User Rating: 7.7 | Need for Speed Underground PS2
Ok, let me start by saying this game is alot of fun..most of the time. The graphics are truly amazing and match the object of the game well(that being trying to drive as fast as possible). The tactical use of blurring both during normal driving and when you're using spray is done well, if maybe too well since it can be difficult to see whats ahead of you as your boosting. Then again, its obvious the designers were trying to give you a very "real" feel of what the road looks like at 180 mph, so I have no problem with that. I was impressed with the very large selection of car upgrades to the respectable selection of tuner cars(though I think they might have wasted space on some of the vinyls). Now for the not so great... The career mode is not as refined as I was hoping for. Basically you have 111 "missions" which must be completed in a linear fashion, except for a few breaks where u can choose between 2 or three; regardless you have to do em all to advance so the choice option is kind of a gimmie. I personally love the drag races and despise drifting: Unfortunately there aren't that many drag races..fortunately there aren't that many drift runs /shrug. The rest of the time you're racing through what looks like the same track in the same part of town, varied only by which way you're going and maybe the ocasional shortcut to make it slightly more entertaining..(definitely could do with greater variance in scenery!). Remember what I said about the developers trying to make the game feel "real" earlier; ok forget it. Because now I get to vent about traffic >< slightly more music variety would have been good. Anyway, the game is at it's best after you've finished the career mode. Then you can have fun customizing all the cars with your loot, and run the kind of races you want to do. Until then it's a game that while entertaining, can get frustrating very fast.
