NFSU was a great game, naturally expectations soared when NFSU2 was around the corner & that is where things went wrong. Though a good game on its own, it fails to match up to its fan's expectations.

To start with, the graphics do not look like they have been spent some extra time on. The original NFSU made use of gr8 lights n trails n motion blurs to create a new kind of racing environment. But NFSU2 just carries it forward as it is, without significant improvement. Though some sceneries are really beautiful, not many will feel it looks different from its predecessor. Even the rain effects have been downplayed.

NFSU2 toes the GTA line of having a city to explore & to goto locations to begin missions / race. Though the city is really huge & beautiful, it doesn't feel like a city at all. To start with, the roads are blatantly linear, with hardly any shortcuts between adjacent tracks. U can hardly enter any building's compound nor is there much to smash around. It feels like you are driving on a giant race track than a city. The only credit the city setup gets is that its been created beautifully. You can stand on high ground & view the landscape u just drove through.Though much of that landscape is textures only, it doesn't look that way. There is also an expressway & that too quite long for you to press your vehicles to the limit. The criss-cross sections & flyovers look really good, though sometimes you may not realize which exit you should take for going in a particular direction. You have to go to the races to begin racing, which can be quite frustrating as the city is really huge & going from one end to another tends to become tedious after sometime. Without people & animated objects, the city looks at some places. A whole railway yard & port with nothing moving is too much for gregarious ppl.

Your arsenal of cars gets a welcome addition in terms of SUVs. After complete upgrades, they are virtually racing tanks. You can play football with the traffic & other racers with them. Some new cars have also been added, but its really the SUVs that garner interest. Nothing like driving a Humvy at 280 km/h and c cars fly around at the smallest nudge. Unfortunately, u'll have to really spend on the SUVs to make them that good. The stock SUVs are very bad for driving and it'll be sometime when u can make them worthy of racing. Definitely there is no limit to customisation, infact u can spend days just cutomising ur vehicle.

Some new kind of races have also been introduced. Out of them, Outrun is something u can do while casual cruising. Depending on the type of vehicle(SUV or cars), u will find opponents cruising along on the map. when u near them, they'll ask for a race (while driving). If u accept there invitation, u have to outrun them by 300 m to win the race. Its really fun and can be started anytime & anywhere. The amount of money u win stays fixed & gets incremented as u progress along the game. Once in a while winning some outruns gives u n opputunity for bonus upgrades also. Unfortunataly, these races dissappear after a certain no (why?) and u r forced to get on with your career. Street X is more of a Circuit racing on a Drag course. URL involves 1/2 races on a racing track or airport and are accompanied by a heavy purse.

The city areas remain unlocked until you complete some amount of the game. As u unlock city areas & win races, u get an oppurtuniy to sign up with a sponsor and obatain new cars. If u want new cars otherwise, u have to go for trade-in. Unfortunately, there is no monetary or return benefit in that, so pick your rides carefully. Even for performance upgrades, painting & vinyling, body upgrades, car shopping & special additions there are separate shops. Most of them are invisble on the map & show up only when u find them. Again u have to be choosy between the shops as some shops offer parts for less. The sad thing is that u have to drive to them to install upgrades. News regarding sponsors, race events & upgrades pops up on ur sms alert.

The in-game cutscenes, though implemented in a new way, fall flat on their faces. A comic book kind of strip is shown with dialogues. Static images fail to make an impact the way Max Payne does it. Even the opening game movie lacks polish. To add to the list of saving graces is NFSU2's sound n game tracks. The crashes sounds are very well-rendered & the music tracks are spectacular.

Speaking of crashes, NFSU2 does not offer much satisfaction. Cars fly themselves if u hit traffic, while many a times traffic flies like a football when hit by the SUVs. The best portion are the SUV crashes, where the crahes do make some impact & give a sense of pride. Even the traffic, apart from some stray additions looks exactly the same as in NFSU. Some 18 wheelers may have helped. The cinematic crash slo-mode looks good sometimes though.

Y NFSU2 fails to charm is something everyone will understand only after playing the game. NFSU2 has many salient points. To begin with, the sound is perfect. Passing below flyovers and hearing the wooshing sounds does feel like u r driving fast. SUVs sound like they are meant to, especially after upgrades. As everyone knows how the cars are going to handle, its better to carry on playing with SUVs. The best part is that the SUVs are favs like Humme H2 & Cadillac Escalade(remeber matrix reloads?) Racing on drag is particularly interesting as it takes place on beautiful locations. The city as stated is quite beautiful. You can switch cars from your inventory anytime while cruising & race the same race with different vehicles in case u loose.

"In case u loose" is an abnormal phrase here as the opposition is laughably weak. There is not much fun in driving six laps alone with other cars trailing far enough for u to take a nap. The only competition u may face is on Drag & sometimes in Street X. After outruns get exhausted at every level, cruising becums terribly boring.

Though a strong racing game on its own, it doesn't match up as a sequeal. Do not expect much & u'll surely be rewarded.