EA's street racing series Need For Speed has taken an interesting twist, as EA has come out with a "sequel" to its NFSU, Need For Speed Underground 2. Now, NFSU 2 isn't really a sequel, but a reinvention of its predecessor. NFSU 2 lives up to the expectations set by gamers in hopes to improve upon the original NFSU game and is the best NFS title in EA's street racing series. Welcome to Bayview! Gameplay: NFSU 2 starts off with a bang, as it offers you two types of mode to participate in. The Explore mode allows you to explore Bayview, Coal Harbor, City Core, Beacon Hill, Jackson Heights, and the Airport comprise the five part city. Like the original, each sets a different setting and gives you a different type of racing experience, but that will be looked at a little bit later. The explore mode is really just like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, except you are riding around in a car. You can find cash, a few shortcuts you will be able to find, and gold rings that deem a race or a garage to go to. It seems as if EA wants you to become part of the street racing "family/lifestyle" here in Bayview. I believe EA made Bayview to expansive, sure you will be immersed in Out Runs and the shops and other races to be found in the city, but its just so expansive, and honestly sort of gets boring. If I were EA, I would have liked to either make the city a bit smaller to keep the gamer more interested, or put in more "gifts", shortcuts, garages, and even unlockables so that gamers actually want to go and play explore mode. If you do get bored with exploring the city, have no fear, NFSU 2 brings back the Career Mode. If you know anything about NFSU, you know that career mode is all about racing, and thats what EA really puts an emphasis on in NFSU 2. You will start off as a Street Racing "noob" with no experience and no kind of rep to go of on Bayview, you will have to earn the respect of your peers. By winning races such as Out Run, Speed X, Sprint, Circuits, Drift, and Underground Leagues races (series of circuit runs) you will be able to earn cash to upgrade your car and also earn reputation. The style system is back, using a ten star ranking to rate how sleek your car is. Its simple, win races, earn cash, sup up cars, and the star rating will start to be filled. Like NFSU, you can earn yourself a spot on a magazine cover, but just make sure you got the reputation and style, or else no photoshoot for you. A GPS system is implimented in NFSU and the map can be easily brought up into detail using the D Pad and its easy to use. The game offers a lot of cars, including SUVs, lol, but I highly recommend you stick with the street cars unless you want to be driving a SUV in races, which is quite hard (to handle and steer at least). Some cars, like the original, will be more desired than others, and they do come with a hefty price tag. Like NFSU, you will start with a no good stock car and will need to win races and earn cash to upgrade it and eventually buy a better one (don't fall in love with the first car you get). Driving and handling is great in NFSU 2. EA has balanced the arcadey and realistic world of street racing which is sweet. The powerslide and drifts have been improved and you will need more skill to win races, which is always good. Be warned not to expect blistering speed, but the speed level is decent in NFSU 2, although don't be getting to cocky and trying to outgun cars with the stock car you got in the beginning, you won't be gong anywhere fast when you first start off in career mode (trust me). Vehicles this year in NFSU 2 will show no damage, yes, gamers will be disappointed because the game losses some of its realistic flare, but honestly, EA gets all these liscenses to use all these cars, I don't think Toyota would be too happy to see one of their cars get busted up in a street racing game. The NOS system is different, you can actually gain NOS by pulling off tricks or avoiding traffic during races, but you will drastically lose NOS if you bumrush into traffic while using it. If you are not familiar with NOS, its is Nitrous Oxide, and while used, will make your car go evidentally faster than usual. Like its predecessor, NFSU 2 brings you a bunch of upgrades for your cars, from spoilers to hoods to rims to spinners to trunks to headlights to trims, you name it, NFSU 2 brings the whole package. The one thing I liked this year was the Dyno Tunning System NFSU 2 brought, especially because it is actually realistic, espeically when you are testing out your ride. O, and did I forget to mention, NFSU 2 is online enabled, seems as if all games this year are going online, so that is a major plus, especially since racing game are so tight to play online with other gamers, who know...and sometimes don't know how to drive a car, lol. Graphics: The graphics have taken a step up, especially on the Xbox. Bayview looks great, the city is well detailed and I can't say how much time it must have taken to make the city look so realistic, props to EA for that, although I still think its too expansive, lol. The lighting problems have been fixed, if you have ever played in NFSU, you will notice that sometimes while racing you would experience lighting problems, where it would get too dark for you to see where you are going. There were some complaints about why you couldn't race in the daytime, well, its street racing, which is usally done at night, but EA added a few kick ins. Now you will race during different times of the night, to give a variety of settings for gamers to play in (sun setting (dusk), pitch dark, sun rising (dawn)). The setting also gives you somewhat of a realistic feel while racing. Don't forget about the reflections off windows and the exteriors of your car (which was seen in NFSU), its back and again very nicely done. The roads aren't always wet now, lol, as EA bring a great variety of roads in NFSU 2. Don't worry, there are still some wet black roads out there, especially when the weather changes (which is always a plus). Instead of just racing in nice skies where everything seems perfect, expect rain sometime in the forcast, which will affect your steering and handling. If you are expecting well detailed car models, forget about that, although the models are decent to say the least. And don't worry about the frame rate, especially on the Xbox, you won't notice any problems. I really didn't have any other problems with the graphics of NFSU 2, although you will see a lot of Brooke Burke, which isn't always a bad thing, but c'mon...lmfao. Sound: The sounds your car makes whil racing is superb, from swithcing gears to reving up your engine, the sound of your car just adds to the realism of the game. Brooke Burke's voice over/acting in NFSU 2 is fantastic, she is sort of the chick who tells you what to do and leads you through the game. The other voice acting is alrite, though you will notice that there is a lot of street talk through out the game which some gamers will eventually become annoyed wtih, but thats just a minor problem and that actually sort of adds to the street feel of NFSU 2 . The sound track is nothing speical, there are a couple good tracks to listen to whle playing the game and it is quite similar to the original NFSU sound track, but there aren't many that I really liked while racing, and I found myself turning off some of them, just got annoyed with it all, lol. All in all, the game sound though is superb (as said before), the street lingo adds some realism to the enviroment and the lifestyle of street racing, but the sound track I think could have been greatly improved. Last Thoughts: NFSU 2 will rival Burnout 3, especially appealing to the urban class which has seen street racing evolve over the last decade. Tunning up and suping/upgrading your car while earning a rep has been the focus of EA's NFSU, and it doesn't fail in NFSU 2, imrpvoing on the foundation set by the original. Bayview is too expansive, but its well detailed and seems as if EA put some work into making the game not as linear as other racing games, although it still can be improved. NFSU 2 is a fantastic racing game for any gamer to have on his or her shelf, and who wouldn't like showing off your flashy Nissan 350z to your friends or burning your opponent on Xbox Live in a race. EA brings a complete package to the table, I would recommend NFSU 2 to anyone who is looking for a great racing game and good fun. Do you have the Need for Speed?
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