Need for Speed Underground

"Sets New Standards for Racing Games"

Introduction:
The sun sets in the busy city and most people go to bed. However, its time for a different type of crowd. Its the import car scene. Its night time and that means races downtown. They block off the roads and let the most tricked out imports go at it. Money is on the table and whoever wins the lap races, sprint races, drift races, and drag races collects the prize. You are a new racer and your car is just stock. To them you are a nobody and their respect for you and your car is reflected by how well you drive and how cool your car is...which means they don't respect you at all. Make some money, get some modifications on that car, and make your way up on the charts. Get better parts for your car, get a better car, get appearance modifications, and maybe you will get some respect.

Gameplay:
This isn't your typical racing game, its very original. There is many different things to do and the fun factor is very addicting. This game should come with a warning label because once you get started, its hard to stop. Underground mode is like a story mode. You are a new racer on the underground racing scene and you just bought a car that is still stock. Its so ugly its almost an embarrasment to own let alone race. Not only is the appearance stock but so is the performance. You must race for money and sooner or later you'll be able to modify that stock car into a racing machine. There is a bunch of cars such as Civics, Neons, Skylines, Lancers, Supras, Eclipses, Celicas, and much more. There are many different types of races: Drag, Elimination, Drift, Lap, and Sprint. Drag racing is a simple straight race on a single long road. However, to win you must shift gears at the right RPMs and use your nitrous oxide timely not mentioning the traffic that is still present on the road. Lap races is a race around a track in downtown. There is a cert ain amount of laps before the race is over. You race at high speeds through downtown with traffic and obstacles such as construction areas and highway barriers. Shortcuts are also very helpful and can shave precious seconds off our time. Elimination races are similar to lap races however after each lap, the last place person is elminated until there is only one racer left. Drift is more of a competition more than a race. You go around a track with many turns and the way to score points is by sliding. The longer the slide and by combining turns, you can pull off some major points. Sprint racing is a race from point A to point B. First one there wins the cash prize. Speed through downtown and get there the fastest and victory is yours. Every once and a while there is a tournament where you must win a couple races to win. Points are distributed by the place they finish and after three races, whoever has the most points wins the big cash prize and sometimes their car on the front of a magazine. By winning money you get to buy new parts for you car and by winning in style you get points that unlock new car parts. Other than underground mode, you can also race any mode you want and choose the settings such as difficulty, traffic, and where the race takes place. You can customize your car in underground but out of underground you can customize any car (even multiple cars) with no money limit as long as you unlocked it. You can use these cars in the racing modes and online play. Trick your car out with paint jobs (body, spoiler, rims, muffler tip, brake calipers), body kits (front bumper, back bumper, side skirts, hood, roof), spoilers, rims, mufflers tips, neons, tinted windows, decals, vinyls, engine parts, brakes, suspension, nitrous oxide, turbochargers, gears and much more. Make your car look fierce and make sure it backs it up with its performance.

Story:
You are a newcomer to the underground racing scene. You got your car, make it better and then race it. You make a few friends along the way that hook you up with car parts and give you advice and you also make enemies who will hold against you and your car. Mostly because you crushed him or her in a previous race. Not much of a story but its good for a racing game.

Sound:
The sounds are very well done. The sounds of the cars, the turbochargers, nitrous, skidding of tires, crashes, bumps and smashes all sound great. They're accurate and makes you feel really involved in the game. The music is also very well done. They use rap music that inspires you to trick out your ride and fast paced rap, rock and techno while racing. It goes very well with the adrenaline rushes you feel when racing at high speeds down a narrow city street.

Graphics:
The graphics are sweet looking. If your computer can handle all the game offers you are in for a treat. The cars look really crisp and smooth. The way a car should appear. The modfications you can make to your car makes the car look even better. The city also looks great and the setting makes you feel like you are really an underground racer. The faster you go, you can actually see and feel the speed. The surroundings get blurry and the lights turn into streaks of light that whiz by your car. I loved the graphics of this game, I have no complaints.

Flaws:
This game is really great however it has flaws just as every game does. The traffic is a problem for me, not because I'm a bad racer but because they time the cars to pull out right in front of you are perfectly timed to cross at an intersection the same time your car does. This is very fustrating and causes me to cuss a lot. Once you crash (which happens a lot for me at least) it goes into slow motion as you watch your car flip and spin like crazy. You then see, in slow motion, all the other cars pass you and then you finally get control of your car again but you are facing the wrong direction. By the time you get going again, you are already so far behind the other racers, it will take you a long time to catch up.

Replayability:
Once you start playing this game you will not stop for a long period of time. I hope you have sick days because you most likely will call off to sit at home and play all day long. There is a lot to unlock and play seems endless... well not endless... but it will last a long time.

Conclusion:
This game is great and I had a blast playing it. I am still playing it now. It does have some flaws but the game is a lot of fun and I can easily overlook them. I never had so much fun at a racing game before and I'm sure you'll have fun playing this game also.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/03