring something slightly different from the driver. Upon winning races you will be awarded some money that can be used to buy new parts and improvements for your car.

The more parts you buy for your car, your higher visual rating it gets and the more magazine and DVD covers you are offered to feature on. These appearances are rewarded with even more money that you use to buy more parts and so on. It is also possible to obtain sponsorship that gives you more money still but requires you to win certain races.

At certain points in the game new sections of the city will be opened up providing you with additional shops and races. The more shops you find and races you win the more parts become available to you for your car.

Basically it is a boy racers dream.

** Starting Out **

When you start the game you are car less so to speak, which is something of a problem when you consider this is a racing game. A friend of your (Rachel) agrees to loan you her car to get from the airport to a car lot where there is a choice of cars waiting for you. Sadly you can’t start out driving around the city in a fancy sports car or anything like that. Instead you have to start with something more equipped for supermarket shopping than street racing.

The initial choice of cars includes a Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 206, Ford Focus and Peugeot 106. The various cars available are displayed on the screen with three attributes next to them to help you make your decision. The attributes held against each car are acceleration, speed and handling. I opted for a Corsa when I started my game as it seemed to be the fastest and I have a need, a need for speed.

Once you have selected your car you are free to start cruising around the city looking for races to enter, garages to enter and money to collect. Initially only the City Core area of the map is available to you but there is plenty to this area of the city to keep you occupied.

** World Map **

The world map is exactly what it sounds like: a map of the world you are driving around. There are two ways to view the world map. The first is to view the whole “world” and the other is to view the individual regions of the “world”. The individual region maps are simply enlarged versions of different sections of the world map.

Indicated on the map are all the races currently available as well as any garages and shops that you have found. Through the course of the game the World Map will be invaluable in getting you from one place to the other and finding where races, opponents and garages are.

** Getting Around and GPS **

There are several ways of getting yourself from one place to another. Firstly, you can take my approach to driving (in real life) and blindly drive around and around until you eventually stumble upon what you are looking for. There is no real need to use the map if this is your strategy although you may find the game slightly frustrating.

Secondly you can read the world map and work out which direction you want to go in, something like you might do if you were driving somewhere in real life. The only problem with this is that what looks like a junction on the world map may actually be a road and a bridge crossing. In these cases it can prove very frustrating trying to get to where you want to be.

Finally you have the option of using GPS, which tends to be the quickest and easiest way of getting between two places. The GPS can be activated in the world map for any race or garage. When activated a magic arrow will appear on your screen telling you which way you want to go. This seems to work pretty well, although it can be a little indecisive as to which way you should be going and it can tell you about turnings a little late, but that is all part of the fun.

** Messages, Phone Calls and Information **

The basic idea behind receiving information is that you have a mobile phone in the car with you and so can received phone calls and text messages. Text messages are sent to you when new parts are available in the shops, when new cars are available in the car lots or when a special event is happening. Game tips and information are received automatically when you collect the information icons that can be found at various locations in the city. A small amount of money also accompanies these pieces of information.

When a new message is received it will appear as a small symbol on your screen. The game is paused while you read the message and resumes when you exit. You are only able to read messages while you are driving around the city. It is not possible to read text messages in the middle of a race.

Phone calls will happen from time to time and inform you of the rough location of some secret races (see below) so make sure that you have the sound turned up on the TV.

Remember to pull over and switch the engine off before reading a message or accepting a phone call.

** Types of Race **

The main entertainment of the game is to be found in the races themselves. There are several different types of race that you can take part in to build up your balance, reputation points and unlock new parts. Each type of race requires something slightly different from the entrants and to progress in the game you will have to get good at all of them. The different types of race are outlined below.

* Circuit

As the name would suggest a “Circuit” race takes place around a circuit that is laid out around the streets of the city. During the race it is only possible to go around the pre-defined track so there is no chance of getting lost. A circuit race is normally run over 4 laps of the track, although this does depend on the length of the lap. If you have nos fitted to your car you can use it to gain an advantage in this race. As this race is around the streets of the city you will find non-race cars on the track so beware.

* Sprint

A “sprint“ race takes place on the streets of the city and requires getting from one place to another as fast as possible. The route to be taken is defined before the race starts and as with the circuit race is enforced. If you have nos fitted to your car you can use it to gain an advantage in this race. As this race is around the streets of the city you will find non-race cars on the track so beware.

* Drag

To be successful in a drag race you should forget about braking and steering and concentrate on changing gear, picking your lane and deciding when to use your nos. Regardless of the transmission you use for the rest of the game, you will be on manual transmission for this race. The art of winning a drag race is avoiding collisions and deciding when to change gear. The only steering that you need to do as part of this race is to move between lanes. Once in a lane the rest of the steering will be done for you.

These races are conducted on roads around the city so there may be non-racing cars to negotiate along the track.

* Drift

A drift race differs from the other races available in that the winner is based on points scored rather than the order the drivers cross the line. In fact you don’t even have to complete the race to win it. A drift race takes place on a relatively small circuit and is over 3 laps. You have around thirty seconds from when the first car completes the third lap to complete the race. If you don’t make it to the finish line then the race ends were you are.

You are awarded points for drifting your car around the track. A drift is similar to skidding sideways around the corners and so on. You are awarded more points for speed, angle and length of your drift. Beware though that you will lose all your points for the drift if you hit the wall in the process.

These races are conducted on a specialist track where there are no non-racing cars.

* Street X

Street X will test your ability to handle your car around tight tracks. It is less about speed and more about control. The race is held on a small circuit and is normally around 4 laps. The use of nos is prohibited and frankly wouldn’t be advised. There are very few sections of the track where you can accelerate for any length of time and it is more important to judge your speed and angle going into the corners. These races are conducted on a specialist track where there are no non-racing cars. The winner is the first person over the finish line.

* URI

This is a tournament style series of races. The other races listed so far have been against three other cars, but this race is against 5 other drivers (six cars in total). Points are awarded for each race and the driver with the most points at the end of the tournament is the winner. The tracks themselves are similar to formula 1 style race tracks and make use of all the driving skills tested in the individual races. Nos is available to drivers and there are generally plenty of straights to make use of it.

These races are conducted on specialist tracks so there is no need to worry about non-racing cars.

* Secret Races

All the races described above will be marked on your World Map to allow you to find them easily. However, while driving around the city you may come across some other races that are not indicated on your map. These races can be of any of the race types specified above and tend to come with a much bigger purse than the standard races.

* Challenge other Racers

You will find that during the course of the game you will have to drive back and to across the “world” map many times. Needless to say this can become somewhat boring and tiresome. The good news is that while you are driving around the map you have the opportunity to challenge other races to an outrun race.

Other racers are indicated on your map by an orange triangular symbol similar to the one used to indicate your own location. When you are driving near one of these other racers you will be able to push up and challenge them to a personal race. The rules of the race are simple: outrun your opponent. It will be clearly indicated on the screen who has the lead and the object of the race is to catch, pass and lose your opponent. There are no restrictions as to where you can go and there is a limit as to how far ahead you can get before it is determined that you have won the race.

If you are the chasing car there is a GPS style arrow that will show you the direction your opponent has gone as well as a distance indicator showing how far ahead they are. If you are the leading car then the GPS arrow will disappear, but the distance gauge will remain showing how far ahead of your opponent you are.

The purse for these personal races tend to be quite small but it is good fun and passes some time while moving between races. It is worth mentioning though that while it is possible to make money from your opponents in these races it is also possible to lose money if you fail to win the outrun.

** Reputation **

As I mentioned previously winning races will get you money and reputation points. The money available for winning the race is specified before you start the race but the reputation points you win is determined by the manner in which you win the race. Specifically, the distance between you and the second placed car determines the number of points awarded. So, when Vin Diesel said “It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch of a mile” he was lying. You need to be winning by as big a margin as possible. What does Vin know anyway?

** DVD and Magazine Covers **

At certain stages of the game you will be offered the chance to appear on the cover of DVD’s and Magazines. The frequency of these offers is dependant on the visual star rating of your car. As you add more parts and paint work to your car its visual rating will improve. The higher the visual rating, the more offers you will receive. When you feature on a magazine or DVD you will be given a sizeable fee which you can use to improve your car.

When you arrive at the photographer you may be given the opportunity to pick the angle of the photo, the position of your car and how to show your car off. When you are happy with the set up you are able to take the photo that will appear on the magazine.

As with everything, you don’t get something for nothing and in this case you will often be given a time challenge in order to secure the photo opportunity. The time challenge involves navigating from one point on the map to another (without the use of GPS) in a short amount of time. The time permitted is normally ample provided you don’t get lost on the way.

** Sponsorship **

At the end of each stage you will be offered a choice of sponsorship deals. Each deal will offer you slightly different financial incentives in return for completing a certain number and type of races. The sponsorship deals will also allow you to get additional cars from the car lot, allowing you to play with Hummer’s, Jeeps and faster sports cars.

The financial incentives are normally structured around a signing on fee and then additional fees for winning sponsored races. The fees involved will vary between deals so check them all out before making your choice.

** Getting Money **

Your success in the game depends on your performance as a driver and your cars performance on the track. To improve your cars performance you are going to need a lot of money to buy the latest parts and designs. There are several different ways you can go about getting money to improve your car, some of which have been covered before and others are being mentioned for the first time.

Most obviously you can get money by winning races. Each race has a pre-defined purse for the winner and the value of this purse varies from race to race. Winning races will get you sponsorship that will also pay you hefty sums of money. Improving the appearance of your car will get you photo opportunities that will be rewarded with a cash lump sum.

In addition to these previously mentioned ways there are also Information and Cash icons spread around the map. The information icons will give you tips and information about playing the game and also give you a small amount of cash. The Cash icons skip the information and just give you hard cash.

** Parts and Improvements **

Once you have some money you will want to go about spending it wisely, or recklessly as the mood takes you. There are various different shops available around the city, each selling different parts and services. There are basically two different areas you can improve your car; its appearance and its performance. Each option offers its own rewards as follows.

The faster your car is the more chance you have of winning races so improving the performance of your car will make it easier for you to win races and progress in the game. The better your car looks, the more likely you are to get offers from DVD and Magazine covers. Appearances on these publications will land you a handsome bounty.

Initially most parts are locked and cannot be purchased. Parts are gradually unlocked as you win races, get sponsorship, appear in publications and find hidden shops. The parts that will be available to you mean that your car will develop as a balance between appearance and performance unless you are very patient.

** Types of Shop **

The several different types of shop scattered around the city, each offering different parts and improvements. The shops are initially hidden from you and can be found down side streets and alleys. To help you find these shops there are different colour streetlights in the immediate area around the shop. Finding these hidden shops will unlock additional parts. The different types of shops are shown below:

* Body Shop – selling new body parts for your car such as bumpers, lights and spoilers etc.

* Graphics Shop – where you can customise the colour and look of your car. In addition to painting the parts of your car you can add stickers and designs to the panels.

* Car Specialities Shop – where you can customise your car with additional accessories. These parts include Neon, coloured lights, nitrous purge and tinted windows.

* Performance Shop – where you can customise the performance parts on your car. New engines, suspension, tyres, weight reduction kits and nitrous can be purchased from here.

* Car Lot - A racers profile can have up to six cars in it. Initially you are restricted to a single car but as you sign more sponsorship deals you will be allowed more cars. These additional cars are obtained from a car lot and stored in a garage.

* Garage - This is the place on the map where you will start the game. You can return here at any point to save your game or change your car, amount other features.

** Controls **

I have never been a fan of using the analogue sticks, always favouring the cursor keys and the buttons. The controls in this game are geared more towards the use of the analogue sticks than the cursor. For me this was something of a problem but after getting used to it I am now converted to the use of the analogue stick.

The controls can be personalised as required, but the basic/default controls for the game are as follows:
Left analogue stick: steering the car.
Right analogue stick: Accelerating and braking in the car
Left Cursor: Enter World Map
Right Cursor: Read SMS Messages
Up Cursor: Enter the shop/race
Down Cursor: View career statistics
Cross: Accelerate
Square: Brake
Triangle: Change driving view
Circle: Look behind you
L1: Nitrous boost
L2: Gear Down
R1: Handbrake
R2: Gear Up

** Saving the Game **

You are highly unlikely to complete this game in a single sitting so it is likely that you are going to want to save your progress and come back later. Luckily it is build into the game to save your progress regularly so that every time you win a race, buy a part of return to your garage you are able to save your progress.

** Single Race **

So far I have described the “career” part of the game, but there is also the option to have single player or multiplayer races independently of “career”. These races allow you to get used to the controls and offer a multiplayer environment to play along with your chums. To take part in one of these races, simply select your car and circuit and race away.

The controls for the race are as described above but none of the parts, appearance or money aspects of the game are included.

** Online Play **

It is possible to play this game online using a network card and an internet connection. I believe that this is similar to playing a multiplayer game except your opposition can be anywhere in the world. I haven’t tried this myself so can’t really comment on it other than to say it sounds like quite a good idea.

** My Opinion **

I must admit that I have been quite surprised how much I have taken to this game. I am probably not the sort of player the game designers would have had in mind when they were making this game. I am not the sort of person who would buy any sort of additional parts for my car (unless the current ones were broken) and I have never been into racing particularly. I think it is fair to say that if you are into cars and/or racing then you will enjoy playing this game, however I think there is also a strong appeal to a much wider audience.

While I am not particularly into cars or anything like that I do of course have dreams of pulling up in a nice sports car or similar and having a car capable of extreme speeds. I think that this is a desire that most people can relate to in one way or another and it is this desire that has kept me hooked on this game. In the world created by this game I can have all my fast cars and I can do them up so that they go even faster and then I can test my driving skills in these beasts. It brings out the child in me and I like that about it.

On a slightly more mature note, this game is very entertaining and has been well planned out and designed. The city is well designed and the attention to detail that has gone into the scenery and the race circuits is fantastic and makes the game a pleasure to play. Each road has a series of road signs and streetlights on the pavements similar to what you would expect to find on a real road. The other race cars have their own styles and designs that vary between opponents.

The fact that the city opens up in stages means there is always something new being introduced into the game to keep players entertained. Similarly with the parts that are available to the drivers, their slow release means that there is always something new available to add to your car.

Currently I am playing this game on a portable TV and I can’t help feeling that I am not getting the best from the graphics available in this game. Don’t get me wrong, it is still impressive but I would imagine the game looks even better on a decent size TV.

A game like this could soon lose its interest if it were too easy to win races. As you would expect the races get progressively harder as you complete levels. I must admit that the first couple of rounds of races were fairly straight forward, but it has soon increased in difficulty to the point where I am needing a good few attempts to win a race. The races become very challenging and if you are anything like me, you will have to win them before you can stop playing. The idea that improving your car will make it easier to win races is something of a false idea as the opposition cars improve similar to yours making it more difficult to win.

The controls needed to play this game can be a little confusing at first as there is different functionality between the right analogue stick and the cursor pad. However, this is something that is soon overcome and would not be a problem for someone used to using the analogue sticks. The most impressive thing about the controls in the game is that you can notice the difference between the handling of the car after different parts have been added. This is not just in terms of the cars top speed or acceleration either; the handling noticeably improves and deteriorates.

I can imagine this game having a fairly long life span. I have been playing it since Christmas and am still only 30% of the way through the career progression. Once the career is completed I can imagine that the online gaming element would be very addictive and keep interest in the game.

** Availability **

This game has been in the “Top 10” games since its release and as a result has held its price fairly well. Looking around the internet you can pick it up for under £30 in a couple of places, most notably Amazon have it on offer at the moment (time of writing) for £27.

** More Information **

If you like the sound of what you’ve read here you can get more information from the games official website which can be found here: http://www.eagames.com/official/nfs/underground2/us/home.jsp

** Overall **

All in all I have been very impressed by this game and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. I have enjoyed playing it a lot more than I expected to and have found myself with something of an addiction towards it. I would recommend it for anyone who likes the racing genre of games.

Thanks for reading
 

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