A great return to form for Need for Speed (Need For Speed: Undercover (Xbox 360))

Member Name: Gemma_C

Product:	Need For Speed: Undercover (Xbox 360)
Date:	03/01/09 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of cars, lots of speed... and movie scenes!

Disadvantages: The long loading screens...

I haven't found a Need for Speed game that's had me hooked since Need for Speed Underground 2 on the original Xbox. I spent so many hours playing that never ending game.... keeping the same car I got at the very start (a Corsa would you believe!) and 'pimping' it up beyond belief. I love the aspects of being able to customise your car, and having plenty of variety with the races themselves.

So getting stuck into Need for Speed: Undercover, the first thing that struck me was the cinematic scenes. Whilst slightly over the top for a video game, it almost makes you believe you're watching Fast and the Furious! You're playing an undercover cop, and of course you need to get the local racing crew to like you. The main part of course is taking part in races. There are circuits, sprints, checkpoints, highway battles and outruns. The highway battles became a quick favourite to me, the camera zooms to first person and you're doing high speeds along the highway at rush hour narrowingly dodging the traffic, whilst trying to stay ahead of another car! There is also the ones involving the police, this can involve causing a set amount of cost to the state, which you do by crashing into things and destroying the police cars. There are also ones where you have to destroy a set number of police cars too, which you can do by crashing into cleverly placed icons, which when you do, causes a bridge to give way or some poles to come crashing down behind onto the chasing police cars.

The map in the game is huge, and you move onto different areas as you progress through the game. There are of course the parts shops where you can buy new cars, tweak your car and customise with all the colours of the rainbow and vinyls. There is a nice selection of cars in the game, American, European and Japanese cars. You can also earn cars through pink slips on various races throughout the game.

In each area of the map you meet various 'crew' members and they get you to do jobs for them. One example of this is getting a stolen car to the chop shop without writing it off. This isn't so easy as you get the police chasing after you, which you need to shrug off, before you can take the car to the chop shop. Sometimes this is even timed too, making it more of a challenge!

There is a photo mode in the game, you can take a phot of your car and upload it to the Need for Speed website right their in the game.

For people who love to earn 360 achievements, there are a nice selection. You earn them easily enoguh from taking a photo, to harder ones involing how many police cars you might take out in a pursuit.

This is definetly a return to form for the Need for Speed series, and I am hooked.

Summary: A great street racing game from the Need for Speed series.