I Need To Go Underground 2!!! (Need For Speed Underground 2 (PS2))

Member Name: masterblaster82

Product:	Need For Speed Underground 2 (PS2)
Date:	19/02/06 (566 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good graphics and some nice cars and mods.

Disadvantages: Music/sound not great, only 30 cars and only room for 5 cras in garage

Game Info

Genre = Street Racing
Developer = E.A Games
Publisher = Electronic Arts
Players = 1-2 players
Age = 3+
Online = Yes

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Story: It continues from from the first underground where being the champion, you get a call to play with the big boys over in Bayview. But gets sent to hospital after a rival takes you out and finishes you car off, 6 mouths later you get there but must start over again with some help of a friend.

GRAPHICS:The graphics are pretty stunning, there's a lot of shinny reflections of street lights of the cars and on wet road. When high up on the hills, looking down over the city does look totally amazing which lets you see very far with its draw distance. The cars you drive are details nicely but the traffic though out the city is very plane and a bit blocky. What lets down the graphics and also the gameplay is there 's not damage effect on your car or any others. As a very big, top player company like E.A, you would think they put it in as others like Rockstar(Midnight Club3) and THQ(Juiced) both has this in.

SOUND/MUSIC:The music has always great on EA games but i find on NFS2 they are not so great and that the songs on juiced and midnight club 3 both have better music. Although saying that there are some good ones there. The sound is worst for those that use inside view anyway, as when using the outer view the sound of the car is sweet, but switch to the inside and there no sound like its being drowned out. The voice acting is good but has no face to put the names too apart from a few main players but this is done by a poor comic strip.

CONTROLS:The controls has been improved a bit over the last underground, the car handling is still the arcady feel, the d-pad is now used to enter shops, read messages and challenge other tuners.

GAMEPLAY: This time around it now changed to a free-form city(like in Midnight Club) where you can drive anywhere you like, on the map is shows Body, graphic, performance shops as well as the races. All these you must drive to your self and on your way you can enter outruns with out tuners which is were you must take the lead and get 1000km ahead by taking a roads you like, in return for a little cash. Races included in the game are circuit(a few laps with up to 6 cars), sprint (a race from point A-2- B), drift (earn points for big powerslides), downhill drift(same as drift but has traffic), Street X(a special track with short straights and sharp corners) and a few others. There are quite a lot of kits to put on but they are all the same for each car(no real parts like veilside), there a lot you can do to the car but takes a very long time to unlock them. Some of the unlockables are head/back lights and covers, spoilers, lambo doors, alloys/spinners, different type of colors(altho you can't mix your own)hoods, roof grills, decals, widebody kits and much more. You can have some parts in Carbon fiber too.

It can be very slow at time upgrading you car because you done earn much money, drive around back and fort does sometimes get annoying and it don't help when you only earn money for first place. Cars also take long time to unlock, ones you want a new car us most ether trade in you own car(which you loss including any kit)you unlock extra space in your garage, which only hold 5 at max.

REPLAY VALUE:First time though takes along time,(taken 1 or 2 weeks) all shops are hidden and must be found, including hidden cash. There are loads of tracks to go on, though can get boring. There's 30 cars in all from company like Peugeot, Toyota, Audi, VW and more that's includes cars like, 206, 106, Supra, Celica, A3, TT, 3000GT, Mustang and even some SUVs like a hummer. There also a quick race mode, 2-player and for though that can online play. There are quite few play online but its very hard find a race as you must search each type separate and can not show you all games that's being played at ones.

Buy this only if you play many other the other top racing games. For arcady handling go for Midnight Club 3(excellent online) or Juiced for a mix of arcady and simulation handling(also good online but not many player)
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SCORE

Graphics - 9/10
Sound/Music - 7/10
Controls - 9/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Replay Value - 7/10

FINAL RATING - 7.8/10

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Thanks for Reading.

Summary: An good street racing game with some nice cars and kits but no damage effect to cars.