Need for Speed: Underground is a solid racing game with an easy learning curve, arcade-like racing, online play, great g
User Rating: 8.2 | Need for Speed: Underground PC
NFS:U is one of the best looking racing games I've seen, with plenty of DirectX 9 features and cool effects. They will likely bog down even the fastest of computers when you run at high resolutions, but there are plenty of options for tuning performance just the way you like. The real problem I had was that the frame rate was all over the place if the settings were turned up just a bit too high, and it would totally screw up my driving. I wound up having to use medium details at 1024x768 resolution with no anti-aliasing to get a smooth ride. So far, the game has been technically sound otherwise - the game didn't crash on me once, and I didn't find any obvious bugs. All I really want to see is a bit more stable of a frame rate when I turn up the resolution.
A few moderately big shortcomings aside, Need for Speed: Underground is a solid racing game with an easy learning curve, arcade-like racing, online play, great graphics, and a distinct style. Its lack of track variety got on my nerves, but there's plenty to be had here both on- and offline. While I may never understand the culture that this game borrows from, I can't deny a pretty decent game when I see it.
