Need for Speed Underground

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpotPosted Oct 13, 2003 4:31 pm PT

We take the latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise for a spin.

Need for Speed Underground is the newest installment in Electronic Arts' long-running Need for Speed series. While the various entries in the series have offered fair to strong racing experiences, this latest multiplatform release is shaping up to be the finest entry yet. Need for Speed Underground's mix of slick visuals, tight gameplay, and impressive features have quickly made the title one of the most highly anticipated releases this fall. We had the opportunity to try out preview versions of the game, for the GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, and have come away impressed by how the racer is coming together.

The game's graphics are very impressive.

Need for Speed Underground features a radical change in approach from its predecessors. Electronic Arts' Canadian development studio has looked to the street racing scene for inspiration and has married the core gameplay of the Need for Speed franchise with the aesthetics of street racing. As a result, the game features an extra layer of polish and a distinctive new style that borrows liberally from the film The Fast and the Furious. The tight package ends up offering a cohesive experience that's extremely immersive.

The first thing you'll want to do when you fire up Need for Speed Underground is create a profile that will store all your game settings and earnings. This is essential to getting everything out of the game. Once you've sorted out your profile, you'll be able to start poking around what the game has to offer. You'll find three main game modes in Need for Speed Underground; there's underground, quick race, and split-screen. Each has its own variations.

Need for Speed Underground marks a distinct new approach in the franchise.

Underground is the meat of the single-player game and is a career-style mode that starts you off as a peon in the underground racing scene. CG cutscenes fill you in regarding your progress as you work your way up from obscurity. You progress by placing first in the races that appear on your map. The competitions include circuit, sprint, drag, drift, lap knockout, and tournament variations of the races. Circuit races are standard lap-based competitions that challenge you to find the best route through open city courses. Sprint races are high-speed runs between specific points. Drag races are all about harnessing the raw power of your car to blow away the competition. Drift races are perhaps the most technical of the races you engage in, and you'll have to exert some serious control as you powerslide through painfully sharp turns on various tracks. Lap knockouts are elimination races in which the last-place car is eliminated after every lap until there's a final winner. Finally, you'll find tournament-style variations of some of the aforementioned races. They are broken up into three heats. You are then rewarded with a set number of points for your final position after every heat. If you manage to earn the most points by the end of the heats, you win.

Quick race is an arcade-style single-player race that lets you choose from circuit, sprint, drag, drift, lap knockout, and free run types of races. You can choose any track you've opened up in the underground mode to race on. In addition, you can customize the number of laps, AI catch-up, amount of traffic on the track, and AI skill level. Split-screen is a multiplayer mode where you can take on a friend in circuit, sprint, drag, and/or drift races. The PC and PlayStation 2 versions of the game offer players an extra treat in the form of an online mode that lets them race in cross-platform competition.

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1 Comments

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jakeboudville
Posted Sep 15, 2006 12:06 am PT

looks cool
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