I don't understand why y'all hate the Pro Street... Only 4 things make the game boring: the handling (awfully hard), the time to load the scenario(ps2), the "professional" style driving in circuits and the over-sensible totalling effect.
Need for Speed Undercover Updated Hands-On
We got behind the wheel of Need for Speed's latest instalment. Find out if Undercover is looking ready to race in our hands-on look.
EA has been pretty clear that Need for Speed Undercover is more of a spiritual successor to Most Wanted than a follow-up to last year's iteration, ProStreet. It has brought back police pursuits, but it's also bringing the series up to date with what it claims will be an expansive open world and a deeper story mode, complete with a lead character who gains experience along the way.
Undercover takes place in three distinct cities in the fictional Tri-City Bay. Gold Coast Mountain, Sunset Hills, and Palm Harbor will offer three different regions to explore, and all of them are accessible from a main interstate highway. To give you an idea of the size of the world, the game's developers at EA Black Box said it would take eight minutes to navigate across at top speed, and 160km of drivable roads are available. Black Box is working on a streaming world that loads as needed, and with the main menu also loaded into the world (appearing as a pop-up) there will be no breaks from the action, unless you're jumping online for a race against friends. Xbox Live and PlayStation Network will be supported, but there is no local split-screen multiplayer. In addition to embarking on missions, you'll be able to free-roam around Tri-City Bay as much as you like, and at any time you can bring up your GPS device to jump directly into races, sprints, highway battles, and pursuits.
While we still haven't seen much of the storyline, EA revealed that a character played by Hollywood actress Maggie Q (Mission Impossible III, Die Hard 4.0) will recruit you as a federal officer at the beginning of the game to help bust an underground car-smuggling operation. You'll gradually infiltrate the crime syndicate, building on your reputation as you climb the ranks by taking jobs. This is where Undercover gets its name: You'll have to complete your jobs while facing off against cops, using them as your foil in the process. Some of the cutscene cinematics look top-notch, and hopefully the story will be just as solid--it's unusual to see developers go to this length to include a storyline in a racing game. EA has used a photographic technique known as magic hour (used in movies such as Transformers and 300) to film some of Undercover's cutscenes, giving it a warm, soft "late in the afternoon" visual tone. The in-game world will also cut straight to full-motion video, with the world being rendered behind the FMV, which is designed to increase the seamless feel.
We tried out a new game mode called Highway Battle on a stretch of the Southeast I-20. Essentially a point-to-point race against other street racers with the goal to win by 1,000ft (305m), this particular challenge is one of the easier tasks early on in the game, with only some light traffic to navigate around. A nifty onscreen meter will show you how far behind or ahead of the pack you are, and once your car reaches the top of the meter, you'll have completed the challenge. Variable traffic in Undercover means you shouldn't experience the same race twice. Vehicles will indicate when they're changing lanes and will vary their speed, so you'll need to keep an eye on the surrounding traffic. You'll also be able to draft behind other vehicles, but getting too close may result in a high-speed collision, bringing your race to a quick halt. You can use vehicles to create havoc for opponents and police, by creating pileups and accidents. Damage modelling will also be part of the game, and the team is working on improvements over ProStreet.
Pursuit mode looks like it will be just as thrilling as the highway battles. The object of the challenge we played, dubbed Grand Theft 5-0, was to steal a cop car from a police station carpark and evade the pursuing officers in the process of taking it to a garage. The chase takes place in Sunset Hills, which has a more industrial feel than the other areas, complete with warehouses and derelict land. While this race wasn't too difficult, we were told that police AI will increase as the story continues, forcing you to become more adventurous as you progress. Like in the highway battles, you'll have an onscreen meter showing your distance from your competition, and you'll need to gain a sizable lead before you can escape. Not content to merely chase you, cop cars will also ram your vehicle and set up barricades, although we didn't see any spike strips deployed as they were in the Need for Speed games of yesteryear.
Because you're stealing a vehicle for commercial interest, you'll need to make sure you don't damage it too much during the sprint. While you need to keep your vehicle looking tip-top, you can earn extra points for causing damage to public property--the greater the damage to police cars and council property, the better. If you get busted, an amusing cutscene will be triggered, showing you trying to escape the clutches of the fuzz, with a look almost straight out of Cops, complete with a blurred face.
EA considers Undercover to be a more contemporary look at car culture than previous games, and it includes a wide range of exotic European imports, including Porsche, Jaguar, and Audi. The approach was summed up by the game's producer, who said, "Neon is dead; the bat machine is in." While the game--and real-world car culture--may be maturing from green neon and dragon decals, car customisation will still be included, and you'll be able to makes changes to car body parts, such as wings and bonnets, and add paint jobs, nonstandard parts, and vinyl--all available for the different manufacturers featured in the game.
Need for Speed Undercover looks like a fresh and interesting direction for the franchise, retaining the white-knuckle action expected of the series while adding open-world, cinematic cutsences and beautifully detailed European imports (complete with damage modelling) to the mix. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more in the run-up to Undercover's November 21 European release (the game will launch on November 17 in the US).
97 comments
Pro Street was absolute crap. Worst racing game I've ever played. Hope this one's better
Gotta have this one! I'm glad it's the spiritual successor of Most Wanted rather than that boring Prostreet.
Must buy it, for MQ. I don't really like damage model though. Who want to drive a mess up car. What, you gonna pick up girls with a damaged car?
Ledoubleu dude....this game is totally missing the new generation racing CONCEPT!! i bet you wont enjoy it with your 5.1 speaker with such fake effects. check out Grid. thats the racing concept of the future!!
Grid is a completely different genre. More of a racing sim (lite)whereas NFS is an action driving game. I remember the original Hot Pursuit for PC in the 90's. NFS-HP is one of greatest games in this genre ever. Dude's, the adrenalin rush is back, only this time in 1080P and 5.1. I can't freakin' wait!
GRID is good but its not really my style of racing game. I love NFS because of its Free Roam and Car Custmization features. I have always enjoyed street racing games such as this, and I think that that NFS should carry on the way they started (NFS UnderGround 2)
Game LOOKS great and SOUNDS great. The only thing that is missing is the way the cars could be enhanced and modified in UnderGround 2. I'm hoping the Police Engine is great, it does look promising but i just am thinking this game could turn out real bad, like its previous game ProStreet.
Ok so 1st - GRID is nowhere near being a simulator. Its pretty much arcade. Try GTR2 for simulation please. This NFS looks promising, apart from Pro street which was toilet, ive managed to get some pleasure from most of the NFS series, i find they offer care free easy going gameplay with eye candy visuals to boot. I'd say this will be worth a go for some fun. p.s GRID is not a driving simulator, get GTR2.
it just need mooor then 1G RAM mooor then 1.80GHz(core 2duo) better then ATI 2000HD or 8600 GTS for nvidia XP or Vista it dosnt matter this days
Nice to see they they came back to the light of day. Too bad the PC version is going to utterly fail - the release date is the same as the PC version of GTA IV.
What's with all these timed releases? Can someone explain to me what's so magical about November? Christmas? Anyway, I'm hating it! With Wrath of the Lich King, this, and a few others hitting stores at the same time, I'm going to be struggling to find time to play them all!
I've played and enjoyed every single NFS game, and NFSMW was my favorite. The best racing sim is definately GRID, but thats all it is. NFS will always be fun as long as they realize what sets NFS apart and makes it enjoyable. The Cops.
SO what we have here : NFS Underground-Customization + NFS Most wanted -Cops + NFS Pro Street - Graphics = Nfs Underground ! EA u should get a life and think before making games !
Most wanted was the best thing that happened to the NFS series since Hot Pursuit. Carbon and Prostreet were absolute eye-candy bullcrap for dumb kids. If this Underground NFS is based on Most Wanted, we MAY have a new great NFS game. I liked the freedom feeling in most wanted.
WOW I just have to say that everyone here who thinks that GRID is a great SIMULATION GAME, obviously looses all credibility as a gamer.
I kinda agree that GRID is not a pure simulation racing, but it is one of the greatest racing games for me. Other great racing game, of course NFS Most Wanted is one of them. And I'm glad NFS back to this style. Still have to see what's coming, though.
ok, joshuatree08/zhaosuke you guys got me. i'll try undercover but if its like prostreets dont say i warned you.and i know grand terismo 5 wont be out til 2010 I was just naming a few other racing games to play simulation or arcade. incase undercover dont work out simple as that. im not a NFS hater
Cuartico if you want an awesome racing simulation game, try GRID ======================================================== Simulation? Are U kidding?
i don't know about you guys but i play need for speed since first game on 3DO... the evolution is fantastic...
@ Olaoye_tw EA has been working on the 2009 Need for speed since a very long time....undercover was already in the works wen they released carbon....so u can be happy... Wont u people like a day night cycle in a nfs game??
As a car modification fanatic myself, similar to most wanted, this is gonna be another fantastic game.
I'm actually tired of racing games now lolz but if it's something similar to Most Wanted but better..then i'll give it a try...I didn't like pro street tho
Carbon and ProStreet both were crap. This looks to bring out the cool slick game that Most Wanted gave us. I agree it is not car simulator but it is a hell of ride to play :)
treki595: need for speed carbon is ARCADE not simulator... besides... its kinda bad... you should play nfs most wanted, thats a nice arcade game, if you want an awesome racing simulation game, try GRID
Why are so many of you saying it will suck? NFS: Most Wanted was arguably the best in the series (yes I have played them all since Hot Pursuit 2). I think making a sequel to most wanted is the best idea they have had for a long time.
hotrider12, how many times do i have to tell you to stop posting the same thing twice? Also quit using caps lock at random parts of what you're saying, it makes you look stupider than using them the whole time. Don't do that either. If you don't like the game gtfo.
Also hotrider12, if you headed into a brick wall on NFS, least your car suffers real time damage, unlike Gran Turismo Real Driving Sim my arse
hotrider12, Sony announced Gran Turismo 5 wont be out till at least 2010 apparently. This game looks to bring back the much needed shine of NFS, especially after that awful Pro Street n Carbon plus Maggie Q's in it, sold!
I think im pretty sure...this game is surely gonna be the best need for speed game in its history....but still confused...why dont they ever mix up Underground 2 with most wanted...N whoa...who in the world is gonna hate it if there wud be a day/night cycle???
I dont get one thing why ppl keep comparing NFS UC with GT5 and Grid they are racing simulations this is street racing game have little simulation and mostly its still arcade forgive me if im wrong
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Review Scores
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|---|---|---|
Game Info
- Release Date: Nov 17, 2008 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
- Release Date: Sep 18, 2008 (US)
- Release Date: May 7, 2009 (US)
- Release Date: Aug 26, 2009 (US)
Need for Speed Undercover
- Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
- Developer(s): EA Black Box
- Genre: Driving
- Release:
- ESRB: T
NFS Undercover Navigation
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